Food allergy, sensitivity, and intolerance are terms often used interchangeably, but they describe different reactions your body may have to the foods you consume. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for better managing your health and making smarter food choices.
Many ancient cultures share the same wisdom – disease (dis-ease) starts from the mouth/gut. Our gastrointestinal tract is our major line of defence. 60% of our immune system is in the gut. When the lining of our gut breaks down, food particles get out and trigger our immune system to recognise that particular food as a foreign invader. Before this situation becomes a medical emergency, often it is tolerated. Many operate in a state of chronic inflammation with an overworked immune system.
One common question we hear during health consultations and food tolerance assessments is, “Why have I been eating certain foods all my life, and now they’ve suddenly become a problem?”
Here’s what you need to know:
Food is the information we feed our cells. What we eat becomes our body, and even our moods and thoughts because our nervous system is part of the body.
Here’s a quick differentiation among “allergy”, “sensitivity” and “intolerance” when it comes to food tolerances. Slightly different mechanisms are at play with each type, and they form a continuum.
True food allergy is rare, affecting only 4-6% of the population.
Food allergy occurs when your body identifies any substance, usually a protein, in your food, as a foreign body (allergen). (1) Thus, your immune system stimulates the production ofIgE antibodies for defence.
Upon re-exposure to the same food, these antibodies release histamine (an inflammatory mediator) to cause an allergic reaction. Food allergy is often an IMMEDIATE (IgE-mediated) aggressive reaction.
The reaction can include skin rashes, hives, swelling, itchiness, difficulty swallowing, inability to breathe, low BP, and even sudden death. Cow’s milk, eggs, soybeans, peanuts, and shellfish account for most food allergic reactions.
Food sensitivity is less severe than a food allergy but far more common. It occurs due to delayed IgG or IgA hypersensitivity reactions.
Symptoms of food sensitivity can range from mild to moderate and may appear anywhere from a few hours to several days after consuming the trigger food. These symptoms include heartburn, irritability, nervousness, headaches, fatigue, brain fog, heart palpitations, sleep disturbances, skin rashes, and joint pain.
Even too much of something “good” can be harmful. It’s not uncommon to develop sensitivities to the very foods you consume most often. (2) This is why it’s important to rotate your food choices and adapt your diet to your body’s evolving needs, an approach rooted in ancient wisdom. (3)
Food intolerance is the most unnoticed of the three. Medically the definition of food tolerance occurs when your gastrointestinal system cannot process or fully digest a portion of food because your body lacks a particular enzyme required for complete digestion.
The most common example is “lactose intolerance”. (4) People intolerant to lactose cannot consume milk, yoghurt, cheese, or other dairy products because they have insufficient lactase (enzyme) to digest lactose in milk products. Another common example is intolerance to MSG.
The symptoms of food intolerance may include mild irritations such as bloating, gas, brain fog, etc, but more often than not, food intolerances contribute to chronic inflammation and degeneration. These effects are not potentially dangerous and thus not noted in conventional medical check-ups or food “allergy” testing.
At the end of the day we all want our immune system to work for us, don’t we? It is exactly doing its job when it gives us a warning sign that we are not supposed to be ingesting harmful substances that it does not recognise (e.g. MSG) because it is not “food” in the first place. Our ancestors never consumed it.
Our immune system is supposed to be vigilant but not to be hyper-vigilant, rejecting even foods that are natural and nourishing to us, and wasting resources by causing chronic inflammation to the whole living system.
We offer a range of options to help you discover your food sensitivities, tailored to your goals and budget. The most popular and cost-effective choice is to use our Bioresonance system to test for food tolerances for close to 170 common foods. This method doesn’t require you to have eaten these foods, as it’s based on the frequency principle.
For a more detailed approach, or as a standalone service, you can also choose our biochemical food allergy and sensitivity tests. While the number of food items tested is smaller, these tests provide insight into foods that have already triggered an immune response. Please note, that results may take 2-3 weeks, as testing is conducted in a lab outside of Hong Kong.
For root cause healing, in addition to avoiding offending foods to allow your gut to heal, we offer Bioresonance harmonisation. This can be done at our premises or from the comfort of your own home while you sleep. We also provide other recommendations to support faster recovery of your digestive and immune functions, improving your overall well-being. As your body’s systems (especially your digestive and nervous systems) become balanced, you may find unhealthy cravings fading away.
Contact us to discuss your needs and schedule a complementary quick demonstration.
We are a wellness centre. Our products and services are not intended to cure or treat illnesses in the conventional sense nor are they intended to substitute for medical services and pharmaceutical products.
