Have you worked hard to lose weight and maintain a healthier weight? Then you know about many of the obstacles between you and your goal. These can include many of your favourite foods, emotional eating, and even hormonal imbalances. And there’s one more that you should be aware of if weight loss has been tough for you: food sensitivities.
What Are Food Sensitivities
Before we get into how food sensitivities can affect your weight loss efforts, it’s important to be clear on what they are. And that starts with what they are not. Food sensitivities are different from food allergies in that allergies trigger an immune system reaction in your body. Those reactions can be quite severe, as in a peanut allergy, and require immediate medical attention.
Food sensitivities are also different from food intolerances, which usually happen when your body can’t properly digest certain foods. For example, lactose intolerance is due to not having enough digestive enzymes to digest lactose in milk and dairy products.
Food sensitivities are not as well understood as food allergies and intolerances. They can involve an immune system response similar to allergies, but the symptoms may not be typical allergic reactions. And the symptoms can be different from day to day. For example, a sensitivity to a certain food can trigger a stomach ache one day, and cause joint pain the next day.
4 Ways that Food Sensitivities Can Affect Weight Loss
Getting back to the hurdles between you and a healthier weight, you know that almost anything can become a hurdle. Did you ever not go for a walk because it was too cold outside? Or you just didn’t have time for a healthy meal, so burgers it is!?
Food sensitivities can significantly impact weight loss in many different ways. They can be relatively serious and easy to diagnose, or they can be subtle enough to go unnoticed. If you’ve had trouble losing weight and you’re not sure why, food sensitivities may be all or part of the problem.
Inflammation
Inflammation is an immune system response, usually in reaction to an injury or infection, usually in a localized area, like your knee. Symptoms can include redness, swelling and pain. Food sensitivity can cause inflammation and its symptoms in your digestive tract. In addition to typical upset digestive system issues, like diarrhea, constipation and bloating, inflammation due to food sensitivity can affect the absorption of nutrients – and your weight loss.
Slower Metabolism
When nutrients aren’t absorbed as efficiently as usual, your system can react in a way similar to calorie-reduced diets. That is, when your body detects an interruption in its supply of nutrients, it slows your metabolism to conserve energy. A slower metabolism can make it more difficult to burn calories and lose weight.
Increase Food Cravings & Overeating
In addition to slowing your metabolism, your body can increase your hunger pangs to try to get more nutrition. That means more cravings, especially for your favourite comfort foods. Cravings can often lead to overeating when gobble down your food to satisfy them. And your comfort foods are often not the healthiest choices!
Feeling Unwell
From digestive system issues to a slower metabolism, food sensitivities can make you feel literally sick and tired. In addition to digestive system inflammation, food sensitivities can trigger inflammation elsewhere in your body, including your joints. They can also cause headaches, hives and eczema, and many other symptoms.
Feeling unwell and tired can interrupt many of your weight loss efforts, including staying active, preparing healthy meals, and avoiding processed foods.
There are many other ways that food sensitivities can get between you and your weight loss goals. To learn more, and get expert advice on improving your weight loss results, visit your nearest Herbal One location and speak to one of our nutritional consultants.
If you enjoyed this post, check out our article “Immunity-Boosting Drinks You Should Try.”