Food Sensitivities & Weight Loss
NUTRITION
Brandon Mannie
DC
By far, the most popular New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. We see it every year. Come January, the gyms are packed, and weight-loss commercials and advertising are abundant. People set new health goals and are on a mission to lose those unwanted pounds they put on during the holidays.
January and February make great weight loss months for chiropractors. We encourage doctors to really dig deep to the underlying cause of their patients’ weight struggles or weight-loss resistance. In other words, are there hidden food sensitivities or intolerances? Is there adrenal dysfunction? What about the thyroid? How about heavy metal toxicity or general toxic overload?
Let’s look at food sensitivities and the correlation to weight loss resistance.
Food Sensitivities and Inflammation
Inflammation is one of the biggest drivers of weight gain in America. We know that the standard American diet (SAD) is highly processed and proinflammatory. We also know that it’s very challenging to lose weight when a person is inflamed.
Let’s take a quick look at gluten, for example. Celiac disease affects roughly 1 % of Americans, but doctors believe a gluten sensitivity or intolerance may affect between 30 to 50% of the country. The key difference is that for people with celiac disease (autoimmune), the body attacks the small intestine. For those who are sensitive to gluten, the immune system attacks the gluten. A recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine
listed 55 different diseases that can be traced back to gluten.1
The lining of the gut becomes inflamed, and the tight junctions in the gut walls open up, which is called leaky gut syndrome or intestinal permeability. This chink in the gut’s armor allows bacteria and other foreign particles into the bloodstream where they are considered “foreign invaders.” This causes the immune system to attack full-throttle—white blood cells rush to the offending particles—and overall systemic inflammation ensues.
Remember, when we’re talking about food sensitivity or intolerance, we’re looking at the IgG portion of the immune system, which is the delayed immune response (up to 72 hours after eating). Without finding these culprits, damage to the gut is repeated—meal after meal— and this establishes an environment ideal for weight gain, inflammation, and chronic disease and dysfunction.
What Else Can Food Sensitivities Cause?
The most common symptoms we see (in addition to weight loss) on a daily basis for which we’d recommend food testing are:
• Digestive challenges or IBS
• Migraines
• Muscle pain, joint pain, and inflammation
•ADHD kids
• Chronic fatigue
• Brain fog
• Anxiety, depression, and mood swings
• Skin issues (eczema, psoriasis, acne, etc.)
• Runny nose or excess mucus
• Low thyroid (i.e., Hashimoto’s) or other autoimmune conditions
Remember, food should nourish and support you. You should feel clear and energized after eating it; you should not feel tired or mentally foggy after eating because those are signs you may be eating the wrong foods.
Functional Weight Loss: A Natural Solution?
It’s estimated that roughly 71% of the entire U.S. is overweight or obese,2 and each year, we trend in the wrong direction. Is there a one-size-fits-all, “cookie-cutter” approach to weight loss? This is an important question to ponder. Many great weight-loss programs are available for doctors to implement and for patients to follow. Some are easy, but some are more challenging.
I believe the key for an optimal, long-term clinical result is a tiered functional approach. Look at foods they are sensitive to or react poorly to based on objective testing. Look at nutrient status based on testing. What about thyroid function? What about adrenals?
Let’s really dig deep and provide an objective or functional strategy to lose weight versus a generic onesize-fits-all approach.
When you can perform some simple objective (in-office) tests on patients, you can really get to the root cause of their health condition and provide them with a structured plan of attack for optimal results.
References
1. Farrell, RJ, and CP Kelly. 2002. “Celiac sprue, ” New England Journal of Medicine. 346 (3): ISO88 Review
2. https://www. cdc. gov nchs fastats obesity-overweight, htm
Brandon Mannie D.C., is an author, speaker, consultant and runs several clinics in the Minneapolis area. He graduated from NWHSU in 2004. He is the founder and CEO of The Functional Practice & Food Align™, a consulting company that helps doctors incorporate & market functional medicine. He can be reached at 612-325-0365 or TheFunctionalPractice@gmail. com You can get additional information by visiting www. TheFunctionalPractice.com or www.FoodAlign.com
