Ep. 98: Do you need a food sensitivity test in order to fix your GI issues?

If you’re wondering whether food sensitivity testing will finally explain your bloating, constipation, or GI reactions, this episode is for you. We talk through why food sensitivity lists often keep growing, what those results are actually reflecting, and why eliminating more foods doesn’t always lead to lasting relief. 

You’ll learn how digestion, stress, and immune signaling influence food reactions, why many people feel worse after doing “everything right,” and what question to ask instead if you want real progress.

If you have ever been curious about food sensitivity testing and what it actually measures or shows related to your gut health, make sure to listen in! 

In this episode, Dr. Heather covers:

• Should you do food sensitivity testing to fix bloating and GI issues?
• Why “safe food” lists often keep shrinking
• What food reactions can signal beyond the food itself
• Why cutting out more foods doesn’t always improve digestion
• What to focus on if food sensitivity testing hasn’t helped

Connect + Next Steps

Want daily education, stories, and gut-friendly support?
Follow along on Instagram

Ready for personalized 1:1 support and a clear plan?
Apply for gutTogether®

Exhausted, bloated and wondering why your ferritin won't budge, even while taking iron? Join me for a live training covering the exact reasons why you're stuck and how to improve your energy, hair loss, gut and ferritin.

Why Iron Isn’t Enough: The Truth About Low Ferritin

Sign up for the webinar here! (early bird pricing ends Feb 7th!)

Transcript

Dr. Heather Finley: 1:14

Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Heather Finley, registered dietitian and gut health specialist. I understand the frustration of dealing with GI issues because I've been there and I spent over two decades searching for answers for my own gut issues of constipation, bloating, and stomach pain. I've dedicated my life to understanding and solving my own gut issues. And now I'm here to guide you. On this podcast, I'll help you identify the true root causes of your discomfort. So you can finally ditch your symptoms for good. My goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need so that you can love your gut and it will love you right back. So if you're ready to learn a lot, gain a deeper understanding of your gut and find lasting relief. You are in the right place. Welcome to the love your gut podcast.

2:06

Do you need a food sensitivity test to fix your bloating or your GI issues? If you have ever asked that question, this is the episode for you. Maybe you've already done that. The Everly Well, food Sensitivity Test or leaps, MRT. Or you've had someone run some kind of IgG testing and hand you a long list of foods to avoid. At first, it feels super validating, right? Finally, I have an answer. So you cut out gluten, you cut out corn, you cut out. Random spices, you cut out onions and eventually even you're scared of mushrooms and carrots and apples and other things that might be on that list, and your safe food list starts shrinking, but somehow your symptoms aren't actually gone. You still feel bloated, you still feel constipated, you're still reacting, and now eating feels even more stressful because you're afraid that you have all these sensitivities, and when you're eating these foods, you're making things worse. Or maybe you actually do feel better when you cut these foods out, but you're wondering. How long can I actually do this for? And is there a better way? So here's what I want to be really clear about right from the start, is there are two approaches that you can take at this point. One is to continue cutting out foods. The other is. Actually fixing why foods are causing reactions so that your symptoms can resolve. And if you're thinking that the second option sounds better, then definitely keep listening to this episode. If you want to keep cutting out foods, then this might not be the episode for you. In most cases, when food sensitivity lists keep growing, it's not because you just suddenly can't tolerate anything. This typically is like a snowball effect that happens over time. It's because your digestion and your whole system, your gut immune system, et cetera, is not. Functioning well and working with a really limited capacity. So today on this episode, we're gonna talk about what's actually driving these reactions, why food sensitivity tests are often misunderstood, and how to actually rebuild your tolerance instead of living on a shrinking list of safe foods. So before we even talk about food sensitivity testing, I wanna clear something up really quick, is that food allergies and food sensitivities are not the same thing. They often get lumped together in this food reaction category, and most people are told you're allergic to this food when they're actually not allergic to that food because they're not. Given the proper explanation for what the test is that they did and what the results actually mean. And honestly, I even see this with practitioners. They don't understand the difference between true food allergies and true food sensitivities and what the differences are. So if that's you, you are not alone and there's literally no shame. Because it's something that I teach in my practitioner program because it's honestly confusing. IgG, IgE, iga, what is the difference? So true food allergies are gonna fall under IgE E. Reactions. These are immediate immune responses. Think hives, swelling, throat tightness, trouble breathing, anaphylaxis. These reactions are very clear, not subtle, and. Usually avoidance is a non-negotiable. If you have a true IgE mediated allergy like peanuts, eggs, dairy, whatever it is, this is not something that you mess around with, right? And I know if you're a mom and you have a kid with allergies, that is a daily stressor that you live with. So that is not what I'm talking about in this episode, where the confusion lives is with IgG testing. So IGG. It does not mean a food is harming you. It often reflects exposure or an immune memory. So I see this constantly with clients who are eating the same few foods every day because everything feels really risky. These foods are often the ones that light up on. A food sensitivity test, and it's interpreted as intolerance when what we're actually seeing is just repetition, combined with gut stress or permeability. Your gut immune system is more exposed to those foods, so of course they're showing up on that test. So that's really just what that showing us. Then IGA adds another layer that's often overlooked. So IGA is part of the gut's first line of defense. You can describe it like your gut's security system. So when your digestion is supported, the gut lining is healthy. Your system can stay calm when digestion is weak and the lining is irritated. Your immune system in your gut will just become more reactive. That is why people can see very different food sensitivity results over time, even without permanently ever eliminating foods. So when you look at these markers through the right lens, the story can shift a little bit and you can. Address it correctly and understand that your body's just not rejecting foods. It's actually more of a sign of your digestive system. That is under strain. So food sensitivity testing is one of those things that I do think can often backfire. Not because the test itself is quote unquote bad, but because of how the results are interpreted. And use, and that's where I see the most harm done when these tests are not explained properly to the patient. Most people are just handed a long list of foods with very little explanation, and there's rarely context around what's temporary versus. Permanent or how the digestion, how the immune system of the gut will influence the results. And so the client then thinks, oh, I absolutely have to avoid these foods. And we see this all the time. We have clients that come to us with food sensitivity results from like four years ago, and they're still avoiding those foods and it's irrelevant at that point because the gut immune system turns over constantly. So that's where this avoid forever language can become really harmful. Foods are labeled as inflammatory without any discussion of whether the reaction is reversible, situational, and usually there's no plan to actually rebuild tolerance. And elimination just becomes the strategy instead of a short term tool. So without a clear roadmap, food removal, just. Increases fear around eating. How many of you as a kid were told like, don't eat that cookie that's sitting right in front of you. What do you wanna do? You wanna eat that cookie. But same thing with food sensitivity tests. The second you're told, don't eat that. What do you wanna do? You want to eat that? And there becomes this like fear around eating. Am I hurting myself? Am I harming myself? Meals don't have to feel risky, and social situations don't have to feel stressful. I've worked with so many people that have followed their results perfectly and ended up just really anxious about food. And over time that list of safe foods gets smaller and it's not because healing is actually happening, it's because the system over time is just becoming more reactive, and that's the part that really matters the most is like the test causing. Fear and also interpretation causing fear as well. So what's almost always missing is if you're going to eliminate foods, you also need to understand how and when to add them back in, because we know that diversity is foundational for gut health and long term gut healing doesn't come from narrowing your diet further and further. It comes from restoring digestion. And gradually expanding your tolerance. So let's talk about when it's actually your digestion and not the food. When your digestion is weak, your immune system has to work harder. Your gut immune system, I always like to describe your gut immune system like a bouncer at a bar. So you, you eat something, the bouncer decides whether you can come in or whether you can not come in. It's always monitoring for chaos. Well, let's say that there's one bouncer and thousands of people at this bar, and chaos breaks out. There's not enough immune surveillance to actually manage the chaos, and that is a lot of times what is happening in the gut with food sensitivities. When we can improve digestion and food tolerance, all of a sudden we have a lot more bouncers at the bar, and chaos is not happening and we're not having to remove. Tons and tons of foods. So hopefully that analogy helps just bring it home a little bit. Because digestion isn't just about what you eat, it's also about how well food is broken down, how well food moves through your gut, and how well it's absorbed. So when those steps aren't in place, food will become more irritating to your system. Not because they're causing inflammation, but because they're not being processed well. So I talk about this a lot on other episodes. I won't go into too much detail, but low stomach acid is one of those first breakdown points because it's initiating digestion, especially protein. When it's low, food will sit longer. Fermentation increases bloating, reflux pressure, even with foods that are healthy. Bile flow is another bottleneck. Bile is the real MVP of digestion, if you know, you know, and bile breaks down fats and helps regulate bacteria. So when you don't have a gallbladder, your bile flow is sluggish. Digestion will slow down. Stools will change, and reactions will increase because food lingers longer than it should. So slow motility is really what ties all of that together. Food and bacteria are just sitting too long, increasing fermentation. People are often waking up bloated. They notice bloating, worsens throughout the day, or they struggle with constipation or incomplete stools. And then underneath all of this is mineral depletion. Digestion is energy dependent and minerals are required to produce stomach acid and stimulate bile release and move the gut forward and regulate your nervous system. So cutting out a long list of foods is really one of the fastest ways to become more depleted and not actually get where you want to go. So this is why you can do everything right on paper and still feel not great. It's your digestive capacity. So a test result without context on what else is going on. Doesn't actually create a whole lot of clarity. It creates this complexity of, okay, what else is, is missing here? And then the system behind the scenes becomes a lot more fragile. So food elimination, this is something that I don't think is talked about enough. Food elimination often does feel good at first. That is the part that feels like a dopamine hit, right? You have a sense of control. Okay, here's what I can eat, here's what I can't eat. It feels very tangible. You get a dopamine hit from like doing something challenging, doing something hard. You feel like you're in control, but. That only lasts so long until you're looking for your next hit of dopamine. It's like doom scrolling at night, right? You're getting a hit every time you see a new reel or TikTok or whatever your vice is. Same thing with food elimination is you're always gonna be looking for that dopamine hit and that just nervous system dysregulation. But eliminating foods isn't actually fixing your digestion. Reducing workload maybe, but it's not necessarily fixing stomach acid or bile flow or nervous system. And over time, less variety of foods means less stimulation, less nutrients, weaker digestive output. And then that constant food fear and symptom monitoring, your digestion just doesn't thrive with that. So you end up repeating the same cycle. Another elimination, another dopamine, hit another list, brief relief, plateau, relapse. it's like wearing a sling after an injury. It's can be helpful short term, but eventually you're gonna lose muscle, right? So avoidance might calm your symptoms, but it's not actually rebuilding function. So when food reactions start stacking up, it's rarely because your gut is suddenly intolerant to overwhelmed and undersupported. And there's three major players that I believe and see drive this pattern. Number one is secretary, IGA. Number two is the nervous system. And number three is the balance of bacteria in your gut that produce short chain fatty acids. And we're gonna talk about all three of these. So secretary IGA is one of the most important protective tools. That is that bouncer at the bar. It acts like a buffer between food and bacteria and your immune system. So when. IGA is balanced, and we can see this on stool testing. It helps the body interact with food without overreacting, but during times of chronic stress illness over training, undereating, burnout, negative thought patterns, et cetera, et cetera, IGA can drop or become dysregulated. This is one of the most common markers that we see low on food sensitivity testing, and it's because of how much minerals. Nervous system, food variety, and all the pieces impact this marker. When your bouncer at the bar is understaffed or that buffer is weakened, your immune system is going to be more reactive. I can literally look at a food sensitivity test and tell you probably how reactive you are to food. By seeing that number, the lower it is typically the more food reactions you're gonna have. So again, what I wanna emphasize here is that food is actually not inherently the problem, but you're just. It's more reactive because you're hitting a more sensitive interface, basically. Number two, the nervous system plays a huge role here because digestion only works when the body feels safe. If you are chronically stressed, you're in that wired but tired state. The nervous system is always going to prioritize survival over digestion. Your enzyme output drops, stomach acid slows, bile release, becomes sluggish, et cetera, et cetera. And so when the nervous system is dysregulated, your food reactions are more likely, not because that food is bad or wrong, but because the body isn't stable enough to handle it well. And then there's the role number three of beneficial gut bacteria. We know that the number one predictor of a healthy gut, and I've said this probably on every episode that I've done, we're almost to a hundred by the way, we're gonna do a big giveaway. A diverse microbiome is the number one predictor of a healthy gut and a diverse microbiome pro produces things like. Butyrate acetate, short chain fatty acids. Those regulate inflammation in your entire body. They support your gut lining. They calm your immune system. When diversity drops from decreasing food intake, decreasing variety, stress, antibiotics. Blah, blah, blah. Your short chain fatty acid production falls, and that loss of anti-inflammatory support makes your gut overall more reactive. So this is one of the reasons why increasing restriction often worsens your symptoms over time. Rather than improving them. So when these three systems, so your gut bacteria, your nervous system and secretary IGA, when these three systems are strained, your digestion totally loses its resilience. And that's where the classic digestive bottlenecks show up. Um, that is really going to affect how you tolerate food. When these food reactions start stacking up, it's rarely because you are just suddenly intolerant to things. It's because of overwhelm and an undersupported system. And so hopefully that is making a little bit more sense and that's where things I think really start to click for people because your digestion is just not about food choices or just supplements. Um, minerals matter so much. Every step of the digestive process requires your body to have enough resources to actually do the work. And minerals are a big part of that equation as well. When your minerals are depleted, your food tolerance is going to suffer, and we have many different patterns that we see with this, but we need minerals to produce stomach acid, to contract the gallbladder, to release bile, to help with muscle coordination. We see lots of different mineral patterns like low sodium and potassium, dysregulated copper, zinc issues. Iron issues, et cetera, and this is often why people will say, I'm doing everything right, but I'm getting worse. You've eliminated the foods, you've taken the supplements, you've followed all the rules, but your system is so depleted from a mineral perspective, from a digestion perspective. So liver, gallbladder, stomach acid, pancreas, et cetera. And from a gut immune system perspective, and that would encompass your secretary, IGA, that bouncer at the bar that I was talking about, the diversity of bacteria in your gut. And even your nervous system being a big piece here, your nervous system is also harder to regulate. The more depleted your body is because of the gut-brain connection. So I just feel like that's important to call out as well. When your mineral status improves, when your gut health improves, when your short chain fatty acid production increases because you have those beneficial bacteria in your gut, your nervous system becomes more regulated. Isn't that so cool? Just how everything works together. This is why you cannot. Spot, treat your symptoms when you have skin issues, hormone issues, hair loss, all the things. You really have to look at how the whole system is working together. And it's really just so cool. So how do we answer the question? Do you need food sensitivity testing? I think that food sensitivity testing is often answering the wrong question. And that doesn't mean it's useless or that it never provides clues, but I do think that it's frequently misunderstood and over relied on. And these tests can sometimes highlight more of what I'm talking about here is this immune activation or patterns of exposure. But most of the time they're just reflecting gut, permeability, immune stress, and not true allergies. Just. Re sensitivities. You're not allergic to these foods. Your gut is actually just reacting to them. And so that's where things can backfire a little bit because you get this list of avoid food. There's rarely a plan to rebuild tolerance or address. Why is your gut immune system so depleted? Instead, you're just left trying to manage the symptoms by cutting out more and more foods. We literally had this client probably a year ago now who had gotten food sensitivity testing. She came to us and she said. It. I was going on this vacation, like my family reunion, there was gonna be like 50 people there. And I talked to my provider before and I said, how am I supposed to eat at this family reunion? And the provider told her, well, you just need to pack all your food. And she's like, well, I'm going on a plane. And he's like, well, you're just gonna have to like ship it there, like bring all the food with you. And I'm like, we are totally missing the plot. Nobody should have to live like that. Um. The bigger issue, I think, is that food sensitivity testing is not answering the question that we really need to be asking, which was the case for this client. It doesn't tell us why your digestion isn't working. It doesn't explain why the immune system is reacting in the first place, and without that information. Your, it's easy to go to food restriction because that's something that you can control again, that dopamine hit, which is why I prefer functional testing that looks at your entire gut environment. Because on a GI Map, for example, I can see exactly why someone is reacting to foods. We might see low secretory iga. Meaning your gut's immune system is weak. We might see depleted, beneficial bacteria that help regulate inflammation and promote short chain fatty acid production. We might see bacterial overgrowth imbalances, or just markers of poor digestion that are going to increase immune activation. And so when you understand those pieces, the approach can change and you can focus on. How to actually fix the function of the gut versus what food should I avoid? We're asking now what does my gut need so that I can tolerate food again? And that is where the real lasting progress will actually happen. This does not happen overnight, but it works. And so when it comes to bringing foods back in, I think the most important thing to remember is that this process takes time. Reintroduction of food works best when your foundation is already being supported, your digestion is supported, your nervous system is supported, your gut immune system is supported and. We're not just gonna all of a sudden expect that overnight your gut can tolerate all these foods. So we have to start slowly. And these are some simple things that you can do today before you jump into testing, chewing your food, eating at consistent times, going for short walks after meals, to signal to the body that. Safe to digest. Paying attention to nervous system cues, food fears, resting and digesting as much as you can, trying to not rush through meals, trying to eat in a relaxed state. Reintroductions themselves should be really calm and intentional with one variable at a time, right? So we're not gonna add in food on a week that you are like me this week inside because you're iced in and your stress is higher because you are. Managing three kids and work and all the things like probably not the day to add the foods in, right. We also wanna look at patterns instead of just single reactions, because a temporary symptom often doesn't mean that you don't tolerate that. Your gut is dynamic, your responses are gonna fluctuate, and sometimes we have to build that tolerance over time. So we might need some digestive support. We might need to try it in a different form. For example, like beans, a lot of people are like, I get so gassy. Okay, well, can we try sprouted beans? Can we cook them a different way? Can we soak them? You know, what are some ways that we could slowly introduce tolerance to these foods where it's not the main course of the meal, but we're getting those foods in. So you can think of your gut like a muscle. Well, it is a muscle, it's gonna build tolerance over time, just like as you exercise, you're getting stronger through gradual, consistent use, not through avoidance. So we're gonna fix the gut. We're gonna go slow. We're gonna give your body the support it needs to adapt. We're not looking for a symptom-free day every single time we're building resilience, flexibility, confidence around food again. So if you feel like your food list keeps shrinking, that's really important information. It tells us that your system is under more strain then it can currently handle, and that doesn't actually mean that you need more restriction, even though it might seem that way. Right? It's actually the opposite. It means that support needs to shift to your entire digestive system If these reactions keep stacking up, the question to ask isn't what food do I need to cut out? It's what systems are influencing my digestion right now. Fiction, mineral status, gut bacteria, immune signaling, and when one or more of these systems is under supported, your reactions will make sense once we understand all of that. So we don't just wanna focus on food alone. You can remove foods and endlessly feel like you're stuck in this vicious cycle. But when you can zoom out and address those five systems that impact digestion, your capacity is gonna increase. Your stress tolerance improves, your food tolerance improves, and it's easier to handle again. So if you want. Help identifying what systems need attention for you. One free resource that I have is my gut quiz, so the why am I Bloated? Quiz, even if you're not bloated, take it because it will help you identify where your system is breaking down. And then of course, inside Gut together we're gonna focus on. All of this rebuilding, digestion, and resilience and not creating longer food avoidance lists The goal is not always cutting out foods. It's a gut that can handle real life again, and that's what this work is really about. Digestive health done differently. I'll see you on the next episode.