Tag: food

Identifying Food Sensitivities

Characterized by symptoms like IBS and migraines, food sensitivities are a subtle draining force in many people’s lives. Often overlooked or chalked up as discomfort, these negative reactions to foods can range from annoying to debilitating. Testing for food sensitivities during a time of discomfort or digestive issues could lead to learning more about your own body as well as ways to prevent future illness.

Antibody Test

Using an antibody-based test is one of the easiest ways to check for food sensitivities. Some, like the popular Pinnertest, are even available as a kit that you can do at home. Simply take a sample of your blood and send it off to be tested in a laboratory. This can be an easy and efficient way to test your body’s reaction to different foods. While there are critics of this methodology, plenty of scientists believe that antibody levels can accurately predict food sensitivities.

Elimination Diet

By severely restricting your diet for around 2 weeks, you can get rid of the negative after-effects of the harmful foods. Then, slowly reintroduce new things one at a time. Once you feel ill again, remove the last food you reintroduced. This can help you narrow down what foods you are sensitive to. The main downside is obviously the amount of careful dieting and record keeping involved. The time investment is significant, as well as the long path to an actual result, since it may take many tries to determine the source of your food sensitivity.

Provocation and Neutralization Test

The most invasive test for food sensitivities is the provocation and neutralization test. This is performed by a specialist who places different options under your skin. Monitoring for a reaction can reveal which ones trigger an additional response than normal. Even though this sounds painful, it is a very common procedure and it a good way to get quick and accurate answers.

5 Tale-Tale signs you should consult a Nutritionist

A nutritionist is a specialist who not only helps you to find out how food affects you, but also how you can find the best strategy that utilizes food to heal and nourish your body. The specialist discusses with you about your lifestyle and eating habits to get the necessary information that can help him/her to come up with the ideal meal plan for you. Such a program will include the strategies for preparing your food. However, many people do not know when they should visit a nutritionist. To help you, we’ll discuss five signs that suggest you need to see a nutritionist.

     1. When you are struggling with emotional eating

If you find yourself eating a lot of food or binging, know that it’s time to see a nutritionist.  It may be that you are eating the wrong balance of macronutrients. Binge-eating is a severe disorder which if not treated could result in obesity or unwanted weight gain. Such a condition could result in even more compulsive eating with the accompanying feeling of disgust and guilt. A nutritionist can help you create better habits around food. They also know when it’s time to refer you to other specialists like therapists, psychiatrists, or mental health practitioners.

     2. When you’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol

Though you will be undergoing treatment for high cholesterol, a dietician will be vital since you can reduce your cholesterol through dietary change.  Nutritionists can help you to come up with a food strategy that removes saturated fats from your diet while adding high-fiber diet.

     3. When you plan to get pregnant

If you are planning or already pregnant, you need to work hand-in-hand with a nutritionist. A dietician will help you come up with the best food strategy so that you know what and how to eat before and during your pregnancy. Also, a dietician will be handy with food strategies to show you just how to lose weight after giving birth. Dieticians could also provide meaningful advice on fertility issues as well as balancing of hormones.

     4. Not getting sleep at night

The inability to get sleep at night is reason enough why you should see a nutritionist. Diet may impact on sleep. Diets with nutrients such as magnesium could lead to insomnia. On the other hand nutrients such as tryptophan help the body to produce melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone. Hence, you had better visit a trained nutritionist to help with your lack of sleep.

     5. Periodic body tune-up

They say prevention is better than cure. And so it’s better to visit a nutritionist more so as you keep growing older. Other instances when you need to talk to a nutritionist would be when you start working on the night shift. The night workers are usually at high risk of being overweight, developing blood pressure as well as diabetes. 

The best way to maintain good health is to have a holistic health strategy. That includes not only being careful of what you eat but also knowing how to prepare food. Consulting a nutritionist Melbourne should be your first step in your endeavor to improve your health.