New to managing food sensitivities? Read this.
When we first suspect that we might have food sensitivities, we often approach it from a place of fear. What am I going to eat, what am I going to buy, when is it going to get better and overarching all of that: how do I get back to feeling normal? It challenges what we know, what we’re used to. Our diet is shaped by preferences, habits, culture, and hopefully also nutrition. When we face having to make changes, it can be tough. Eating is inherent in us. It keeps us alive. It’s not easy to shift that.
People who love to experiment with food might have a slight advantage. People who love to cook might find it easier, too. I wasn’t either, I had a limited number of recipes I’d cook which kept that part of my life simple.
So how do you move through this? First of all, are you sure you have food sensitivities and not another underlying condition? Doctors are still largely resistant to accepting food sensitivities, at least that’s my experience. Even if you’re reluctant to see your doctor, it’s worth asking for a simple blood test to check if there’s anything else going on in your system.
The next step would be to do an elimination diet. That is the single most reliable way to pinpoint whether you’re reacting to food. It’s not the easiest route, but you save yourself potentially misleading results that delay getting better. Start with the most obvious causes. Unfortunately, food you eat most often is more likely to cause issues. Also, gluten, which is in wheat and therefore finds its way into many carbohydrate-based foods, can be a common culprit in addition to lactose, celery, chicken eggs. Keep an open mind though, you can react to anything. When I found out I was reacting to every food, it was a shock at first. I didn’t realise that’s even an option.
At every stage of this journey, you’ll probably go through a whirlwind of emotion. Hope that you’re getting closer to finding out what’s going on. Anticipation about a solution to not feeling well, and hopefully relief when you get answers. If you don’t get clear answers, and that is often the case along this journey, it can feel like a setback. But remember that even a little bit of clarity can help you along. You didn’t react to celery. Good, that’s one thing settled for now. You think you reacted to dairy but you’re not sure, and you don’t know if you should change your entire diet or not? Pause and reflect. You can eliminate immediately or you can continue to monitor. Keeping a log and noting what you’ve eaten or drunk and what reaction you had over a few weeks might not feel like it’s helping you at all on a daily basis, but the collected data will give you a better understanding. With the advancement of AI, you can find tools to analyse it quickly and give you direction, which can be really useful in addition to your own judgment.
Once you’ve established what you’re reacting to, you’re getting to the next step in your journey: removing the food or foods and finding replacements. As mentioned above, unfortunately, it’s likely to be a food that you eat fairly regularly, otherwise you wouldn’t have built sensitivities towards it. That can feel tough at first. Fortunately, there are many recipes and even products available for the most common offenders. My Food Sensitivities Support System contains a detailed guide that lists a wide range of substitutes, and tips on how to use them. When shopping for food substitutes, bear in mind that most of them are more expensive and looking for offers can pay off.
I loved pasta, breads, pastries, cookies. Giving that up was tough at first. What made it easier was feeling better, but more importantly, the feeling that I was doing something positive for myself. I was taking charge. I found a way to improve, and with that the quality of my life improved. The best part was that after a few weeks of weaning myself off these foods, I stopped craving them. Your body does adjust. In the meantime, it’s a good idea to find a treat that you enjoy and that helps you substitute. Nuts and seeds, raisins, dates, for example. It’s never going to be exactly as satisfying until you stop craving, but it makes it easier to not give up.
There are a lot of recipes online with alternatives. Some are genuinely tasty, others fall into the "better than nothing" category. Be open to experimenting. Not every substitute will work well in terms of texture from the start, as you'll be used to cooking differently. But you'll find your way and your preferences. If you have multiple food sensitivities, like I did, go for recipes with fewer ingredients. Cook in batches and freeze. It makes a big difference to have a stock of food for days when it feels hard or you’re busy.
The longer-term view: in my experience I genuinely got used to it. Experiencing my body heal over time has given me a new found respect for the miracle that is nature, and how it can return to balance if you give it the right conditions. I think about food very differently now than I did twenty years ago. I could not go back to the way I was eating because I can see how unhealthy and unhelpful it was. How it didn't give me the foundation and nourishment I needed on a daily basis to enjoy life, to be healthy, happy and balanced. It was a slow journey, with many downs, but it's important to look at the trajectory. As long as the general trend is up, you're on a good path. By up I mean gaining clarity, finding your way around new food groups, new menus, new shopping habits. It's normal to fall back once in a while, to feel down and to doubt if you'll ever get better or if it will ever get easier. It will. Like any change in life, you'll adapt, and over time, as your symptoms ease up, it will feel increasingly manageable.
If you're finding your feet and want somewhere to start, I've put together a free Food Sensitivities Starter Guide that covers the early practical steps in one place. And if you're looking for something more structured to support both the practical and emotional side of this, the Food Sensitivities Support System was built for exactly this stage. You can find the free resources here: https://www.nurtureandthrive.live/free-resources. Or find out more about the Support System here: https://www.nurtureandthrive.live/food-sensitivities-support-system
If you’re at the beginning of this and feeling overwhelmed, I’ve written about the emotional side of the early stage in When food sensitivities go undiagnosed and what happens afterwards.
About the author
Nurture & Thrive is written from lived experience of managing multiple food sensitivities over more than 15 years. The content reflects personal experience of navigating symptoms, diagnosis, and recovery, and is focused on the practical and emotional realities of living with it day to day.