Chronic digestive health

Food sensitivities — finding the foods that are working against you

Food sensitivities are not the same as food allergies they are slower, subtler, and far more commonly missed. Unlike an immediate allergic reaction, food sensitivities can take hours or days to manifest, making the connection between what you eat and how you feel genuinely difficult to identify without proper assessment. They are also far more prevalent than true food allergies and they are one of the most underappreciated drivers of chronic symptoms including digestive complaints, skin conditions, brain fog, fatigue, joint pain, and mood disturbances.

I help you connect the dots between what you're eating and how you feel so you know exactly which foods are actually the problem, not a generic exclusion list.

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An important distinction

Food sensitivities vs food allergies — not the same thing

Food allergies are immediate, IgE-mediated immune reactions often dramatic, sometimes dangerous. Food sensitivities are different. They involve a delayed IgG immune response that can take anywhere from a few hours to three days to manifest. This delay makes them notoriously difficult to identify through observation alone the headache you had on Thursday may trace back to something you ate on Tuesday.

Food allergy (IgE)

Immediate reaction minutes to 1 hour. Often dramatic, sometimes dangerous. Anaphylaxis risk. Managed by allergist. Diagnosed by skin prick or RAST test. The immune mechanism and timeline are fundamentally different from food sensitivity.

Food sensitivity (IgG)

Delayed reaction — hours to 3 days. Often subtle and cumulative. No anaphylaxis risk. Explored through elimination and reintroduction, with IgG testing as a valuable supporting tool. Nutritional and gut-healing support is the primary approach.

Signs + symptoms

Food sensitivities show up in more ways than you might expect

Many people with food sensitivities do not primarily have digestive symptoms which is exactly why the connection is so often missed. Food sensitivities can present as:

Bloating + gas

Abdominal pain

Diarrhoea or constipation

Eczema + skin rashes

Hives

Persistent acne

Brain fog

Chronic fatigue

Headaches + migraines

Joint pain + stiffness

Anxiety + mood changes

Poor concentration

Recurrent sinusitis

Insomnia

PMS + hormonal symptoms

Why proper identification matters

Hidden food sensitivities why guessing costs more than it solves

Guessing at trigger foods — or eliminating based on general advice rather than your specific pattern — often costs more than it solves. Misidentifying your triggers can mean months of unnecessary restriction while the actual driver goes unaddressed.

01

Hidden sensitivities prevent gut healing

Food sensitivities are not always obvious. Many people have been reacting to a food for years without ever connecting it to their symptoms. Without identifying and removing hidden triggers, gut healing is never complete the inflammation quietly continues and symptoms persist despite other interventions.

02

Misidentified sensitivities — eliminating the wrong food

One of the most common patterns in practice: people eliminating the wrong food. Many clients come having gone gluten-free only to discover the real trigger was dairy. Similarly, many who believe they are lactose intolerant switch to lactose-free dairy but continue to react because casein or whey, not lactose, is the driver.

03

Unnecessary elimination creates new nutritional problems

A person who is not reacting to gluten but goes gluten-free will typically replace wheat-based foods with gluten-free alternatives made from oats, rice, corn, tapioca, and potato starch foods they may actually be reacting to. Unnecessary elimination of healthy foods also reduces dietary diversity, impairs microbiome health, and can create nutritional deficiencies.

Ayurvedic perspective

How Ayurveda understands food sensitivities

In Ayurveda, food sensitivities stem from impaired Agni. When digestive fire is weakened — by stress, poor food combining, or irregular eating — food isn't fully digested and forms Ama (undigested residue). Ama accumulates, crosses a compromised gut lining into the bloodstream, and triggers immune reactivity — an Ayurvedic model with interesting parallels to modern immune-mediated food reactivity.

01

Weakened Agni

Stress, poor food combining, irregular eating patterns suppress digestive fire

02

Ama formation

Undigested food residue accumulates sticky, toxic metabolic waste

03

Leaky gut

Ama enters bloodstream through compromised gut lining

04

Immune sensitisation

IgG immune response develops food sensitivity symptoms arise

The Ayurvedic implication: identifying and removing reactive foods is important but it is not sufficient on its own. Restoring Agni, healing the gut lining, and clearing Ama are what prevent the sensitivities from returning. Elimination without gut healing is a temporary fix.

How we identify your reactive foods

Assessment + testing methods

IgG food sensitivity testing

IgG food sensitivity testing — A blood-based panel measuring IgG antibody levels against a broad range of foods, giving us a valuable starting map of your immune reactivity patterns. Because food sensitivity is complex and individual, this data is always combined with your comprehensive symptom history.

Elimination + reintroduction protocol

The gold standard for confirming food sensitivities systematic removal of suspected triggers followed by structured reintroduction to identify clear cause and effect. Elimination alone is not the end goal reintroduction is where we build long-term dietary clarity.

Comprehensive intake + symptom mapping

Detailed food and symptom history tracking patterns across time to identify connections that testing alone may miss. Your symptom picture often tells us more than any single test.

Ayurvedic constitutional assessment

Your Prakriti (constitutional type) shapes your digestive strengths and vulnerabilities and therefore which foods are most likely to create problems for your specific constitution. Constitution-based food combining guidance is integrated into every plan.

What working together looks like

The four phases of food sensitivity work

Phase 01

Identifying + removing triggers

IgG-guided elimination framework. Structured elimination protocol. Nutritionally complete substitutions so that removing foods does not create nutritional gaps. Practical meal planning support throughout.

Phase 02

Healing the gut root cause

Restoring Agni through digestive fire support. Gut lining repair — leaky gut protocol. Gut microbiome rebalancing. Clearing Ama through dietary adjustments. The elimination works only if the gut beneath it is also healing.

Phase 03

Ayurvedic food combining support

Foods that support rather than burden Agni. Incompatible food combination awareness. Meal timing and eating rhythm guidance. Constitution-specific dietary guidance based on your Prakriti.

Phase 04

Reintroduction + long-term tolerance

Structured food reintroduction protocol as the gut heals. Rotation diet strategies. Building back a broader, more diverse diet over time. Maintaining gut health long-term — so sensitivities do not simply return.

Food sensitivities in children — and breastfeeding mothers.

Children's food sensitivities often present differently from adults — eczema, behavioural changes, poor concentration, and digestive discomfort are common presentations. Symptoms like recurrent ear or respiratory infections should always be evaluated by your child's pediatrician first, to rule out other causes. Once medical causes have been addressed, I work with parents to identify and address their child's food sensitivities through an approach that is practical, nutritionally complete, and appropriate for the child's developmental stage.

If an actively breastfed infant is experiencing symptoms — vomiting, skin rashes, eczema, colic, or digestive distress — these should always be evaluated by the infant's pediatrician or family doctor first, to rule out other causes. Once medical causes have been ruled out, one factor worth exploring is that what a breastfeeding mother eats can influence the quality and composition of her milk, and some infants react to foods in the mother's diet. Identifying and temporarily eliminating the mother's potential trigger foods can be explored alongside your pediatrician advice.

Suspect food sensitivities are a factor for you?

Book a free 15-minute call a conversation about your symptom picture and what identification might involve.

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The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Manjiri Nadkarni (Manjiri Nadkarni Consulting) and is meant for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical/ psychological advice . Please note that Manjiri Nadkarni is not a dietitian, physician or other licensed healthcare professional in Canada. She is a Doctor of Ayurvedic Medicine - MD (Ayurveda) (licensed and regulated in India but not Canada), Registered Holistic Nutritionist as well as Oncology Nutrition Consultant.

The content on this website is not intended to diagnose or treat any diseases. The information on this website is NOT intended as medical or psychological nor is it intended to replace the care of a qualified health care professional. Always consult with your primary care physician or licensed healthcare provider for all diagnosis and treatment of any diseases or conditions, for medications or medical advice as well as before changing your health care regimen.