Does anyone here have any information or experience with food allergies and the links to overeating/weight gain? Any incremental success with weight loss after eliminating certain allergan foods?

I read a short article recently (that I can't find now of course!) that suggested that many "trigger foods" or strong cravings for compulsive eaters are actually foods they are allergic to and the withdrawl of those foods causes similar (albeit less dramatic) withdrawl symptoms as you would see with smokers/nicotine or junkies/heroin - in addition to causing water and fat retention.

I have environmental allergies and wondering if I shouldn't check this out more seriously...

Any info or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

*bump*

Bueller.....Bueller......

Really? Nothing? Am I talking crazy talk?

Hey Boomcha:

If you think you might have any food sensitivities, I strongly recommend an elimination (i.e. white rice) diet and/or trip to the allergist (assuming your insurance will cover it). I honestly don't think it will directly affect your weight, but if you do find and eliminate any problem foods, you will probably feel much healthier.

I eliminated dairy from my diet about 50lbs into my weight loss journey, and it made an enormous difference in how I feel. I've always had allergies (environmental - never done the food testing) and asthma, and also have been at least semi-lactose intolerant (able to eat hard cheese, but if I drank milk I got sick). I read somewhere that people with disorders related to inflammation (allergies / asthma / arthritis / IBS, etc) frequently DO have some sort of food allergy / sensitivity. Since I already knew dairy didn't agree with me, I eliminated it entirely from my diet, and have had almost no allergies / asthma since. Seriously: I used to take advair / nasocort / allegra every day all year and nowadays I rarely even use my albuterol inhaler (and didn't take a single pill at all last fall / this spring). No allergies. It's amazing.

But like I said, I don't really think it contributed much to my weight loss directly. Indirectly, feeling healthier has been a huge motivator to eat clean and exercise, but I credit my weight loss primarily to simply eating 1500 cal/day / keeping a diary / walking. Although I suppose cheese and ice cream have a lot of empty calories that are no longer in my diet.

Hope one woman's anecdotal evidence motivates you to at least explore further. To my mind, anything that involves you listening to your body and changing accordingly can't hurt weight loss. And not feeling lousy sure makes exercise easier!

You might want to read this site about food allergens and testing.

http://www.alcat.com/

There are blood tests that can determine if you have food allergies. I know because at one point I was having a lot of digestive issues and we thought they might be food allergies. According to my allergist, the tests sometimes yield false positives but rarely yield false negatives. I also know, because I have friends with children that have food allergies, that it is very hard to pinpoint food allergies through an elimination diet. So if you think you have food allergies, I would strongly suggest seeing an allergist and having the blood tests.

I have very severe environmental allergies, but no food allergies (well, I seem to be allergic to Brazil nuts, but that's it). My digestive issues were all the result of taking decongestants in pill form (Claritan D) for many years. Once I stopped taking the Claritan D, my digestive issues cleared up. Foods that I absolutely could not eat when I was on Claritan D are now no problem whatsoever. If you have environmental allergies and have been taking a decongestant in pill form for many years (I took Claritan D on a daily basis for something like ten years) and are having digestive issues, you might want to talk to your allergist about this as well. I now take a combination of Zytec (the anti-histamine only, no decongestant) and Nasonex (a decongestant in the form of nasal spray) and it works just as well as the Claritan D did. And I can eat whatever I want. According to my allergist, the pill-form decongestants work by constricting your blood vessels throughout your body, including in your digestive system, which can result ultimately cause digestive problems. The nasal sprays target only your sinuses, making them more effective and less likely to cause other problems.

I also have to say that, given my experience with Brazil nuts, there's no way I would crave food that I'm allergic to. My reaction to Brazil nuts is very unpleasant (my ears and throat itch and swallowing becomes very painful), there's no way I would want to eat them.