Food Allergies vs Food Sensitivities: What’s the Difference?

Sometimes the words Allergies and Sensitivities are used interchangeably when discussing testing and treatment and that can cause a lot of confusion. Both allergies and food sensitivities occur because your immune system accidentally identifies the protein of a particular food as the enemy and attacks it, however, each word refers to a very different immune response with very different symptoms and testing and treatment options.

A food allergy is an immediate hypersensitivity immune response to the ingestion of—or exposure to—a particular food. The symptoms happen immediately (within seconds to an hour) and are often obvious, making the culprit quite clear. Symptoms may manifest as hives, sneezing, runny nose, difficulty breathing and anaphylaxis. Shellfish and peanuts are two examples of some of the most common and deadly food allergies. This type of food allergy is typically identified through the IgE blood test. However, because this type of reaction is so immediate and intense, people usually have these figured out pretty early in life and avoid them.

Food “sensitivities,” or intolerances, are when particular foods cause irritation and inflammation at a delayed rate. You may not notice any symptoms until days after you have ingested the foods, and even then it will be difficult to pinpoint what caused the discomfort. For example, many people experience digestive issues, frequent colds, eczema flare-ups, joint pain, even hypertension. All of these symptoms can be the delayed reaction to a particular food sensitivity. This might mean that you have difficulty absorbing that particular food, that it is overloading the liver, or you lack the enzyme support to digest this food item efficiently. Food sensitivities can be tested via NAET or a IgG blood test.

To help you identify the substances that negatively impact your health, at INSPIRIT we have a variety of tests available to you that range from immediate energy-based testing to laboratory blood panels. We offer the IgG and IgE blood tests and we also use Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques (NAET).