Food Is Medicine… But What If Food Is Also the Problem?

Meg O'Rourke
8 minutes ago
4 min read

If you have been doing “everything right” and still do not feel like yourself, you are not alone and you are not failing.

This happens every day.

People clean up their diet. They remove sugar. They exercise. They follow medical advice. Their blood tests come back “normal.” And yet they continue to experience symptoms like bloating, fatigue, joint pain, skin reactions, anxiety, brain fog, weight loss resistance, or chronic inflammation.

When this happens, the issue is rarely effort or compliance.

It is usually missing information.

Why Do I Still Have Symptoms If My Labs Are Normal?

Conventional laboratory tests are designed to diagnose disease, not to assess optimal health or early dysfunction. Standard blood work often only flags results once a problem has reached a diagnosable threshold.

That means food-driven immune responses, food intolerances, inflammation, or digestive imbalances can go unnoticed for years.

So when someone is told their results are “normal,” what that often means is:

Nothing meets the criteria for a diagnosis, but something may already be off.

This is where food sensitivity testing changes the conversation.

Instead of asking, “Is this a disease?” We ask, “How is the body responding to food?”

Can Food Really Be Causing These Reactions?

Yes. Very often, it can.

Food sensitivities are different from food allergies. A food allergy, typically mediated by IgE antibodies, can cause immediate symptoms like hives, swelling, asthma symptoms, or anaphylaxis. These reactions are often diagnosed by an allergist using skin testing or blood tests.

Food sensitivities, on the other hand, are commonly associated with IgG antibodies and delayed immune responses. Symptoms may appear hours or even days after eating certain foods, making them difficult to identify without testing.

Food sensitivity symptoms can include:

Bloating, diarrhea, or digestive discomfort
Migraines or headaches
Joint pain or inflammation
Eczema, rashes, or skin flares
Fatigue and brain fog
Mood changes or anxiety

Studies suggest that many people are reacting to foods they eat every day without realizing it. Gluten, dairy, wheat, milk, eggs, and lactose-containing foods are common triggers, but they are not the only ones.

Why Elimination Diets Often Fall Short

Elimination diets are often recommended as a first step, but they come with limitations.

Symptoms may appear immediately or 48 to 72 hours later. Foods often contain multiple ingredients. Reactions can overlap. And many people end up cycling through restrictive diets for months or years without clear answers.

This can lead to confusion, nutritional gaps, and frustration.

Food sensitivity testing removes the guesswork.

By analyzing immune responses to specific foods through a blood sample, we can identify which foods are triggering inflammation and reactions in the body. This allows for a targeted elimination diet based on data, not trial and error.

This is personalized nutrition, not restriction.

What Does Food Sensitivity Testing Show?

Food sensitivity testing evaluates how the immune system responds to specific foods by measuring antibody levels, typically IgG. Results help identify patterns of immune activation that may be contributing to symptoms.

Depending on a person’s history and symptoms, testing may include:

Food sensitivity testing
Food allergy testing when appropriate
Digestive or microbiome analysis
Inflammation markers
Micronutrient and vitamin levels

When test results are viewed together, they provide meaningful information about how food, digestion, and the immune system are interacting.

Food comes first. Supplements are used only when necessary and in appropriate doses.

This is information, not fear.

A Real Example When “Normal” Was Not Enough

I recently worked with a patient who had a long history of asthma, migraines, skin issues, and frequent medication use. She had seen multiple doctors and had years of “normal” lab results.

Through food sensitivity testing and digestive analysis, we identified immune reactions to specific foods along with gut imbalances that were driving inflammation.

Once those triggers were removed and her nutrition was personalized:

Migraines decreased
Asthma symptoms improved
Medication use was reduced
Sleep and energy improved

This was not a trend or a guess. It was a response guided by data.

Why Guessing With Supplements Can Make Things Worse

Supplements are often marketed as harmless, but they are not risk-free.

Taking supplements without understanding absorption, interactions, or underlying deficiencies can worsen symptoms or create new problems. Too much of certain nutrients can increase inflammation or interfere with immune balance.

Functional testing helps determine:

What the body actually needs
What is unnecessary
What may be contributing to symptoms

Your results determine the plan, not marketing claims.

What “Test, Don’t Guess” Really Means

It means using food sensitivity testing and targeted assessment to build a health strategy based on how your body responds, not generalized advice.

At Harmony With Food, the focus is on identifying triggers, understanding immune responses, and using nutrition as a therapeutic tool. Supplements support the process when appropriate, but food is the foundation.

This approach is: