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Author: Wendy Busse, MSc, RD (Registered Dietitian)
Updated: May 2020
Through my work over the last twenty-five years, clients often noticed a mind-body connection. For example, internet research and constantly analyzing food made them feel worse. Also, restrictions often lead to further sensitivity. I created the term – conditioned food hypersensitivity – to put a name to this disorder.
Conditioned food hypersensitivity results from the limbic system’s overreaction to food. The limbic system is a region in the brain that produces behavioural and emotional responses, especially when we sense danger.
Conditioned food hypersensitivity likely develops from our negative experiences with food. The brain associates food with symptoms, and the limbic system sees food as dangerous. A limbic system reaction (fight-or-flight response) may lead to symptoms when we eat or even think about certain foods.
For a more detailed explanation, please see my next blog post – The Food Avoidance & Sensitivity Trap.
Physically-driven food hypersensitivity is not affected by the limbic system. Examples include celiac disease, immediate food allergy (i.e. peanut anaphylaxis), eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease and lactose intolerance. The underlying cause of these conditions is a problem with the physical body, not the mind-body connection. However, a limbic system overreaction can worsen physically-driven symptoms. Many people with physically-driven hypersensitivities get sucked into the Food Avoidance & Sensitivity Trap and suffer more than they need to.
Food hypersensitivity can be:
The graph below shows five examples of how physically-driven and conditioned food hypersensitivity can add to symptoms. The examples could be different people or the same person on different occasions. I have shown them in different colours, but in real life, they simultaneously contribute to symptoms.
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