Conditioned Food Avoidance & Sensitivity
My interest in food sensitivity fear developed over the last thirty years. Many clients described a vicious cycle of fear, restriction and worsening symptoms, which devastated their mental and physical health. I went on a quest to develop positive language and ways to talk with clients about food sensitivity fear. The literature on behavioural conditioning is an excellent framework for understanding this vicious cycle.
Based on the behaviour conditioning model, I developed two terms to discuss this topic with clients.
Conditioned Food Avoidance
Diet restriction driven by food-symptom associations. The associations can be:
Accurate: leading to a beneficial restriction (i.e., driven by a component in the food).
Inaccurate: leading to over-restriction.
Conditioned Food Sensitivity
Reactions driven by food-symptom associations.
In other words, fear and negative expectations create or intensify unpleasant sensations.