There are two words which come up in my clinic often: Food Intolerance. Food intolerance is an inflammatory response to the ingestion of a food substance.
I spend a lot of time in my clinic looking for ways to reduce the ‘inflammatory load’.
Why?
Because I am hard-pressed to think of any condition that is not caused or made worse by inflammation.
I thought I would share with you a real case from my clinic to illustrate the influence of underlying food intolerance on health and wellbeing.
Please note, the client has given permission for their case to be shared, however all personally identifying information has either been changed or omitted to protect their identity.
Client: adult early twenties.
Main presenting issue: diagnosed keratosis pilaris with bumps covering 90% of facial cheeks, arms, and thighs. The bumps are a mix of red, white-head, and skin-colour in appearance.
Other factors of note: generally, in good health. Experiences mild hayfever on occasion and bad breath.
History: Client cannot remember a time when they did not have keratosis pilaris which has become worse over the years. Has tried daily moisturising and steroidal creams on the advice of their Dr, however these provided only temporary relief. Was given antibiotics a couple of times when young but otherwise has not had them much since. Both parents have a history of reactive inflammatory issues (allergies, hayfever, food intolerances).
Keratosis pilaris is a benign inflammatory condition which causes tiny pimple-like bumps generally on the arms, thighs, buttocks, and cheeks. This condition is considered incurable, more common in children, and likely to resolve on its own by 30 years of age.
Naturopathic treatment: administered the FIT 130 food intolerance test, a scientifically valid and reliable measure of an individual’s inflammatory response to 130 different foods (including yeast). Results from this test identified two foods to which the client was highly reactive – both which were eaten daily by the client. The client was instructed to remove these two foods completely from their diet for one year. Several other low reactive foods were identified and placed in the diet on a rotation basis. I also discussed basic healthy diet guidelines with the client. No supplements were given.
Follow up at 2 weeks: client was struggling to completely remove one of the reactive foods from their diet, we identified which foods this item was likely to be in, acceptable alternatives and where to source them. No change at this point in the keratosis pilaris observed.
Follow up at 4 weeks: client managed to completely remove the two highly reactive foods and was following the rotation guidelines. No change in the keratosis observed.
Follow up at 8 weeks: Client was very happy, there was approximately an 80% improvement in the keratosis pilaris. Client reported a couple of occasions when they consumed small quantities of one of their highly reactive foods, otherwise they were managing well.
Follow up at 12 weeks: Client’s facial cheeks were completely free of the kerotosis bumps which they were very happy about. There were still some bumps remaining on the arms and thighs, however an overall 95% improvement was observed since the initial appointment. Client reported they consumed small quantities of one of their highly reactive foods on a few occasions but otherwise were sticking to their treatment well. At this point I introduced two supplements: a prebiotic and a substance which stimulates the body’s natural anti-inflammatory/ antioxidant processes.
Follow up at 6 months: Client presented with complete recovery from kerotosis bumps, in addition they reported general skin improvement, ‘a great improvement in hayfever’, and an overall improvement in their general sense of health and wellbeing.
Conclusion: It appears in this case the client’s keratosis was related to an inflammatory response. Identifying and removing foods which were driving inflammation assisted in reducing their overall inflammatory load and eventual resolution of the keratosis pilaris. Interesting isn’t it.
Things to Consider:
• Improvement did not happen straight away, changes occurred slowly over several months. Clients often expect one appointment will lead to a resolution of their issues; I have only ever seen this occur once in my almost 20 years as a Naturopath. It takes time for dysfunction to set in, and it takes time to reverse that dysfunction.
• The client stuck to their treatment and kept with it over time which is why they experienced improvement. The biggest hindrance to improvement I witness in clients is not following treatment.
• The client presented with a long-standing condition (15+ years), however their presentation was relatively simple. Most often as Naturopaths, we see clients with long-standing complex presentations which require complex and long-standing care to support and/or correct. In such cases it is unlikely that one or two appointments will achieve anything significant.
Catherine x
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