Is Fear of Gluten and Dairy Making You Sick and Bloated?

The Power of Beliefs and Expectations About Food

What and how we think about food can effect the way we feel and the way our body functions as much as the food itself, if not more.

Do certain foods scare you? Can you think of any food that if it was put in front of you you would rather starve than eat it? And if for some reason you had to eat it you would worry about its after effects – the possible food hangover as my friend Dana calls it, poor digestion including post meal bloating?

During my stay at Omega Institute for the professional mindful eating training, I realized that a lot of foods and even more food combinations bring on a cringing reaction in me. Soy, cheese melted on beans, over-abundance of gluten and soy by-products, marinara sauce, or pretty much any sauce in a bottle, peanut butter, earth balance create a strong physical sensation in my body even if I just look at them. If I ate them the physical reaction such as lower energy, bloated stomach, puffiness, was an expected and predictable effect of acting against the wisdom that I possessed. Or so I thought…

I haven’t differentiated between emotional feelings towards the food that is strongly determined by our beliefs about that food and the actual physical effects of the food on my body if I were to act from a place of exploration without any preconceived beliefs.

Should Certain Foods Be Banned?

Many people believe in ‘everything in moderation’ approach while others believe that certain foods, like wheat, dairy, soy, processed sugar, should not be consumed by humans. To take the later approach even further, some functional medicine practitioners would say that certain foods can trigger a chain reaction with negative symptoms from cravings, to water retention, from bloating, to runny nose. If someone has a food sensitivity even a small dose of the food will be enough to lead to unpleasant symptoms. In this case it is best to avoid the food altogether according to these experts.

However, the question is whether the reaction someone gets is triggered by an actual reaction to a specific food or if unpleasant physical symptoms stem from the psychological fear of specific food.

What if the physical reactions are not caused as much by the food itself but by an expectation and a belief that there will be such a reaction? If some one who believes that dairy is difficult for digestion, acidic and mucus forming ends up in a situation where she eats some dairy, and later feels tired, bloated, and get a runny nose do we attribute it to a food sensitivity or a strong placebo effect. Would you feel the after-effects if you didn’t know that they are coming?

Often the fear of eating a certain food or a food combination is set by the outer experts, not our Inner Wisdom (not our body’s intuition).

I work with a lot of women who know so much about the food industry and food, that they feel scared of food. They can name an array of negative side-effects about almost any food. Since our mind is incredibly powerful, our beliefs and expectations tend to manifest themselves into reality. If you expect to feel bad after eating something, chances are pretty good that you will!

We end up in an interesting paradox: a society where food is abundant and affordable, more and more people claim that they have very few options to eat.

I believe that being paranoid about food can hurt you more than the food itself. Being fearful is not conducive to healing your digestion or any other part of your body.

Fear of food = indigestion!

Let Me Help You

If you have foods that you are fearful of or that raise a lot of anxiety, I would love to help you figure out if those feelings are stemming from your Inner Wisdom or if you picked them up from somewhere else. I would like to help you feel more aligned with your intuition when it comes to nourishing your body rather than self-imposed restriction that might not be based in reality.

I can give you tools that will help you figure out whether the fear is your inner wisdom or a belief that was instilled in you by someone you look up to.

To celebrate this summer bikini season, I will bring down the price of 1-1 session from $200 to $128. This price is valid only until Fri, June 28th.

This session is an hour spent getting into the heart of your beliefs around food and an introduction to mindful eating that nourishes your body without overloading your digestion. It is designed to bring more awareness to your eating patterns that might be holding you back from the body that you dream of and ways to let go of the eating habits that don’t serve you anymore. It’s a chance to reinvent your relationship with your body and your food

You are the only person on planet Earth who can decide which approach to nutrition is right for you. I want to give you tools to feel empowered and confident when making choices around food.

During 1-1 sessions I provide:

Support and guidance for women who want to feel vibrant energy, no fear around food, and be comfortable in their own skin
Support in diet transitions, reducing bloating, irregularity and habit change
Guidance in nutrition choice for your body type, reducing bloating, emotional eating
Tools that I use: mindfulness meditation, ayurveda principles, breathing, positive psychology, visualization