Understanding Food Reactions: Why Foods Affect People Differently (Ep 096)

One of the central goals of the Autoimmune Protocol is figuring out which foods work for you and which ones don’t. But when a symptom appears after eating a food, what actually counts as a food reaction—and does every reaction mean the same thing?

In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott explores the science of food reactions and why they can look so different from person to person. She breaks down the major categories of reactions, including food allergies, celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, digestive intolerances, and reactions to specific compounds in foods.

Mickey also explains why a reaction and its underlying mechanism aren’t necessarily the same thing, and why that distinction matters when personalizing your diet. She explores how dose, timing, preparation, digestive function, and other factors can influence food tolerance, plus why a reproducible reaction can still provide useful information even when science can’t yet explain exactly why it happens.

• The many ways a food reaction can show up, including changes in autoimmune symptoms
• The difference between a food reaction and its underlying biological mechanism
• How food allergies, celiac disease, food sensitivities, and digestive intolerances differ
• Why dose, timing, preparation, and digestive function can influence food tolerance
• How compounds like histamine and sulfites can trigger symptoms in some people
• Why meaningful food reactions can occur even when we don’t fully understand the mechanism
• Why food reactions can be difficult to identify when symptoms fluctuate
• How AIP elimination and reintroduction help identify the foods that work for you

• The Autoimmune Protocol: theautoimmuneprotocol.com
• The New Autoimmune Protocol by Mickey Trescott

00:00 – Understanding what constitutes a food reaction

03:24 – What can a food reaction actually look like?

07:29 – Food allergy: When the immune system reacts to food

15:22 – Gluten reactions: Celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity

21:54 – Food intolerances: When digestion and absorption are the problem

27:35 – Reactions to compounds in food: When it isn’t the food itself

35:37 – Why food reactions can be so hard to figure out

40:06 – Bringing it back to AIP: Finding the foods that work for you

42:06 – Wrap-up and closing