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In today’s episode, Dr. Carrie Jones is joined by James LaValle, Author, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist, and Educator. They discuss food intolerances, food allergies, and gut health.

Key Takeaways from this episode:

1. Food Issues Symptoms: Food is the most significant thing that drives your health. Besides the obvious signs of food conditions, there are symptoms like anxiety, mood disorders, weight gain, joint and muscle discomfort, cardiovascular disease, cognitive function issues, and fatigue.

2. Food Allergy Versus Food Sensitivity: An allergy represents a hypersensitivity reaction that could be life-threatening. When you get an allergic reaction, your airways shut down, you wheeze, get hives, and have itchy skin. Food sensitivity takes longer before it manifests, you may not even see the reaction to the food for up to seventy-two hours after you have eaten it. A sensitivity reaction will not be as dramatic, but initial signs of issues include reactions in your gut, immune system, and other parts of your body.

3. How Food Affects Your Intestines. Your intestine has a lining of epithelial cells which are only one cell layer deep. In between these cells, there is something called tight junctions, which are responsible for absorption. Any food can change the epithelial cells of your intestines and disrupt tight junctions. As a result, you either start getting bacteria that get into the circulation and create an immune system response, or the foods aren't getting broken down. So when your gut barrier loses its integrity, you start to react to certain foods.

James LaValle is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board-certified clinical nutritionist, educator in integrative and precision health, and founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises. He has over thirty-five years of experience integrating natural and integrative therapies into various medical and business models. Dr. LaValle has also authored sixteen e-books and twenty books, was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine, and was one of only nine Americans selected to serve under Senator Harkin to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau.