Unlike immediate food allergies, which cause swift and sometimes severe reactions, delayed food sensitivities are often hidden culprits behind chronic symptoms such as fatigue, bloating, skin flare-ups, and joint pain. These sensitivities involve immune system responses that occur hours or even days after consuming a trigger food, making them difficult to detect without proper testing.

Inflammation is your body’s natural response to injury or infection. It’s a crucial part of the immune system’s defence mechanism. Acute inflammation is short-term — think redness, swelling, and heat around a wound. Chronic inflammation, however, is a slow, persistent process that can silently damage tissues over time.

Food sensitivities, often referred to as delayed hypersensitivity reactions, are different from food allergies. Instead of an immediate immune reaction, they usually involve IgG (Immunoglobulin G) antibodies and cause subtle but chronic symptoms — such as bloating, brain fog, fatigue, and inflammation — hours or even days after consumption.

Many people use the terms food allergy and food sensitivity interchangeably. However, the two are very different — both in how they affect your body and how they should be diagnosed and managed. Misunderstanding them can lead to unnecessary restrictions, persistent symptoms, or even missed diagnoses.