Food triggers are foods that cause already-existing stomach issues to worsen. Maybe you notice that you feel bloated every time you eat an apple or your stomach hurts whenever you eat ice cream. Perhaps you have a gut feeling that certain foods cause issues for you but you aren’t entirely clear on which foods those are or how to identify them. 

Most people with stomach problems, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), have food triggers. Being able to identify your triggers is a critical part of your gut healing journey. Today, I am going to break down five simple steps you can take to help you identify your food triggers: 

Step 1: Keep a Food and Symptom Diary 

Start keeping track of everything you eat and any stomach symptoms you experience. This will help you identify patterns. For example, maybe you realize that each time you eat dairy, you become bloated. Or every time you eat out at a restaurant, it results in a stomach ache. 

A food and symptom diary can help you pinpoint possible food triggers. It’s also very helpful to have an expert take a look at your diary to help identify patterns as well. 

Step 2: Start Eating a Whole Food Diets

No, I don’t mean the grocery chain, Whole Foods. I mean food that has been processed or refined as little as possible, if at all. The traditional American diet is loaded with potential food triggers. Highly processed foods, such as chips and crackers, high sugar foods, such as sweets, and fast food are all potential triggers. I have found that most people with stomach issues will react to one or all of these types of foods. 

Sound familiar? Try cleaning up your diet and see what happens. This is an easy way to determine if processed foods and/or sugar is a trigger for you.

Tip: Avoid or limit your intake of processed foods, sugar, refined carbohydrates, and alcohol. Plan your meals around minimally processed and whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, meat, chicken, seafood, potatoes, whole-grains, and healthy fats. 

Step 3: Consider a Trial Elimination Diet 

An elimination diet is an effective way to determine food triggers, too. There are two main ways you can do this. One way is to pick a few foods you suspect are causing you issues, such as dairy, wheat, and sugar. Avoid these foods for up to two weeks to see if you notice a difference. If your symptoms improve, challenge them back into your diet one at a time to see which (if any) are causing a reaction. If your symptoms don’t improve, then those foods are not your food triggers or maybe you have more triggers in your diet that are yet to be discovered. 

Another way to do an elimination diet is to follow the low FODMAP diet for a period of two to six weeks. This will help determine if FODMAP foods are a trigger for you. FODMAPs are a group of carbohydrates that can be hard for the body to digest in sensitive individuals. Meaning FODMAPs is a common food trigger for people with IBS. Taking FODMAPs out of your diet for a period of time will help you determine if you have an issue with FODMAPs. If you feel better after taking FODMAPs out, then FODMAPs are most likely your food trigger(s) and you will need to re-challenge them back into your diet to determine which ones are causing you issues. If you don’t feel better after taking FODMAPs out, same as before, they probably aren’t your trigger and it’s likely you have other triggers that are yet to be identified.

Step 4: Take a Food Sensitivity Test 

People can react to general gut irritating foods (such as highly processed foods), food intolerances (such as FODMAPs and histamine foods), or have a food sensitivity (an immune response to food). Sometimes people will have multiple food triggers in multiple categories. For instance, maybe you react to some FODMAPs, highly processed foods, and have some food sensitivities. This can make keeping a food symptom diary or just guessing really difficult. I know it can be tricky — but trust me, if you take the time and seek assistance for figuring it out, you can get to the bottom of it!

Food sensitivities are also harder to pinpoint with a food journey or elimination diet because they are often delayed reactions, meaning you could have a reaction up to 72 hours after eating that specific food. So, your stomach could hurt today based on something you ate two days ago. A food sensitivity test will take the guesswork out of which foods may be causing your symptoms.

Step 5: Work with a Professional 

If it all seems like too much to understand, or if you feel like you are reacting to everything you eat, reach out to a professional. Sometimes it can be really hard to identify food triggers, especially if you have a combination of reactions to food sensitivities, intolerances, and general gut irritating foods. A professional can help you pinpoint exactly what triggers you have so you can start feeling better. 

This is what I personally do for my clients and I can help. There are a lot of us nutritionists and registered dieticians who specialize in this area, so if you are feeling stuck or don’t know where to start, reach out to a professional for help. 

Identifying food triggers and removing them from your diet is a very important part of your gut healing journey. It is really hard to heal your gut if you are constantly having symptoms from the foods you are eating. Removing the triggers gives your gut the space it needs to heal.