Do you feel less healthy than you'd like? Do you have health issues that don't want to go away no matter what you do to try to alleviate them?

Have you been to doctors, only to have them tell you there's nothing wrong with you?

Health is not the absence of disease. It is a state of well being in body, mind and spirit. When you are truly healthy, you'll feel a zest for living, an abundance of energy to get up and go do the things you love to do. Anything less is not real health.

What makes it challenging when you go to the doctor not feeling well and you're told there's nothing wrong with you is that you know there is something wrong, but the tests just aren't picking it up.

You see, there isn't a distinct line between health and disease. In most cases, it's a gradual process. You don't go from healthy to having a disease overnight, unless you came in contact with something that causes an immediate reaction. Most of the time, there are shades of gray where you're not healthy, but you're not sick enough for the tests medical science has available to detect it.

Don't despair. There is hope.

Just because someone tells you there's nothing wrong with you and you feel lousy, doesn't mean you have to believe them.

Even though a doctor may have told you that you'll just have to learn to live with it, doesn't mean you do.

Here's Norma's story.

She was overweight, bloated and her body retained water. No matter how hard she tried, she could not lose weight. Dieting didn't help. Neither did regular exercise .

Norma was extremely fatigued. Frequently, when she came home from work, she would lie down and take a nap.

She also had indigestion. It was so bad that she couldn't sleep the night through no matter how tired she was. It would keep her awake for hours every night. It's no wonder she was so tired all the time.

On top of that, she was bothered by constant sinus drainage and twitching of her eyelids. Her right eye wouldn't remain open completely.

That's not all. Norma also had joint problems too. She could not stand up from a squatting position without help.

So, to say she had some health challenges is putting it mildly.

Norma was tested for food and chemical sensitivities. Seven months later, after avoiding her sensitive foods and following a rotation diet , all her symptoms were gone ... as long as she continued to avoid her sensitive foods. She was glowing. The before and after difference in how she looked is very dramatic.

How does this work?

When you have food sensitivities, your body is unable to completely digest the foods to which you are sensitive. The partially digested foods pass into your bloodstream and your immune system treats them as foreign invaders, like bacteria and viruses. It attacks them, causing an inflammatory reaction. As long as you continue to eat foods to which you are sensitive, you will continue to cause more and more inflammation to develop in your body and your health will decline.

It doesn't matter if the foods to which you are sensitive are "healthy" foods. They're not healthy for you. You can be sensitive to any food. For example, some of my sensitive foods are salmon, trout, grapefruit, kiwi, papaya, pineapple, red leaf and romaine lettuce, potatoes, gluten, whey and more.

The most frustrating part of food sensitivities is that most people don't know they have them because the reaction to the food occurs anywhere from three hours to three days after eating it. The symptoms they cause can be almost anything. The most common are digestive problems, headaches, migraines, joint pain and stiffness, arthritis, chronic fatigue, skin disorders, ADD/ ADHD and more.

How do you find out if you have food sensitivities?

You can do it on your own by following an elimination diet . However, this way can be very challenging and take a long, long time.

The best way to find out is to get tested. "The ALCAT Test is the most effective and comprehensive sensitivity/intolerance test available. It is the only test shown to correlate with clinical symptoms by double blind oral challenges, the gold standard."

Note: This is not a substitute for medical advice. If you have health problems, consult your physician.

Author's Bio: 

(c) 2012, Christine H. Farlow, D.C., customizing nutritional programs to meet your unique nutritional needs. Dr. Farlow provides nutritional consultations in her office and by phone. She addresses the cause of your health problems instead of the symptoms. Request a FREE Consultation to learn more about food sensitivities and how the ALCAT Test can help you improve your health at http://christinehfarlowdc.com/ . See the dramatic difference between Norma’s Before and After pictures at http://christinehfarlowdc.com/?page_id=907 .