Episode: What Does Food Sensitivity Have To Do With Picky Eating?
Aired: JAnuary 12, 2026
Hi, and welcome to another episode—and another year—of our amazing podcast, How to Unpicky Your Picky Eater. I’m your host, Christine, and I am officially back after a bit of a break.
It’s been a really busy end of the year for us. We had a baby, so I’ve been deep in newborn life—feeding, all the mom things—so it’s been a lot. But I’m really excited to be back with a brand-new season. I even have a cool new sign, which feels like a slight upgrade from last year, and I’m pretty excited about that.
I wanted to start the year by talking about food sensitivities, because we’ve recently made a big change in our protocol. We have now added food sensitivity testing to all new incoming evaluations. Anyone who is doing a Roadmap with us will be receiving a food sensitivity test.
A lot of parents don’t fully understand the connection between food sensitivities and picky eating, or why their child isn’t eating well. So today, I want to break down why we do this testing, what it reveals, and how it actually helps children make progress with food.
Let me back up for a moment.
We live in a very toxic world. There are chemicals in our water, chemicals in our food, and because of that, a lot of people are becoming sensitive to foods they normally wouldn’t be sensitive to. And this is different from what most people think of when they hear the word “allergy.”
Most people are familiar with things like peanut allergies, lactose intolerance, or reactions to cow’s milk. Those are more immediate reactions. With an allergy, the body truly cannot tolerate a food or protein, and the reaction tends to be fast and obvious—things like throat swelling, difficulty breathing, or even anaphylaxis. Those reactions are serious and immediate.
What we’re talking about with food sensitivities is very different.
Food sensitivities are delayed reactions. The body might not respond for hours, or even days, after a food is eaten. And the reason this happens has everything to do with the gut lining.
The gut lining is incredibly sensitive and made up of multiple layers. There’s a mucus layer whose job is to keep food inside the intestines where it belongs. You can imagine food moving through the intestines like a tube—we want that food to stay contained within that system.
Over time, due to toxins and environmental exposure, tiny holes can start to form in the intestinal lining. When that happens, partially digested food particles can leak out of the intestines and into the body. This is what people often refer to as “leaky gut.”
You may have heard that term before.
When food leaks out into areas where it doesn’t belong, the immune system reacts. The body sees those food particles as a foreign threat and mounts an immune response. Essentially, the body is saying, “This doesn’t belong here. Something is wrong.”
As that immune response continues, the body becomes more sensitive to those foods, and secondary symptoms start to appear. This usually falls under the umbrella of inflammation.
Inflammation can show up in many different ways. Sometimes it looks like eczema or other skin issues. Sometimes it shows up as brain fog, attention challenges, bloating, gas, or general discomfort. There are so many possible symptoms, and often parents can’t pinpoint which food is causing the problem.
Just to give you a real-life example: I’ve done this testing on myself, and we recently did it on my husband. One of his biggest reactions came back to turmeric—something he eats all the time. He adds it to his shakes because it’s known for its anti-inflammatory properties and is generally considered “healthy.” But for his body, it’s actually highly reactive and something he shouldn’t be consuming right now.
The good news about food sensitivities is that they are not allergies. Once we heal the gut lining and repair those tiny holes, many foods can be safely reintroduced. The body stops reacting once the gut barrier is restored.
But if the gut isn’t healed, those foods will continue to leak out, and the immune system will continue to see them as a threat.
That’s why we test.
We want to make sure that the foods your child is currently eating are not causing physical discomfort or inflammation. Sometimes the results confirm what parents already suspect. For example, we had a child whose mom noticed itchiness when her child touched egg whites—and egg whites did, in fact, come back as reactive.
Other times, the results are surprising. A food might show up that your child eats all the time, or even something they never eat at all. Parents sometimes ask, “How is that on the list if they don’t even eat it?” And that’s because the test measures how the blood responds to specific food proteins—not just what’s currently in the diet.
The testing itself is very simple. It’s an at-home finger-prick test. You prick the finger, place five drops of blood onto a card, overnight it to the lab, and within one to two weeks, we have the results.
This is one important piece of the puzzle in understanding your child’s feeding challenges. If food is causing discomfort or inflammation, eating will never feel safe or easy for their body. We want food to work with their body, not against it.
Sometimes that means going backward to move forward.
I know that idea can feel scary—especially if your child already eats a very limited variety. Parents often worry about removing foods when there are already so few. And we are very thoughtful about this. We never do everything all at once. Every plan is case-by-case, and we take into account things like protein intake and appropriate swaps. We work closely with you to make sure changes are manageable and supported.
One of the new upgrades to our program is that it now includes eight implementation sessions, because these findings take time to integrate. Food sensitivities are just one piece. We’re also looking at stool testing, nervous system regulation, oral motor skills, and mindset. There are many layers we’re helping you work through.
This is just one slice of the pie—but it’s an important one.
When we later bring in stool testing, that helps us actively heal the gut so food is no longer leaking into the body and triggering immune reactions. Removing reactive foods is the first step in that process.
I’m incredibly excited that this is now a mandatory part of our program. In the past, the kids who completed this more advanced testing consistently made progress faster. Once the foods causing discomfort were removed, their bodies felt safer—and when the body feels safe, curiosity around food increases.
Parents sometimes say, “But my child doesn’t seem to have reactions.” And my response is always this: something is happening. If everything felt good in their body, they would naturally be eating more foods.
What we often see is that after eliminating reactive foods for a period of time, kids actually become more interested in eating because their bodies feel better. That’s what I mean by going backward to move forward. Sometimes removing a few foods temporarily is exactly what helps us move ahead.
Learn about our Roadmap Here: https://foodologyfeeding.mykajabi.com/mealtime-roadmap
