It’s Not the Broccoli: The Real Roots of Food Sensitivities on ‘The Art of Being Well’

Food sensitivities are one of the most confusing aspects of modern wellness. You’re eating clean, doing “all the right things,” and yet your immune system still reacts negatively to foods that seem harmless. On The Art of Being Well, Dr. Will Cole breaks down why this happens—and why it’s usually not the food that’s the real problem.

Understanding the real meaning behind reactive foods

A significant theme is that food sensitivities aren’t always about the food itself. Cole explains that sometimes your body confuses one protein for another, which can make the results look more dramatic than they genuinely are.

“It’s not an egg sensitivity in this case, it’s a gluten sensitivity to eggs,” he explains to a listener who calls in complaining about an egg sensitivity. “Your body is tagging eggs with a gluten antibody because it’s that albumin. The egg protein is similar enough in structure to gluten that it is creating the immune system. It’s a mistake in identity.”

That “mistake in identity” can send people down a rabbit hole of unnecessary food eliminations, especially when they’ve been trying to avoid gluten and still feel off. When their results come back loaded with reactive items, the list may appear to be the problem. But Dr. Cole points out that the test itself may be capturing a deeper issue.

One listener shares that her food sensitivity test “lit up like a Christmas tree.” Dr. Cole explains that this kind of result doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve suddenly developed dozens of food sensitivities. “All labs are snapshots in time,” explains. “And when you see a food sensitivity test lit up like a Christmas tree, it is more of a sign of leaky gut syndrome or increased intestinal permeability and less to do about those whole foods.”

So, the next time you get a food sensitivity test that looks alarming, don’t panic and eliminate your entire fridge. The test isn’t telling you that every food on the list is the enemy. It’s telling you something “upstream” needs attention.

Why symptoms can feel unpredictable

When it comes to actual food sensitivities, people can experience a wide range of symptoms. “For some people, it can be severe symptoms—digestive issues, brain fog, skin issues, fatigue…And for some people, it could be mild and certainly delayed,” Dr. Cole notes.

This is precisely why food sensitivities can be so confusing—you don’t always get an immediate or obvious reaction. Sometimes it appears two days later as a headache, or your skin flares up out of nowhere, or you feel exhausted. That’s because your immune system simply works on its own timeline.

It really isn’t the broccoli

One of the clearest moments in the episode comes when Dr. Cole says, “It’s not poor broccoli’s fault that it’s escaping your gut lining and getting into your blood. That’s your gut lining.”

Broccoli, or any other food for that matter, isn’t the villain. Your gut barrier is just overwhelmed. “Removing broccoli, maybe for a time, will reduce that inflammatory response, but it didn’t fix why it escaped the gut lining in the first place,” he explains. “If we keep eliminating foods…you’re going to end up with the next set of things.”

While removing reactive foods may provide temporary relief, it doesn’t address the underlying problem. And if the gut stays inflamed, your sensitivity list will just keep getting longer.

Looking upstream instead of downstream

Dr. Cole emphasizes that there are always root causes of food sensitivities. “Maybe it’s more than the gut, that maybe there are other things happening,” he says. “We’re talking about environmental components, stress components. Is there something that you keep trying to fix the downstream issue and not the upstream issue?”

Instead of micromanaging every ingredient, the work is about understanding what’s compromising the gut in the first place. It’s not the broccoli. It’s not the eggs. And it’s definitely not you. It’s about resolving the real root so your body can respond the way it’s meant to.

Read Next

• Fertility Rates are Dropping, and Dietitian Lily Nichols Says Nutrition Plays a Role
• The Surprising Lab Discovery That Sparked a Skincare Revolution on ‘The Art of Being Well’
• On ‘The Art of Being Well,’ Jillian Turecki Shares How Owning Your Patterns Can Transform Your Relationships