by Mike Critelli,
Many of us know about obvious food allergies and intolerances - peanuts, shellfish, the lactose intolerance I discovered on my honeymoon. But what about the hidden dietary triggers behind your chronic headaches, seasonal allergies, or heart palpitations?
Beyond these obvious food issues, there are broader, less obvious connections with commonly-occurring medical conditions. AI large language models cannot replace licensed healthcare professionals, but they can be an extremely useful complementary tool to help zero in on root causes that healthcare professionals are unlikely to uncover.
Here's the reality: Medicare and commercial insurance pay healthcare providers to diagnose and treat diseases, not to identify root causes. AI can scan a broader landscape of food triggers faster and more reliably than time-constrained clinicians.
When Doctors Miss the Connection
The Racing Heart Mystery
Twice in my 20s in Chicago, and again at age 61 in Connecticut, my heartbeat spontaneously sped up to 180 beats per minute while at rest. Cardiologists diagnosed "spontaneous SVT of unknown origin" and prescribed Inderal.
In May 2010, another SVT episode sent me to Dr. Edward Schuster of the Stamford Health System. He didn't seem alarmed and said he thought he knew what was happening. When I arrived, he asked two simple questions:
Did you take a Sudafed decongestant pill today?
How many cups of coffee did you drink today?
I had taken Sudafed for severe spring hay fever and had unusually high coffee consumption because a restaurant server kept refilling my cup.
I gave up decongestants and strictly controlled caffeine. Dr. Schuster commented that I had just passed a free stress test with flying colors. The combination may have triggered all my episodes.
The Wine Connection
In 2004, two glasses of California white wine at a Los Angeles restaurant left me with excruciating abdominal pain for two days. Multiple specialists, countless tests—no answers.
Three years later, my sister mentioned she'd stopped drinking white wine for the same reason. Her doctor identified sensitivity to the sulfites used as wine preservatives. Sulfite sensitivity is linked to abdominal pain and many other symptoms. A simple connection that could have saved me years of wondering.
The Sugar-Allergy Link
I've had seasonal allergies since childhood. Antihistamine sprays, decongestants, allergy shots, and even deviated septum surgery at age 38—nothing worked.
In June 2019, Dr. Thomas Brunoski recommended changing my diet to reduce a high A1c level. He prescribed something resembling the Atkins diet: heavy on protein, low on sugar and simple carbohydrates.
By April 2020, I had lost 25 pounds and my A1c dropped to normal. But I also noticed something unexpected: my brutal spring allergies had virtually disappeared. My daughter Katie connected the dots—added sugars increased inflammatory reactions that had accentuated my allergic predisposition.
Why AI Changes Everything
When I query AI large language models about dietary connections, they reveal links between food practices and medical issues that don't appear food-related—musculoskeletal pain, headaches, seasonal allergies, respiratory infections.
Added sugars, food and beverage preservatives like sulfites, processed foods, and sodium in packaged foods can trigger or worsen a wide range of conditions. The recent FDA reversal on Red Dye #3 being "generally regarded as safe" shows how food additives can even trigger childhood hyperactivity.
Healthcare providers have 15-minute appointments and insurance pressures. AI can provide a much larger checklist of possible root causes that providers may not have time to identify.
Recent research reveals connections we didn't know five years ago. For example, people with diets high in ultra-processed foods or added sugars were more at risk of COVID hospitalization. A 2022 UK Biobank study entitled "Consumption of ultra-processed foods increases risk of COVID-19" is one of many suggesting this link.
The Opportunity
Our MoveFlux business is developing a browser-based solution to help patients with this root cause analysis. We're building tools that don't replace doctors, but arm both patients and providers with better data for more targeted treatment.
Imagine walking into your next appointment not just with symptoms, but with AI-identified patterns linking your migraines to specific preservatives, or your joint pain to particular food combinations.
We can experiment with dietary changes to isolate root causes tailored to our individual metabolism. Healthcare professionals we consult also need the best available information to diagnose and treat whatever issues we present.
Drawing these links could transform how we think about our health and the partnerships we establish with our healthcare providers. That's personalized medicine powered by data—and it's what we're building now.