Woman loses 5 stone simply by discovering her food allergies

After battling weight issues for years, one woman discovered that inflammation caused by allergic reactions was stopping her from slimming down.

Meet Katrina Buening from Missouri, USA. Having struggled with her weight since she was a teenager, she decided that something wasn't right and investigated what could the problem could be.

At her heaviest, Katrina weighed 17 stone. Now, she's shed a whopping 5st 7lbs - and it's all down to one simple realisation.

As it turned out, Katrina discovered that she was allergic to certain foods, and the inflammation she experienced from eating them is what caused her to keep the weight on.

She's documented her journey extensively on her Instagram and her blog, Kat Meets Kale. She wrote a post explaining her discovery:

'I have a lot of health issues that are directly related to food allergies.

'I was eating things that I didn't realise were hurting my body and this kept me in a constant state of inflammation and when we are inflamed it causes us to gain weight. I did that for a few years and that lead to a 100lbs weight gain.

'Before that I was always on a diet, even from a young age I was overweight and started my first diet at 13.

'I believe I always struggled with my weight because of my food allergies but I didn't start putting the pieces together until about two years ago and - once I figured it out - I saw massive results.'

Katrina found out that she was allergic to soy lecithin, yellow food dye and corn - common ingredients found in a lot of processed food products, as well as everyday health and beauty items.

Katrina even experienced an agonising allergic reaction to hair dye, which left her 'crippled up and in a lot of pain for a few days.'

She believes that inflammation is an issue that a lot of women are battling, but aren't aware of.

'It's becoming more and more common that you hear of women struggling with arthritic pain in their 20's & 30's! When I started my transformation, I was so crippled up at times, it was hard for me to walk. I had a constant low grade fever and couldn't figure out was was wrong with me,' she writes.

So, how does inflammation directly affect your weight? Katrina believes it's down to stress.

'The problem is if we are in a constant inflamed state, it puts stress on our bodies and it causes us to gain weight!'