It is believed that 2 million people in the UK are living with a food intolerance. How do you know if you have an intolerance and is that different to an allergy?
The rise in ranges of food outlets and product ranges offering allergy free ranges such as gluten free or lactose free is being driven by consumer demand. So how do you know if you have an allergy or an intolerance to a certain food type?
What is a food intolerance?
An intolerance is a sensitivity to a certain food or range of foods. Symptoms of intolerance range from mild discomfort to extreme intestinal pain, diarrhoea, tiredness, and bloating. This is a wide and pretty vague list of complaints, after all when was the last time you felt tired? Did you consider it might be a food intolerance? It’s not likely.
Not only are the symptoms wide and vague, they can take up to 72 hours to start. This makes it very difficult to diagnose accurately. There are likely to be many different foods that you have consumed in the time before your symptoms, making it very difficult to isolate the culprit.
As a nutritional therapist, my approach often involves identifying potential dietary triggers and inflammatory foods for clients. We initially eliminate these from the diet and focus on gut healing. Gradually, we reintroduce foods, ensuring optimal digestive health before diversifying the diet. My goal is to support clients in achieving a broad and varied diet for overall well-being.
If you think that you might have an intolerance to certain foods, you could follow this process yourself. Start by cutting out suspected foods. Then, you need to allow time for the digestive system to heal and take time to reintroduce foods one at a time.
What is a food allergy?
Officially there are 14 foods which are classified as allergens and they legally have to be put in bold on the ingredients list of packaged foods. Unlike a food intolerance the symptoms of a food allergy are very fast to show and usually much more severe. Reactions can include sore eyes, swelling of the lips, constricting throat and in severe cases can cause death (about 10 people a year die from food allergies in the UK).
Most people will find out they have an allergy to foods as a child. However, it is possible to develop an allergy at an older age, or simply to not have eaten the foods previously.
Is Coeliac Disease a gluten allergy?
Coeliac disease is given its terminology, because it isn’t a gluten allergy, it is an autoimmune disease. Whilst gluten is the trigger, it is much more complex than that. Autoimmune diseases are when the body does not recognise its own cells and attacks the body. In coeliac disease, this happens in the digestive system when they eat foods containing gluten.
Some people have very severe reactions to gluten, much like an allergy, and will be diagnosed at an early age. However others with coeliac disease will have symptoms similar to that of an intolerance which means it can often go undiagnosed for many years. Autoimmune conditions are genetic, so if a family member has coeliac disease you are more likely to have it yourself. The only way to be sure is to take a test, which can be arranged by a nutritional therapist (such as myself) or your GP.
If you want to know more about coeliac disease then please listen to my podcast episode 19 where I interview Anna Pagett from That Coeliac Lifestyle. And this episode where I talk to the Gluten Free Little Cook, Nicky Chilvers about her journey creating delicous treats for her daugher who has coeliac disease.
Is lactose intollerance a food intolerance?
Lactose intolerance is different again. It is genetic miscoding that means the body does not correctly make the digestive enzyme lactase, or possibly not make it at all. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks down lactose in the digestive system. Up to 70% of the population cannot correctly process lactose after the age of 5.
Due to the advances in technology in nutritional genetic testing we are now able to ascertain if people are able to efficiently make the lactase enzyme which is coded by the LCT gene. Genetic polymorphisms on this gene can mean you might not create the enzyme correctly, or possibly not at all. Testing will give you the information so that you know whether you are able to create lactase or not. This is something that needs to be done by a qualified genetic nutritionist, if you would like to know more about this type of testing please book an introductory call with me.
What should I do if I think I have an intolerance to some foods?
In all cased the first point of call should be your doctors. You need to rule out anything more serious such as coeliac disease. Once you are sure that there aren’t any underlying health issues then you have two options. Seek professional help from a nutritionist such as myself or try to work out the cause yourself.
- Food Diary – this is often the first step people will take. Keep a diary of all the food and drink you consume, along with any symptoms you have. The hope is that by keeping a diary you will start to see a pattern emerging and can limit or remove trigger foods.
- Elimination diet – this involves totally removing anything that you suspect you have an issue with. Then after a period of time slowly re-introducing those items. There are different ways you can do this, some are more effective than others, but if you are going for a full elimination diet it is advisable you do this with support of a nutritionist.
- Intolerance Testing – there are many intolerance tests available and there is still much discussion in the nutrition world as to their effectiveness. They are reliant on you consuming a trigger food within the last few weeks. I use a laboratory called YorkTest, link to the test.
- Genetic testing – find out your personal ability to process foods such as gluten and lactose by testing your genes. This will allow you to create a truly personalised nutrition and lifestyle plan find out more.
I am a qualified Nutritional Therapist who specialises in helping clients optimise their health in mid life. Digestive systems often flare during perimenopause and it can be difficult to differentiate what’s menopause and what’s not. f you feel you are struggling with your energy levels and suffering with digestive issues and would like to talk to an expert I offer free 20 minute consultations, you can book directly here
