Food Intolerance Symptoms
Food intolerance is a medical condition that is often confused with food allergies and food poisoning. This is because they share many of the same symptoms. However, food intolerance is a specific condition where an individual is unable to digest a particular type of food. For example, a person with lactose intolerance will be unable to digest milk, since it has a strong concentration of lactose. In this case, the cause is often inadequate amounts of lactase, an enzyme of the digestive system that is required to break down the lactose in milk. Food intolerance produces symptoms similar to irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, diarrhea, and stomach pain. Other symptoms of food intolerance are bloating, eczema (dry skin), constipation, depression, migraines, and asthma. Similar symptoms may be produced by a food allergy, where the body’s immune system produces a strong reaction to certain proteins in food, mistaking them for invading microorganisms. Common food allergies include nuts, fish, shellfish, milk, wheat grain, and soy. As you can imagine, both food intolerance and allergies are long-term chronic conditions. In contrast, food poisoning is characterized by accidental contamination by bacteria of any food item.
Treatment and Cure for Food Intolerance
There is no cure for food intolerance and treatment is based on identifying and avoiding the particular food that causes the condition. However, this is not an easy task. Most patients are sensitive to particular food chemicals that are found in a variety of sources. For example, salicylate is a naturally occurring food chemical that is responsible for many food intolerance cases. However, this chemical can be found in drugs such as paracetemol and many natural foods, including citrus, strawberries, cherries, apples, tomatoes, and wine grapes. Another natural chemical that causes reactions in some patients is amine, which can be found in chocolate, avocadoa, bananas, tomatoes, and wine grapes. In addition, every individual experiences different levels of symptoms, which depends on the quantity of the food chemical in the diet, and the individual’s ability to process it before experiencing a reaction (sensitivity). All this complexity makes it important to visit a specialist for tests that can help identify the triggering foods.
Treatment mainly consists of lifelong diet management to ensure that the patient is not exposed to foods that cause reactions. A dietician or hospital can provide a list of approved foods for the common types of food intolerance. This helps to maintain nutrition levels despite avoiding certain foods. Many patients can also build up resistance to specific food chemicals by following a doctor-approved diet.
