What Is Food Intolerance? Symptoms, Causes, and Remedies

If you constantly notice bloating, gas, stomach ache or even diarrhea at times after eating the best food, the problem may not be with the food but with how your body is reacting to it. For many people, these are subtle signs that often get overlooked or blamed on stress. But in many cases, they hint towards something deeper, called “food intolerance.”

Unlike food allergies, which are immediate and obvious, food intolerances are quieter and build over time. It is increasingly common, with about 20% of the population affected by it.

What Is Food Intolerance?

Food intolerance is a digestive condition whereby your body is unable to digest a certain food or the ingredients in it. It’s not usually serious, but it can make you feel unwell. Another word for it is “food sensitive.”

An episode of food intolerance usually occurs after some hours of consuming that specific food. The symptoms are not life-threatening in most cases and may not even occur if you’ve eaten only a small quantity.

Causes of Food Intolerance

There are various reasons why a person is unable to break down a certain food or ingredient.

Lack of enzymes

Your body does not make enough of the enzyme that’s required to break down a particular food. For example, lactose intolerance occurs when your digestive system does not make enough “lactase,” the enzyme you need to break down “lactose” in milk and dairy products.

Celiac disease

It’s an autoimmune condition. Here, your immune system responds negatively to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, or rye.

Food additives

Additives like artificial colouring, flavours, preservatives, and enhancers can sometimes cause sensitivity. For instance, nitrates (in processed meat), Monosodium glutamate (MSG), and Sulfites (in wine, dried fruits, etc). Symptoms of Food Intolerance

If you are experiencing food intolerance, you will experience the following symptoms:

• Diarrhea
• Bloating
• Rashes
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Fatigue
• Abdominal pain
• Runny nose
• Reflux
• Flushed skin

Is it the same as a food allergy?

Many people often confuse food intolerance with food allergy. The umbrella term “food hypersensitivity” includes both intolerance and allergy. However, food intolerance is NOT the same as food allergy.

Food allergy affects your immune system. It happens because your immune system misunderstands the protein or any other ingredient in your food as a “threat” to your body. So, in response, it releases antibodies. You will notice symptoms like hives, swelling, wheezing, and even shortness of breath. These are all common allergic reactions.

Food allergies occur even when you eat a small amount of the food. The reaction time? Almost immediate (within minutes). What makes it worse? It can lead to a severe and life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis. In such a situation, the only treatment option a person has is an epinephrine treatment.

Common Types of Food Intolerance & Their Treatment

1. Dairy

Daily products contain “lactose,” a type of sugar. Your body needs an enzyme called “lactase” to break it down into smaller molecules for digestion and absorption. Lactose intolerance is the shortage of lactase, which leaves dairy products undigested.

It can lead to stomachache, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and nausea as well. Lactose intolerance is very common and can be diagnosed with the help of:

• Lactose intolerance tests
• Lactose breath test
• Stool PH test

Solution: Avoid milk and dairy products like ice cream. They may consume aged cheese and fermented items like kefir, as they contain less lactose compared to other products.

2. Gluten

Gluten is the protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. There are multiple conditions linked to gluten, and each one has a distinct response. Celiac disease: The immune system attacks the small intestine when you eat gluten and causes serious damage. That’s why it is called an autoimmune disease.

Wheat allergies: Your body produces antibodies in response to proteins in wheat, specifically.

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity: It’s a milder form of intolerance. Celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity have very similar symptoms. For example, bloating, headache, and diarrhea. Some people may even experience joint pain, skin rashes, and constipation.

Solution: Start following a gluten-free diet. This means avoiding bread, pasta, cereals, beer, crackers, and soy sauce, and other items.

3. Caffeine

Caffeine is a chemical found in coffee, energy drinks, tea, and sodas. It's a stimulant, which means it makes you alert. While most people can consume it fairly well, those with caffeine hypersensitivity have difficulty digesting and excreting it.

They can experience symptoms like increased heartbeats, anxiety, jitters, trouble sleeping, and nervousness even when consuming a small amount.

Solution: Limit the intake of coffee, soda, energy drinks, tea and chocolate.

4. Salicylates

Salicylates are produced by plants to defend against insects and diseases. It is, thus, naturally found in vegetables, fruits, teas, nuts, and honey. Salicylates can also be added to other foods as preservatives and in medicines.

Salicylate intolerance will show up in the form of a stuffy nose, sinus infections, asthma, diarrhea, and hives.

Solution: Avoid high salicylate foods like coffee, oranges, and raisins. Also, check if your cosmetic products and medications contain this compound.

5. Histamine

Histamine is a type of amine which is produced by bacteria during the storage and fermentation of food. As a chemical, histamine plays a role in your immune, digestive, and nervous system. Its role is to protect your body from infection by reacting immediately to the allergen.

For example, if an allergen enters your body, histamine will jump into action and trigger sneezing, itching and watery eyes so that the allergen leaves your body in some way.

Some people are unable to break down histamine, and it keeps building up in the body. This usually happens when two enzymes, which are responsible for breaking down histamine, don’t function properly:

• Diamine oxidase
• N-methyltransferase

Signs of histamine intolerance include flushing of the skin, headache, stomach cramps, and low blood pressure, among others.

Solution: Be careful of foods with high histamine. For instance, fermented foods, cured meats, citrus fruits, avocado, smoked fish, buttermilk, etc.

6. FODMAPs

FODMAPs stand for fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides and polyols. It’s a type of carbohydrate found in many foods.

FODMAPs travel to the large intestine, where bacteria break them down. This results in gas and bloating. Plus, FODMAPs are osmotic, meaning they draw water into your digestive system. This leads to diarrhea. FODMAP intolerance is very common in people with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).

Solution: Limit high-FODMAP foods like apples, honey, milk, bread, beans, and lentils.

Treatment Options for Food Intolerance

The treatment and management of food intolerance is rather simple. Here’s what it looks like –

Recognizing triggers

It starts with being mindful of what you’re eating and when the symptoms show up. Try tracking the pattern to identify which food is triggering the responses. There are medical tests that help you identify intolerances, too. For instance, breath tests, IgG blood tests, and advanced genetic testing.

Dietary changes

This involves either completely cutting down or limiting your intake of that specific food item. For instance, a gluten-free diet.

Managing symptoms

If you happen to experience intolerance, an over-the-counter medication, after consulting with your doctor, can relieve you.

NADZ Healthcare offers at-home food intolerance testing in Dubai.

Our DHA-licensed nurses and team members carry out private testing in the comfort of your home to help you make better choices about your food. They test for common foods like dairy products, gluten, eggs, soy products, tree nuts, shellfish, caffeine, and food additives. Get yourself tested and manage your diet better!

FAQs

What is food intolerance?

Food intolerance is your digestive system's response to a food item that it cannot break down and absorb. Some common symptoms are diarrhea, headaches, and hives.

What are the 5 most common intolerances?

Common food intolerances include lactose (dairy), gluten, histamine, caffeine, and FODMAPs.

What are the signs of food intolerance?

Food intolerance causes discomfort like bloating, gas, stomach pain, diarrhea, and nausea. These symptoms are not life-threatening and usually happen after a couple of hours.