It can often seem as if these uncomfortable reactions we have to certain foods have suddenly appeared in adulthood, whereas in previous years they were never an issue. However, the food intolerances you could be experiencing may have been developing throughout the previous years.
Some reports suggest that the symptoms of stress could be responsible for the flaring of symptoms for pre-existing food intolerances. It is important to note, that certain symptoms of stress are similar to those of food intolerance, such as fatigue, headaches and migraines. This results in people self-diagnosing themselves as having a food intolerance, even if there isn’t one present.
Differentiate An Allergy From Intolerance
Food allergies and intolerances are different from one another, despite people not always knowing how they vary. A food allergy involves an immune system response by the body, which does not occur with food intolerance. Most allergic reactions are often mild but they can also be very serious.
Food intolerance happens when the body has a chemical reaction to eating a particular food or drink. Additionally, food intolerance does not involve the immune system or causes a severe allergic reaction.
Understand What Your Food Intolerances Are
When trying to identify what foods are causing the issues, it can be challenging to do so. One of the reasons is due to the amount of problem food that has been consumed. In small doses, you may find that you do not experience any side effects. However, when you consume a vast portion, you may notice that it tends to trigger food intolerance symptoms. In turn, this makes it confusing in understanding what exactly you are intolerant to.
By taking a food intolerance test, such as the ones Check My Body Health provides, you can try to understand exactly which foods you are intolerant to. You can then adapt your diet accordingly. Depending on the severity of the symptoms you experience when consuming your problem food, there is the possibility that you can still consume foods that you are intolerant to. As long as it is done so in small amounts, there should be no issue. This is because food intolerance reactions can be on a varying scale.
Another way to determine which foods you are intolerant to is by removing the foods from your diet which you think are the issue. Start with the most common ones such as gluten and dairy and track your symptoms when foods from either of these groups are part of your diet.
Managing Your Diet
Unlike food allergies, you can re-introduce the problem food in your diet after avoiding it for an extended time. In doing so, you can enjoy the food without experiencing any of the uncomfortable side effects that used to arise. Although, if you wanted to eradicate the issue in its entirety, simply remove the problem food from your diet.
Even after eliminating certain foods from your diet, healing your gut is the next step to avoid fighting symptoms again. Various foods are considered to support a healthy gut, including fruits, vegetables and broths.
