Table of Contents
Food intolerance or allergy? Here is the question that often arises when symptoms such as sudden weight loss, nausea, digestive problems, skin reactions. The question is that the signs of a possible food intolerance or an allergy to some foods really are very similar and this only creates further confusion.
The power supply affects our well-being (in a positive and negative way) and therefore has more or less important repercussions on everyday life itself. Consequently, eat well and understand what makes us feel less good, it is essential to better treat the condition.
Food intolerances are very common in the population. However they do not constitute a danger to liferather they can cause some problems. To then arrive at a diagnosis, they are necessary several exams and here it is your general practitioner or specialist who comes to the rescue. This is in fact one of the first steps to take when the classic symptoms of a possible food intolerance occur frequently.
So how can we recognize food intolerances and what can we do? We deepened the subject with the Doctor Laura Giori, Nutritionist Biologist.
What are
«Food intolerances are adverse reactions to food characterized by a difficulty of the organism after the ingestion of a certain food or one of its components. For example, there are reactions pseudo-allergic from foods rich in histamine or histamine-liberators, intolerances towards pharmacologically active substances naturally present or intentionally added to foods (additives), intolerances from enzymatic deficiencies (lactose intolerance) », explains the doctor.
It can also happen that a person has several food intolerances. In this case, the diagnosis will be more accurate.
Causes
«The causes of these adverse reactions they are not fully known. The hypotheses vary from a genetic and familial predisposition, to intestinal infections, up to problems during weaning ».
Foods associated with food intolerances include:
Symptoms
“THE most common symptoms I’m:
These are symptoms that most often appear a few hours after a meal. Some of these then, are similar to those attributable to conditions of the digestive system, such as the irritable bowel syndrome. However, specific tests and a careful and accurate diagnosis are useful in understanding the cause of the malaise.
What is the difference between allergy and intolerance?
«Allergy and intolerance are often mistakenly confused with each other due to the similarity of symptoms:
- food intolerances are “chronic” and characterized by a slow onset of symptoms. They are not caused by the immune system and they are dose-dependent, i.e. the reaction strictly depends on the quantity of the food not tolerated or is produced by deficiency of an enzyme (as in the case of lactose intolerance).
- in the case of allergies instead, the reaction is acute, arises in a short time and it is always the immune system that recognizes a specific substance, regardless of the quantity. In allergic reactions IgE antibodies come into play»Continues Dr. Giori.
It can be of great help to keep a sort of “food diary” and in which to note:
- the foods consumed at each meal;
- any subsequent symptoms / side effects;
- when symptoms occur.
It is a tool that can be of support to the specialist in order to better understand the foods that cause adverse reactions.
What to do
«If food intolerance is suspected, it is appropriate consult your doctor base, which, once the situation has been assessed, will prescribe appropriate examinations (for example the lactose breath test) and in case, if necessary, will indicate the specialists to contact. Do-it-yourself is highly discouraged and trusting unqualified people who offer tests that are not scientifically validated (for example, hair tests, IgG4 assays, cytotoxic tests, Alcat tests, iridology) », concludes the expert.
In general, therefore, it is good to keep symptoms like those described above under control. If these are not isolated but frequent signs, the advice is to talk to your doctor to evaluate the tests to be carried out. In the event of a diagnosis of food intolerance to one or more foods (or its components), a personalized diet can give good results.
Read also
