Steve
19-10-2005, 02:34 PM
Symptoms Of Food Intolerance
Most people affected with food intolerance will have experienced some of the following symptoms:
Migraines/Headaches
Unexplained Fatigue
Abdominal Pain
Bloating
Frequent Diarrhoea
Constipation (Sometimes accompanied by piles)
Nausea
Depression and Mood Swings
Eczema and other skin conditions
Irritable Bowel SyndromeHow Is Food Intolerance Recognised?
Testing for food intolerance is done by avoiding what are believed to be culprit foods, and then re-introducing them one by one. This is called an elimination diet and should always be done with the aid of a qualified dietician. Although this may be a kind of allergy, an abnormality of immune system response to the food, as yet the cause is not understood.
Certain features help to distinguish true food intolerance reactions from those that might be a result of some quite different causes unrelated to food.
Symptoms are not immediate. The time relationship between eating a food and getting symptoms depends on many factors. After four or more days of deliberate avoidance of the food, symptoms may occur almost immediately after eating, to several hours later or a few days. However, time relationships are quite different when the food is being consumed on a regular basis and has not been excluded.
Symptoms are usually multiple. In food intolerance a much wider range of symptoms may occur and multiple symptoms are usual. The conditions listed below are caused or provoked by food intolerance. Asthma A reaction to food and food additives may be involved in 5 to 10 per cent of asthmatics. Urticaria Nettle rash or hives, 10 to 15 per cent of cases may relate to food allergy/intolerance. The above have been shown to be linked to particular organ systems such as gastrointestinal, central nervous system and cardiovascular, and so conform to medical convention. However, in practise when food intolerance is involved, such conditions rarely exist alone: the sufferer having symptoms relating to a number of
different organ symptoms.
Somatisation
Doctors have come up with the term somatisation disorder to explain the patient with a wide range of apparently unrelated symptoms who has no abnormal pathological tests. The term means an illness is caused by psychological distress manifesting itself through the soma (body) as opposed to through the (pschye) mind.
Cutting foods from the diet may cause withdrawal effects. Worsening or development of symptoms may be the result of deliberate or accidental avoidance of the culprit food. In this situation, reaction to the food often occurs when it's omitted from the diet, a kind of withdrawal effect.
Getting Help
If you think that food intolerance might be your problem, and you feel that you need help to investigate it, then you should begin by asking your family doctor. Although the investigation of food intolerance can be made by making simple changes to your diet, in practise it can be very helpful to have someone to instruct you in how to go about it. This type of approach is not without risk and pitfalls, and the guidance of an experienced health professional will help you to avoid getting into difficulty. Reaching the wrong conclusion and committing yourself to unnecessary diet restriction is the most common risk.
If you do contact you family doctor, you must remember that many doctors will discount food intolerance except when faced with the most obvious case. Although the concept is well recognised, the breadth of possibly related symptoms, and the range of foods that may be involved will be considerably underestimated by most. However, if you appear genuine in your desire to look into this possibility, most family doctors will realise that it's better for you to do this with proper help, than without it.
At the hospital allergy clinic there may be a dietician with experience in the investigation of food intolerance who may be able to help. Your doctor will be able to refer you.
Information Taken from Living Allergy Free (http://www.absoluteallergy.com/) Magazine
Most people affected with food intolerance will have experienced some of the following symptoms:
Migraines/Headaches
Unexplained Fatigue
Abdominal Pain
Bloating
Frequent Diarrhoea
Constipation (Sometimes accompanied by piles)
Nausea
Depression and Mood Swings
Eczema and other skin conditions
Irritable Bowel SyndromeHow Is Food Intolerance Recognised?
Testing for food intolerance is done by avoiding what are believed to be culprit foods, and then re-introducing them one by one. This is called an elimination diet and should always be done with the aid of a qualified dietician. Although this may be a kind of allergy, an abnormality of immune system response to the food, as yet the cause is not understood.
Certain features help to distinguish true food intolerance reactions from those that might be a result of some quite different causes unrelated to food.
Symptoms are not immediate. The time relationship between eating a food and getting symptoms depends on many factors. After four or more days of deliberate avoidance of the food, symptoms may occur almost immediately after eating, to several hours later or a few days. However, time relationships are quite different when the food is being consumed on a regular basis and has not been excluded.
Symptoms are usually multiple. In food intolerance a much wider range of symptoms may occur and multiple symptoms are usual. The conditions listed below are caused or provoked by food intolerance. Asthma A reaction to food and food additives may be involved in 5 to 10 per cent of asthmatics. Urticaria Nettle rash or hives, 10 to 15 per cent of cases may relate to food allergy/intolerance. The above have been shown to be linked to particular organ systems such as gastrointestinal, central nervous system and cardiovascular, and so conform to medical convention. However, in practise when food intolerance is involved, such conditions rarely exist alone: the sufferer having symptoms relating to a number of
different organ symptoms.
Somatisation
Doctors have come up with the term somatisation disorder to explain the patient with a wide range of apparently unrelated symptoms who has no abnormal pathological tests. The term means an illness is caused by psychological distress manifesting itself through the soma (body) as opposed to through the (pschye) mind.
Cutting foods from the diet may cause withdrawal effects. Worsening or development of symptoms may be the result of deliberate or accidental avoidance of the culprit food. In this situation, reaction to the food often occurs when it's omitted from the diet, a kind of withdrawal effect.
Getting Help
If you think that food intolerance might be your problem, and you feel that you need help to investigate it, then you should begin by asking your family doctor. Although the investigation of food intolerance can be made by making simple changes to your diet, in practise it can be very helpful to have someone to instruct you in how to go about it. This type of approach is not without risk and pitfalls, and the guidance of an experienced health professional will help you to avoid getting into difficulty. Reaching the wrong conclusion and committing yourself to unnecessary diet restriction is the most common risk.
If you do contact you family doctor, you must remember that many doctors will discount food intolerance except when faced with the most obvious case. Although the concept is well recognised, the breadth of possibly related symptoms, and the range of foods that may be involved will be considerably underestimated by most. However, if you appear genuine in your desire to look into this possibility, most family doctors will realise that it's better for you to do this with proper help, than without it.
At the hospital allergy clinic there may be a dietician with experience in the investigation of food intolerance who may be able to help. Your doctor will be able to refer you.
Information Taken from Living Allergy Free (http://www.absoluteallergy.com/) Magazine