Are you suffering from any of these symptoms? Abdominal pains, aches, and pains, acid reflux, asthma, arthritis, bloating, constipation, chronic fatigue syndrome, diarrhea, eczema, fatigue, fibromyalgia, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), headaches, lethargy, migraine, nausea, rashes, rhinitis, sinusitis, skin problems, stomach cramps, tension, hives, weight loss or weight gain, wheezing or bad complexions? You may suffer from food allergies or intolerance if you have one or more symptoms.
If your doctors have treated you for any of the above complaints without relief, it may be time to suspect food allergies or intolerance as the root causes of your misery. These ailments are caused by food allergies and food intolerances, which will only disappear once the specific food is identified and eliminated from the diet. You can prevent the above symptoms and ailments by eliminating the offending foods. Prevention rather than treatment is the key. No amount of creams or medications will make the symptoms disappear. For sufferers of food intolerance and food allergies, the problem is that usually, it’s the symptom that gets treated, not the cause leading to a lack of sustainable cure.
However, some people suffer symptoms after eating certain foods even when they are not producing antibodies against them. Various mechanisms can cause foods to affect people in this way. These non-immune reactions are known as food intolerances.
FOOD INTOLERANCE is much more common than food allergy and unrelated to the immune system. The onset of symptoms is usually slower and may be delayed by many hours after eating the offending food. The symptoms may also last several hours, even the next day, and sometimes longer. Intolerance to several foods or a group of foods is not uncommon, and it can be much more challenging to decide whether food intolerance is the cause of chronic illness and which foods or substances may be responsible.
The symptoms caused by food intolerance are varied. They usually cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, irritable bowel. They can include skin rashes, acne and sometimes fatigue, joint pains, dark circles under the eyes, night sweats, and other chronic conditions.
Food intolerance can have several different causes:
Enzyme defects
Enzymes are required to help break down natural substances found in certain foods. If these enzymes are missing or in short supply, eating the food can cause symptoms because the body cannot correctly deal with part of the content of the food.
In lactose intolerance, for example, the body may lack the enzyme lactase that breaks down lactose, the sugar in the milk, into smaller sugars ready for absorption from the gut. Lactose is too large to be absorbed across the gut wall undigested, and its presence in the gut causes gut spasms, pain, bloating, diarrhea, and ‘failure to thrive.’ Incidentally, these same symptoms can occur in milk allergy, when the body has made antibodies to milk protein, which causes an immune reaction when you drink milk. Hence, you cannot always distinguish allergy from intolerance by symptoms alone without expert help. Most Africans are lactose intolerant as we do not produce milk in most of Africa, and thus our bodies were not built with the enzyme to digest milk. Even our northern cows do not produce milk in commercial quantity. Therefore the milk we consume in Nigeria is imported and thus foreign to us and alien to our digestive system.
Most foods require some enzyme activity in digestion, and enzyme deficiencies can be an essential factor in food intolerance.
Other causes of food intolerance are naturally occurring chemicals in the food that affect the body. Such substances as caffeine in coffee, tea, and chocolate or amines in certain cheeses can produce an adverse reaction in some people. Suppose you are food intolerant to a particular food item. In that case, you can usually eat a little of it occasionally, but adverse reactions will increase as you eat that food item.
Other causes of food intolerance may be naturally occurring substances that can exert a toxic effect, causing symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. In cases such as undercooked beans or chickpeas, some aflatoxins cause these symptoms. If they are cooked thoroughly, the toxins are not present. It needs to be clarified for someone who tolerates food sometimes but not at other times.
Histamine in foods
Some foods contain histamine naturally, and certain fish and most seafood, and other foods that are not fresh or not stored properly can develop a build-up of histamine. In certain people, this histamine occurring naturally in the food can cause symptoms when the food is eaten; typically, rashes, stomach pains, diarrhea and vomiting, asthma, and even an increase in blood pressure.
Salicylates in foods
Many foods naturally contain salicylates, and our tolerance to this can vary. Most people can eat salicylate-containing foods without problems, but others may suffer symptoms if they eat too many foods that contain a large amount when combined. Salicylate-intolerant people will get better if they eat a diet of low and moderate salicylate foods and avoid those with the highest levels.
Additives in foods
Various natural and artificial additives are used in coloring, preserving, and processing foods. Some people can suffer symptoms provoked by hypersensitivity to food additives and preservatives.
Unfortunately, many fruits are now genetically engineered to become very sweet and attractive in color. They are also grown with pesticides and fertilizers, so many people have become allergic to them and have thus become fructose intolerant. The mostly sour pineapple we used to eat differs from the deliciously sweet pineapple now available. This sweetness is sugar. Overconsumption of fruits by a fructose-intolerant person will lead to arthritis, bad skin, bloating, and many other ailments.
The time between eating the food and getting symptoms depends on many factors. If the food is only consumed occasionally, symptoms may start immediately after the food is eaten, after two hours, or even up to two days later. However, this is different when the food is being consumed regularly. In this case, adverse reactions to the food will run into each other every time the food is eaten, leading to chronic, almost continual symptoms.
How is Food Intolerance recognized?
Identifying food allergies and food intolerances the traditional way is complex. It involves keeping a food diary, recording reactions, and eliminating foods until the intolerant food is finally identified. The diagnosis is usually made by removing the suspected food from the diet (an exclusion diet) and seeing if symptoms improve. In food intolerance, a wide range of symptoms may occur, and multiple signs are usual and can be general and non-specific, making diagnosis tricky. It highlights the need for attention to detail, recording everything fully in a food and allergy symptom diary, and working with a dietician.
Management of food intolerance.
At Mart Life Detox Clinic, we identify food allergies and food intolerances by our Bioenergetic test, which can specify whether a person is a fructose, lactose, histamine, or gluten intolerant and also determine the type of food the person is intolerant or allergic to. The Bioenergetic testing is based on Interfacing Resonance Analysis Technology.
After the biogenetic test, the patient is advised to start an exclusion diet that excludes the foods she is intolerant of and allergic to. The patient is advised to stay off the intolerant food for three months. After this time, the patient can introduce the food slowly into the diet and eat it occasionally, no more than once weekly or once every two weeks. Usually, most people can tolerate eating these foods sometimes without bringing back the negative symptoms. More frequent consumption of these foods will get back the symptoms. Each person will need to establish their tolerance threshold. After weeks or months of not eating the food, you may be able to restart eating the food again without getting adverse reactions. It is known as tolerance, and its maintenance depends on establishing the threshold of both frequency and quantity for each person. In other words, eating the food occasionally may be tolerated, but reintroducing it in large amounts or regularly (e.g., every day) might lead to symptoms coming back. It is purely individual, so working this out and not restricting the diet more than is necessary is a significant consideration.
Eliminating certain foods due to intolerance or allergies requires replacing foods with other foods of similar nutritional value so that one is not lacking in essential nutrients. Embarking on such diets involves a lot of dedication and planning, but the results can be life-changing for the better.
Choosing the right time to start the diet for you and your family is essential – avoiding starting the diet during holidays or significant celebrations is recommended, as sticking to the diet will become more challenging. But straying from the exclusion diet during holidays and the festive season comes with a price, as the negative symptoms will come rushing back. After the holidays, the diet must be restarted as soon as possible to regain your health.
In a few people, underlying conditions such as an infestation of parasites and fungus, bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens can cause symptoms or worsen food intolerances. The biogenetic test will also reveal these pathogens so that they can be effectively treated. In some cases removing these parasites will also remove the food intolerance and allow one to enjoy some of the food not previously tolerated again. 
Picture showing excess fructose from smoothies.
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