Nausea. Fatigue. Brain fog. The signs of a food intolerance are sometimes subtle and easy to dismiss. Only once people take a test, identify the intolerance, and remove it from their diet do they wonder how they ever coped.
Continually ignoring these symptoms can lead to lifelong problems. Often, people may turn to medications and other interventions to solve symptoms they attribute to other causes. Yet, no matter what they do, the symptoms persist.
Here’s why you should get tested to see if your symptoms are signs of a food intolerance.
1. Long-Term Health Complications
Most signs of a food intolerance are relatively benign. While gastrointestinal discomfort or fatigue aren’t pleasant, they’re not overtly harmful, right?
Well, food intolerances often cause continuous, low-grade inflammation and damage to the gut lining. Introducing foodstuffs, your body cannot tolerate, triggers an inflammatory response. If left untreated, this inflammation can compromise the integrity of the gut wall.
In fact, some cases of intolerance are due to “leaky gut syndrome.” In this condition, toxins, undigested food particles, and even bacteria escape from the intestines and enter the bloodstream. Suddenly, the localised problem is now a systemic issue.
Such systemic inflammation is associated with numerous chronic diseases, including autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes. Only by addressing the signs of a food intolerance can the body’s digestive system recover and the inflammation resolve.
2. Nutritional Deficiencies
One of the most common signs of a food intolerance is stomach discomfort. Diarrhoea and bloating soon follow. While in the Western world, diarrhoea is a treatable condition, for many countries, it’s a common cause of death.
Regardless of its treatability, it can cause nutritional deficiencies in the long term, as the food in your gut is insufficiently absorbed into the bloodstream. This malabsorption of vitamins, minerals, and other key nutrients will affect your body’s function regardless of how balanced your diet is.
Such deficiencies can have wide-ranging effects, from weakened bones and compromised immunity to anaemia and cognitive impairments.
Alternatively, a nutritional deficiency is likely to occur if you begin to avoid certain foods without correctly identifying the intolerance or adequately replacing the essential nutrients these foods provide. For example, someone intolerant to lactose might cut out dairy products, potentially leading to a calcium and vitamin D deficiency, unless they seek alternative sources or supplements.
3. Worsening Symptoms Over Time
The signs of food intolerance aren’t static; they change over time. Depending on the underlying cause, symptoms can worsen due to stress, illness, and other factors.
Worsening symptoms create a cycle of discomfort and health issues that escalate in severity. Initial symptoms may seem relatively benign – think bloating or headaches. However, persistent consumption of such foods will exacerbate the body’s response, driving further inflammation and leading to more severe health effects.
We know that allergies evolve over time. Children frequently “grow out” of certain allergies. Others, on the other hand, see spiralling symptoms as the condition becomes more and more severe.
4. Poor Quality of Life
Living with the signs of a food intolerance is no picnic. Even so-called “benign” symptoms can have an enormous (and hard to appreciate) impact on your life.
Take brain fog, for example. It won’t cause an immediate problem, nor is it life-threatening. However, a persistent inability to think with clarity can diminish your career prospects, enjoyment of life, and even interactions with others. Persistent mistakes at work due to this symptom may lead to job losses or missed promotions. It’s no joke.
Then, there are even more severe symptoms: diarrhoea, rashes, nausea, acid reflux, and more. Individually, they’re bad enough, but affected individuals often navigate a constellation of life-changing symptoms. It’s little wonder that mental health problems plague food intolerance sufferers.
5. Detrimental Impact on Mental Health
Life’s already hard enough without adding further problems. The constant anxiety about suffering an embarrassing bout of bloating or diarrhoea can significantly affect people’s mental health. Such a psychological toll comes from the chronic nature of the condition.
This fear of unexpected signs of food intolerance can escalate into more profound mental health challenges. Anxiety and depression, from the stress of managing and concealing the condition, have a significant emotional impact.
Moreover, the physical symptoms themselves, like chronic fatigue and headaches, can directly impact mood and cognitive function, further exacerbating feelings of frustration and helplessness.
Don’t Live With the Signs of a Food Intolerance
You don’t have to put up with the signs of a food intolerance. Thanks to advances in testing, you can narrow down the potential culprits, identifying the cause behind your condition. Follow these steps to enjoy a symptom-free life:
- Keep a Food Diary: Track everything you eat and drink, along with any symptoms you experience, to identify patterns or specific foods that might trigger your symptoms.
- Notice Immediate vs. Delayed Reactions: Understand that symptoms of food intolerances can vary in timing, from immediate to several hours or even days after consumption, making tracking and identification crucial.
- Take a Food Intolerance Test: Consider undergoing medical tests that can help identify specific food intolerances. One popular test uses a small blood sample to identify immune reactions to certain foodstuffs.
- Perform an Elimination Diet: Gradually remove suspected foods from your diet for a period, then reintroduce them one at a time to observe any changes in symptoms. This method can help pinpoint the exact foods causing issues.
Allergy Test’s Allergy and Intolerance Testing Kits are the gold standard for home testing. Simply order a kit, take a finger-prick of blood, send it off, and get your results via email or our app within 7 days. It’s that simple!
Live a life free from the signs of a food intolerance. Buy a test today!
