How do food intolerances develop?
Food intolerances are caused by your body not being able to digest certain foods or specific ingredients in foods. Food intolerances are very common, and it is important to acknowledge that intolerances are different from food allergies.
According to the IBS network (www.theibsnetwork.org), food intolerances are more common amongst those suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Whilst food allergies involve an acute immune reaction to a specific food, food intolerances are associated with more mild digestive symptoms after consumption.
These include the following:
Bloating
Excess gas
Stomach pain
Diarrhoea
Migraine, headache, brain fog
Sluggishness
“For food intolerances to develop, something has to have changed in the body. Foods that used to be eaten without ill effect, have become foreign and reactive”.
What could have happened?
While there could be different triggers, the obvious place to start looking for the answers is in the digestive system. Why? Because our digestive system contains more immune cells and produces more antibody signals than most other organs.
The gut lining acts as a second skin, highly sensitive barrier that protects the integrity of our internal environment, thus allowing the nutrients to be allowed into the bloodstream and protecting against the advance of harmful bacteria, undigested food molecules, bacteria’s and toxins.
If the barrier is compromised for any reason, causing a leaky gut, it fails to protect against harmful invasion, and then the immune system must take over. This results in multiple complex immune reactions, production of antibodies that cause food sensitivities and chronic low-grade inflammation.
What causes the damage of the gut lining in the first place?
A multitude of causes: from nasty gastroenteritis, antibiotic and painkillers usage to high levels of stress and poor diet. The prevalence of leaky gut and food intolerances are on the rise.
So what can be done?
You can make a start by paying attention to what foods affect you and eliminate them from your diet for 2-3 weeks. It is challenging to keep excluding foods. Restricting your diet long term could have equally negative effects. Your gut needs all the support and help it needs to repair itself.
Healing the damage takes time but can be achieved with good quality nutrition, targeted supplementation, and lifestyle changes.
Would you like to find out more about your gut? Take our free gut health quiz below.
