Who Said I Can't Eat That? - Food Intolerance

It's easy to get confused between food allergy and food intolerance. Although the two conditions are quite different, the symptoms are often similar. Both are adverse reactions or symptoms that take place every time contact is made with a particular food or food ingredient.

Very often, people mistake food intolerance for food allergy . Food intolerance is much more common than food allergy, and is the less serious of the two conditions. In food intolerance, the body reacts whenever a particular food or food ingredient is eaten, but the body's immune system is not involved.

Food intolerance can be caused by a number of things, such as a defect in how the body processes food. Certain types of food intolerance are linked to specific conditions. For example, lactose intolerance is when the body is not able to digest lactose (milk sugar) because of low levels of the enzyme needed for this (lactase). Lactose intolerance causes abdominal symptoms such as bloating and diarrhoea, and is more common in older children and adults. Almost any food can cause an intolerance, but there are some types of intolerances that occur more than others:

Lactose intolerance, a condition in which a person cannot digest the sugar found in dairy products, is one of the most common food intolerances. A sensitivity to naturally occurring food chemicals can cause symptoms of intolerance. These chemicals include salicylates, natural preservatives found in a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts and spices; amines, produced during fermentation, aging and ripening, and glutamate, an amino acid found naturally in all protein foods.

Some food additives can also cause food intolerances. Many processed foods contain additives that function as preservatives, colourings or flavour enhancers. A specific type of intolerance can develop to the protein in wheat and other grains called gluten. This condition is called coeliac disease, and it is estimated that 1 in 300 Australians are affected.

Symptoms of intolerance are sometimes vague and can include a combination of the following: headache, fatigue and irritability, gastrointestinal problems such as bloating and wind, diarrhoea, nausea and indigestion, aggravation of eczema or asthma, and joint pain. Food intolerances can sometimes mimic symptoms of other medical conditions - it is important to get checked out by a medical practitioner to eliminate other problems first.

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