It’s nice to think that we all know what our bodies are capable of doing, or that we understand happening everything that’s going on in them. However, this is often not the case. Food intolerances, for example, can often go missed for years simply because their symptoms are often thought to be unrelated to food. One example of this is sugar intolerance.
What is a sugar intolerance?
Just like any other food intolerance, sugar intolerance is when your body is physically unable to digest sugar as a food ingredient in something. For reasons that are still under investigation, certain food ingredients can be digestible by the body, and some can’t. These “cans” and “cannots” vary depending on the person.
Anything with sugar in it (sometimes it is natural sugars only, or artificial sugars only) is unable to be effectively digested by your tract, and this will create a series of symptoms that will be mild or severe depending on the intolerance itself.
Symptoms of sugar intolerance
This is not a full list, but these are some of the common symptoms that often get missed for living with a sugar intolerance:
- Flatulence and bloating: Whether it’s excessive bloating or just subtle bloating, this is a sign that you are dealing with digestive issues. Flatulence and a noisy stomach (making lots of grumbling and rumbling noises) are also less than pleasant signs to watch for immediately after, or hours after, eating sugar products.
- Coughing and sneezing: From congestion to coughing to sneezing (and generally feeling sick), it could actually be a sugar intolerance and not the sudden onset of a cold that you hadn’t noticed. This is especially easy to notice if you felt fine before the meal and then the next morning, too.
- Nausea and vomiting: Nausea is horrible to deal with, but it is common in those with sugar intolerance. It can stay as nausea, or even result in the severe need to vomit. If this is the case, it may not be just something “bad” that you ate; it could actually be your body’s way of telling you that it doesn’t want or like sugar.
- Fatigue and joint pain: While it is often normal to feel tired after a large meal if you are dealing with severe fatigue after a sugary treat, it could be something else entirely. This is also the case with muscle soreness or joint pain that appear immediately after eating something sweet, or hours later.
As you can see, it’s understandable why sugar intolerance symptoms often get assumed as being something else. They’re so unrelated and seemingly random. But, timing and food logging will help you know for sure.
Discovering that you have a sugar intolerance can certainly put a damper on your baking-related activities. However, there is something worse than finding out you have a sugar intolerance: not finding out that you have a sugar intolerance, and simply feeling under the weather and dealing with digestive issues for (seemingly) no reason at all. Sure, an intolerance means a diet change, but it’s better than being in pain from a cookie!
