Life around us is slowly returning to normal, and we all find ourselves sluggishly shifting back to our traditional routines. Are you noticing, however, that you are feeling a bit more sluggish than usual? Like your turkey coma and sugar crash just haven’t worn off the way that they should have done days ago? It’s possible that you may be dealing with a sugar intolerance as a result of your holiday celebrations. While different from a sugar allergy, it is a serious health change that you should learn about.
Sugar intolerance vs. sugar allergy
The core difference between a sugar intolerance and a sugar allergy is in how they impact the body. A sugar intolerance is when your body can no longer able to digest sugar effectively, and this creates an intolerance or sensitivity. Sugar can still pass through the body, and it doesn’t harm your body to digest it, but it is often uncomfortable to do so.
A sugar allergy, on the other hand, is when the body understands sugar as being an attacker, and the immune system creates a response to destroy it in the body. Eating sugar can be damaging on the body if you have an allergy to it, as an immune system response involves the heart, lungs, and more. Any allergic reaction can change from a skin rash to difficulty breathing with no warning.
Did you make yourself intolerant to sugar?
When it comes to understanding which you are suffering from, the timeline is important. If you were totally fine with sugar before the holiday, and now you’re not, you are most likely dealing with sugar intolerance. When you have too much of something in a short period of time, it can overload the body, and the body is then unable to digest that particular ingredient properly. When it comes to the holidays and sugar, it’s easy to see how this could be a problem.
It is, however, possible that you’ve had an allergy to something and not know it — for instance, raw ingredients versus cooked ingredients. While a sugar allergy is rare, it is still possible that you could be dealing with an allergy to one form or particular kind of sugar (for example, cane sugar versus cinnamon sugar or even stevia or other sweeteners).
What to do about it
If you’re concerned and not sure what to do about a sugar intolerance or potential sugar allergy, take the time to get a test done for either or both. These tests can be done at home, and they can offer you the peace of mind that comes with knowing what you’re dealing with. Not only that but taking an intolerance or allergy test can help you note any other kinds of problems that you didn’t know you were dealing with.
While it’s not a pleasant thought to think that you may have given yourself a sugar intolerance over the holidays, it is important to know whether you are dealing with that or something more like a sugar allergy. A test will be the trick to tell you which you’re dealing with so that you can help yourself get back up to speed again and feeling better than ever.
