Understanding intolerances and allergies
What is food intolerance?
A food intolerance or sensitivity is difficulty digesting certain foods and having an unpleasant physical reaction to them.
What are the differences between Allergies and Intolerances
A food allergy:
- Is a reaction from your immune system – your immune system mistakenly treats proteins found in food as a threat
- Can trigger various allergy symptoms that come on rapidly
- Is often to particular items – common food allergies in adults are to fish and shellfish and nuts, and in children to milk and eggs as well as to peanuts, other nuts and fish
- Can be serious
A food intolerance:
- Doesn’t involve your immune system – there is no allergic reaction, and it is never life-threatening
- Causes symptoms that come on more slowly, often after many hours
- Only results in symptoms if you consume reasonable amounts of the food (unlike an allergy, where just traces can trigger a reaction)
- Can be caused by many different items
Food intolerances and sensitivities more often display symptoms that are related to the digestive system. Individual extreme cases are also linked to chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue. The most common symptoms include:
Bloating
Fatigue
Headaches
Changes in bowel movements
Reducing symptoms through elimination
A large number of food intolerance symptoms can often be reduced through the implementation of a food elimination diet and improved gut health.
Eliminating foods which are believed to be the cause of symptoms can allow the digestive system time to adjust and reset.
There also could be a need to improve gut health and rebalance gut bacteria levels also in this time.
Remember!
Allergies and Intolerances/Sensitivities are different and you should consider the following:
Allergies and Intolerance/sensitivities are different conditions presenting with different symptoms and causes
Intolerances/sensitivities (food and non-food) symptoms can occur up to 72 hours after contact
Allergies usually present symptoms rapidly (up to a few hours) and are commonly at the more severe end of the reaction scale.
Intolerances/sensitivities are mostly uncomfortable and embarrassing and do not usually present any serious risk to overall health
Allergy symptoms can be serious and even life-threatening in some cases
Diagnosing and managing your food allergy – Understanding your IgE allergies
The prevalence of allergies is increasing throughout the UK.
As a chronic disease, the number of people suffering from an allergy is on the rise. Understanding the difference between allergies and intolerances can be very confusing.
Here at Test My Allergy, our open and honest testing procedure will give you all the information you need to choose the right test for you.
An allergy test that’s right for you.
We offer an at-home positive/negative Allergy Check Kit, helping you to find out whether you have an allergy with a non-invasive test before you invest in further testing. This simple 30 minute test is often a start for people who suspect they suffer from allergies, but are not sure of the trigger.
If you have already purchased your at-home Allergy Check Kit and receive a positive result, or already beleive one or more of the common allergens are the cause of your symptoms we offer our Allergy 35 test to narrow down the trigger items.
If you’re still struggling with understanding food sensitivities…
Yoga Magazine have released a new article on food sensitivity testing. This new article explains how it works, how it can be beneficial and several advice stories with positive health results towards food sensitivity testing. You can read the full article on our website! Click here to read more!
We’ve also put a list of food intolerance facts to help you further understand symptoms, affects and causes of food intolerances and we have a comprehensive page dedicated to the food allergy facts to help with more immediate and severe allergies.