Allergies and Intolerance to Foods and How to Identify Them

Are you tired all the time, sore and achy, stiff, nauseous just never quite feeling well enough? Have you been gaining weight steadily over a long period of time and just can't seem to lose it?

If so, would you believe that it could simply be your food that is causing the problem? Finding out if you are reacting to a specific food or food group and eliminating it from your diet could literally be life changing.

So how do you tell if your symptoms are due to a possible food intolerance?

Lets take this step by step,

The biggest problem in most advanced European countries and in the USA is a population that is largely over weight. I do not mean by a pound or two but by a significant amount.

Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is a common condition where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary.

"It is estimated that 64% of the United States adult population is considered either overweight or obese! A percentage has steadily increased over the last four decades." [1]

Food intolerance can often lead to a significant weight gain over time. Now, if you have a favorite food that you crave and eat often and feel hungry soon after eating, you may actually have an intolerance to that particular food.

The good news is that once you identify and eliminate the foods that you are intolerant to, you will experience a richer more satisfying state of health and steady and consistent weight loss.

So do you know what you commonly eat that could be hurting you?

Processed foods, and I am not referring to any chemicals in them but rather natural ingredients.

Take gluten as an example. Gluten is an important source of nutritional protein, both in foods prepared directly from sources containing it, such as wheat and as an additive to foods otherwise low in protein.

However if you suffer from headaches, joint pains or stiffness, arthritis, a lack of concentration, hives or other allergies, you could be gluten reactive.

Note: Between 0.5 and 1.0 percent of people in the United States are sensitive to gluten due to celiac disease.[2] Celiac disease is caused by an abnormal immune reaction to partially digested gliadin.

Unfortunately for most of us gluten is used as an additive in many processed foods and cutting it out of our diet completely may be very difficult. The good news is that like most things we may react to, the reaction may be mild if the food is eaten in moderation.

Another common allergy is lactose intolerance. This is more prevalent in non dairy consuming societies [3] but an issue in western society as well.

Lactose intolerance is defined as the inability to metabolize lactose, because of a lack of the required enzyme lactase in the digestive system. It is estimated that 75% of adults worldwide show some decrease in lactase activity during adulthood.[4]

If you suffer from cramps, bloating, gas or have diarrhea soon after drinking milk or eating dairy food, you may be lactose intolerant.

It is suggested that if you notice stomach problems after eating or drinking dairy products, consider taking them out of your diet as well.

The elimination of wheat and (pasteurized) dairy products for just 2 weeks is simple but important test you can easily do to yourself.

Try it and see if wheat and dairy are negatively affecting you or perhaps just hindering your attempts at weight loss.

Some other food allergies can stem from corn, soy, potatoes, rice, nuts, and even tomatoes.

[1] Flegal, Katherine M.; Carroll, Margaret D.; Johnson, Clifford L. (2002). "Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999-2000"

[2] "Celiac Disease". National Digestive Diseases Information Clearing House. National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2004.

[3] Enattah NS, Sahi T, Savilahti E, Terwilliger JD, Peltonen L, Järvelä I (2002). "Identification of a variant associated with adult-type hypolactasia". Nat. Genet. 30 (2): 233-7

[4] Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2000.