What is the worst thing about a food intolerance?

When you find out you have a food intolerance, people can assume it means a massive lifestyle overhaul or a big change in your diet.  What’s more, they might panic about how it will affect social arrangements such as eating out in case choosing meals becomes difficult. While you might want to eliminate certain ingredients from your diet if you’re sensitive to them, the worst thing about a food intolerance is not the adjustments you have to make; it’s not knowing you have one. Here are what food intolerance symptoms you need to look out for and what steps and measures you can take to ensure it doesn’t affect your body any longer.

Get to the bottom of food intolerance symptoms

Food intolerance symptoms vary in severity but include digestive problems such as stomachache, bloating and lethargic, and skin irritation. These are not uncommon ailments and are often put down to ‘eating too much’ or being ‘overtired.’ People with food intolerance can experience these physical symptoms for months or even years without knowing the real reason behind them. What’s more, they can have an impact on their work, social life and even quality of sleep if they’re longstanding symptoms, but the cause is unknown. Once you know what the problem is, you have the power to do something about it.

Change your diet to suit your body

If you take one of our food intolerance tests, you’ll receive a full report and comprehensive breakdown of the food and non-food items that you’re sensitive to. This will give you the knowledge to change your diet accordingly and eliminate foods that make you feel unwell. If you’re gluten intolerant, for example, you can swap your usual bread for a gluten-free version that is better suited to your digestive system. Or if you’re intolerant to lactose, you can try different kinds of milk in your morning coffee that won’t give you stomach cramps. Making changes to your diet may involve some adaptation, but it’s better to know that a certain item is making you feel unwell so you can look into alternatives than to unknowingly eat or drink something that will continue to affect your health.

Plan ahead when for social events

As much as many think that eating out with a food intolerance can present problems, it’s much more difficult when you think you’re sensitive to certain ingredients but aren’t sure what they are. By finding out if you have a food intolerance, you can choose dishes that won’t trigger physical symptoms or make you feel unwell. Likewise, if you know you’re intolerant to a certain food and have plans to eat at someone’s house, it will be much more straightforward if you can let them know in advance what ingredients you need to avoid. By finding out what foods kick-start your symptoms, you can make the most of social occasions without worrying about how your body will react to the dishes you consume.

Talk to us about your food intolerance symptoms

If you want to find out more about having a food intolerance or would like to order one of our food intolerance tests, you can send an email to [email protected] or send a message through the contact form on our website.