Food intolerance can make your life miserable

This is a big subject for this amount of space since three out of four of us have an intolerance to one food or another. Add to that the number of possible symptoms and the combination can make a math whiz cross-eyed.

By the numbers, about 80 percent of children allergic to milk will outgrow it. But, an allergy is not an intolerance. The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease states that 75 percent of adults are lactose intolerant and about three percent have a sensitivity to casein.

The common symptoms are stomach bloating, flatulence, diarrhea, and irritable bowel syndrome. There’s been a steady increase of dairy sensitivity due to marketing campaigns and the mass production of foods containing low-cost dairy derivatives. Just another good reason to make sure you read the labels of all processed foods.

One in three of us will suffer non-allergic food hypersensitivities to fructose (sugar) and yeast. Less than 15% of us will be affected by wheat, gluten, food additives (think MSG) and nightshade vegetables. What? Nightshades like bell peppers, chili peppers, eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes, and some berries can cause a variety of symptoms from gastrointestinal distress to arthritis-like pain.

A person suffering with a food allergy will show symptoms quickly. But, a food intolerance can take up to 48 hours to cause distress and since the affects can vary from a headache to a stomach ache to a canker-like sore in the mouth to aching joints to respiratory discomfort it’s often extremely hard to pinpoint the source of the problem.

Sometimes you can consume a small amount of the food you’re sensitive to and not have a reaction. That’s not the case in an allergy. So there again, it’s hard to determine what gave you distress when it doesn’t happen all the time.

Take alcoholic beverages for instance. They contain all sorts of potential offending ingredients such as barley, egg, grape, hop, seafood proteins, wheat, yeast, wasp and bee remains (ewww) and sulfites. Which one is giving you discomfort?

Sulfites occur naturally in all wine as well as in dried fruit, canned, bottled or frozen fruit juices, jams and jellies, vinegar, and sometimes in salads, yogurt and other processed dairy goods, packaged pasta and rice mixes. They can precipitate asthma and wheezing in susceptible individuals or a migraine-like headache.

Sometimes it’s the phenolic flavanoids (components in the skins of grapes related to tannins and credited with the anti-oxidant benefits) or the amino acid in red wine that causes the headache we sometimes blame on overindulgence. But we know when we’ve overindulged don’t we?

Sadly, there’s no cure for food sensitivities. Really the only thing you can do is to avoid the foods that cause the discomfort. Some lactose intolerants have had success with taking a lactase enzyme additive before eating or drinking dairy products; and it’s been reported that cooking nightshade vegetables may make them more easily digested.

A complete physical exam is in order to rule out any other possible causes for the symptoms. Your healthcare professional most likely will recommend you sit down with a nutritionist to discuss your diet and how to accurately and specifically determine the source of your intolerance(s).

Kathy Hubbard is a trustee on Bonner General Hospital Foundation Board. She can be reached at kathyleehubbard@yahoo.com, 264-4029.