Food intolerances

Hi all,

I was just wondering if any of you knew anything about food intolerances. I have been experiencing lots of symptoms lately and after visiting the dentist lately and mentioning this horrible taste I keep getting in my mouth and he said I could have a food intolerance.

I have had a allergy test done last year when I was visiting a Kineiogolist (wrong spelling). She told me I had a wheat and lactose intolerance as well as various other things.

Does anyone know the symptoms of a food intolerance and whether they can cause changes in taste, nausea, dizziness, headaches, tiredness to name a few.

Thanks



sadie

Not sure Sadie

I had food sensitive tests and eliminated the two main ones - wheat and dairy products but found no benefit so I am back on them both.

Either could be the culprit - have you tried an elimination diet atall?

Nicola

Hi Sadie,
I too have been to see a kinesiologist who said I had a wheat intolerance amongst a few others which I can't remember what they are now. He also did a plastic bag test on me which told him I had a leaky gut. He also said I had Candida in my stomach and therefore should stay away from sugar. This explained my huge sugar cravings. Apparently all these things made my anxiety worse and resulted in me having all the symptoms inc. dizziness, headaches, nausea etc. He recommended some herbal remedies and a very strict diet for 2 months. I honestly felt so much better after the treatment, but my symptoms are now returning due to going back to bad eating habits. I do believe you are what you eat, and plan to visit him again soon for a check-up. The whole experience was fascinating and truely helpful. Don't know if this has helped you, hope it has. Best wishes, KT[^]

Be gentle and you will need no strength, be patient and you will achieve all things.

There are many, many different symptoms of food intolerance which may indeed include those you mention plus many others such as worsening or onset of inflamatory conditions such as asthma, joint pain, blocked sinuses, catarrh plus aching muscles, stomach upsets, wind, bloating, facial puffiness, fatigue, depression, anxiety and mouth ulcers ... the list goes on.

Unlike a true allergy, food intolerances are usually a delayed reactions to something you've eaten, taking between an hour and 3 days to show themsleves. It is believed that these 'delayed' food allergies are linked to the inability of the gut to prevent large quantities of partially digested and undigested food from getting into the bloodstream and hence the body reacts.

The good news, in theory, is that by totally eliminating the foods you are intolerant to for around 3 months, your body forgets this allergic response and the foods can be gradually reintroduced, unlike a true allergy which your body doesn't forget (e.g. a common one is a peanut allergy).

The downside is that the foods you are most likely to be intolerant to include wheat, gluten, yeast, milk (and thus all dairy products), eggs, white fish, shellfish, nuts and beans.

The other downside is that its expensive to test for (around £135 for a 42 items food scan and £260 for 113 item food scan test). What you can do is have an initial blood test which gives you a simple yes/no answer to whether you have food intolerance (around 45% of people have). If this comes up as a no, then carrying on eating as normal but if its a yes, it may be worth having further tests to identify the culprits. The yes/no test costs £20 and is easy to do at home. Try logging on to www.yorktest.com for more info.

Hope this helps.

Jo xxx





"courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear"

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies....

KT - I too think I may have a candida infection or whatever but have no idea what to do about it or how to get it checked. I also have a wheat and lactose intolerance but I dont know what to eat for breakfast and lunch or whatever as I always have toast/ceral or a sandwich or something.

I think I need to look into this a little more as I do think it could be causing some of my symptoms at the moment.



sadie

Sadie

When I gave up wheat I struggled for breakfasts so it was mainly fruit/yoghurts/milkshake drinks.

For lunch it was salads/jacket potatoes/chicken pieces etc

It was hard to cut wheat out and I really missed cereal and bread but I tried it for about 2 months I think.

Nicola

Most people who are intolerant to wheat are OK with oats so why not try some porridge for brekkie? I hate warm milk so I have my oats with cold milk and chopped banana or a drizzle of honey, its yummy! If cow's milk is no good for you, try soya. It tastes a bit funny at first but you'll soon get used to it.

Oatcakes are another good lunchtime alternative to bread and the topping you can add are endless - what about humous or a nut spread?. Add some seeds and fruit to make your lunch more interesting and also boost your nutrient intake.

Nic - you needed to give it up for at least 3 months to get the full effect!

Best wishes
Jo xx

"courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear"

oh yes forgot to mention ...

Acidophilus is a great supplement to take to get good bacteria into your gut. You can get it from Holland and Barrat etc but it needs to be kept in the fridge once opened.

Jo x

"courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear"

Jo I am drinking soya milk now and I love it - tastes much nicer than cows milk.

As for the wheat thing - it may have been 3 months cos I think Meg told me to give it that long. Anyway it was a long time lol!

Nicola

Oh Sadie

The wheat free muesli is lovely too - just remembered that one!


Nicola

Hi Sadie

I constantly have candida infections and i know it's down to eating too much wheat, dairy products and sugar. Also have polycystic ovary syndrome so i guess that's probably related to the candida.

I eat pitta bread instead of normal white/brown bread and find it suits me (it's delicious served warm with houmous). Soya milk (especially the so good choc flavour) is delicious Porridge is nice with sultanas sprinkled over to give sweetness, and oat cakes make a nice snack with either peanut butter or fruit spread on.

You can't go wrong with eating lots of salad and i find eating chickpeas help fill me up instead of eating bread.

KW

'Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire'
- JEAN DE LA FONTAINE

Nicola - I too love bread and dairy products and that is why I think it would be quite difficult to begin with.... I have tried goats milk which was fine and I found a nice bread today in M&S which was rye bread with linseed etc which was lovely toasted. I have also just found out I have a post nasal drip which can be caused by wheat intolerances etc so I think I should give this wheat free diet a go. I will give the wheat free muesli a go...whats the best one to try?

KW - I have tried chickpeas and I just dont like them, unless they are in soup. I have tried Hoummous and struggled a bit with that too. My problem is I like everything thats not thst good for you...bread, chocolate...

Jo-Jo - I have read about that supplement you are talking about but I havent been to H&B yet. Have you taken it before? As for oatcakes, I love them and eat them every night before going to bed.

Thanks for the handy hints and keep them coming if youc an think of anything else.:D



sadie

Sadie

I tried the wheat free bread and it was horrid - like eating cardboard! Not tried the M&S one though.

As for the Museli - sorry but I can't remember what brand but it was lovely - full of fruit and seeds. They don't usually put it with the other cereals it is usually in a special aisle with all the gluten/wheat free products so try there. I wanted to carry on with it after I put wheat back in the diet but I need to find it again in every different shop I go to. Asda don't seem to do one. I got mine from Tesco's.

Try this site ... http://www.wheat-free.org/

Hope you get some more tips soon.




Nicola

Hi Sadie,
my candida was diagnosed by the kinesiologist. He rated it at about 20, which is apparently quite high. He told me that alot of people are diagnosed by their doctor as having M.E as the symptoms are very similar. I was just advised to stay away from wheat, yeast and all types of sugar especially refined sugar, oh and also fruit! It was a very hard diet to stick too but the thought of having candida was enough to make me do it. He also gave me a few sessions where I would spend an hour in his surgery and he would switch this machine on which kinda looked like a plasma ball, sorry can't remember it's proper name, and this would emit rays that zapped the bacteria. I took acidophillius capsules twice a day too.
I am quite sceptical about alternative therepies and would have probably thought "yeah right" if anyone had told me this, but I truely had faith in what he told me and felt heaps better for it.
Hope this helps, KT


Be gentle and you will need no strength, be patient and you will achieve all things.

Hi Sadie

There ia german brand bread that is available in most supermarkets and it's wheat free. It's quite nice toasted with a topping.

KW

'Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire'
- JEAN DE LA FONTAINE