If you’re struggling with unexplained health symptoms and suspect that you have a food intolerance, you are probably wondering what your next step is. This condition is more difficult to diagnose than a food allergy, but it is possible to find the cause.
Food Intolerance Testing
Food intolerances are sometimes known as non-IgE-mediated food intolerances, because they do not involve an IgE (immunoglobulin E) immune response as in the case of a definite food allergy. Unfortunately, because food intolerance is a non-IgE-mediated reaction, there is no test that can reliably identify the majority of these reactions.
Some people look for a delayed immune response in the form of IgG (immunoglobulin G) antibodies to certain foods, but the scientific evidence for these tests is lacking.
Keep a Food Journal
Keeping a food journal is the first step to identifying which foods may be causing your problem, and it’s relatively simple!
Be your own detective and start writing down everything you eat for two weeks in a journal, as well as any physical symptoms that occur during that time. Remember to read labels to identify and track any hidden ingredients that might be affecting you.
Keep in mind that it can take up to 72 hours for symptoms to develop, so don’t rule anything out if there isn’t an immediate reaction.
The Next Step
So, you’re probably wondering how to make sure of the dietary culprits.
Once you’ve managed to narrow down the list of offending foods, the next step is an elimination diet. Dieticians and doctors all over the globe use this method and consider it the best diagnostic tool currently available for food intolerances.
Studies have found that adhering to an elimination diet can result in a significant improvement in acid reflux, migraines, and IBS symptoms (1, 2, 3).
Begin by eliminating all the suspect foods that you previously linked to symptoms in your food journal. If you struggled to identify the offending foods, start with some common triggers like gluten, dairy, corn, soy, eggs, cured meats, and additives and preservatives. Nightshade vegetables are also common culprits and this group consists of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and potatoes which are high in compounds called alkaloids.
If you have digestive problems try to eliminate foods high in FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols) such as dairy products, sweeteners, barley, rye, wheat, beans, lentils, chickpeas, soy, apples, pears, peaches, dates, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beetroot, asparagus, garlic, leeks, onions and artichokes.
Eliminate all these foods for about 4 weeks to allow any physical reactions to subside.
The next phase is to slowly add the eliminated foods back to your diet. Reintroduce each food one at a time, allowing 3 days between foods to look for symptoms. If you experience no symptoms, you can assume that food is not the culprit and move onto the next item. Continue doing this until you find one or multiple foods that cause symptoms. Take each food out of the diet again and allow a few days for the physical reactions to subside before reintroducing more foods.
At the end of the reintroduction phase, you should be back to eating all “safe foods” and your physical symptoms should have improved dramatically as long as you avoid the triggers.
Conclusion
Finding and treating food intolerances can be a long process requiring dedication and patience, but it will be worthwhile. Once you’ve identified the problem foods, you can begin moving forward to heal your body and potentially start reintroducing the food at a later stage.
Take note that children or anyone with other health conditions should only do an elimination diet under the supervision of a doctor, dietician, or qualified healthcare professional.
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4258591/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2899772/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15361495