Health – Food allergy vs intolerance

With the growing awareness of people being gluten and dairy free, there seems to be much confusion around the issue of food allergies and intolerances. A food intolerance is very different to an allergy. Let’s begin with a definition of each to help clarify.

A food allergy, as described by the Mayo clinic, is “an immune system reaction that occurs soon after eating a certain food. Even a tiny amount of the allergy-causing food can trigger signs and symptoms such as digestive problems, hives or swollen airways”. A food intolerance is described by MedicineNet as “difficulty in digesting a food. Common offenders include milk products, wheat and other grains that contain gluten, and foods that tend to cause intestinal gas, such as cabbage and beans. Food intolerance is often mistaken for food allergy, but it does not involve a histamine response against the food”.

The last sentence, that a food intolerance does not involve a histamine response, is clinically very relevant. This is where many become confused with respect to understanding what is happening with their health. There are fundamentally two scientific ways to measure an allergic reaction to foods:

The most common is the scratch test where the skin is exposed to the suspected allergen. The other option is blood testing for allergens. However, this has to be performed overseas and is very expensive, but it does test up to 95 high-risk foods so is very comprehensive.

Most people who have had testing for allergies to foods have had the scratch test. Misunderstanding can occur after the scratch test when the result is negative for the allergens tested (meaning they don’t have an allergic reaction to the tested substance). The person may then assume that they are absolutely fine to eat the foods that showed not to be allergenic.

However, they may have an intolerance to the food/substance and this can be causing them many problems and great harm. Further to MedicineNet’s definition of an intolerance, I have seen the following problems improve after removing foods that may be intolerant. These include skin problems such as eczema, psoriasis and rosacea, not to mention autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, hayfever, chronic fatigue, weight gain, joint pains and adrenal fatigue.

This does not mean that the food intolerance caused those conditions, but it does put the body under stress and can weaken and damage the body. Food intolerances appear to be related to issues around the digestive system so we often see symptoms of either loose frequent bowel motions or constipation, gas or bloating, abdominal pain etc. Typically, if not corrected the digestive issues get worse as do any related problems. The good news is that nearly always these problems can be improved with some good treatment and strategy. It is seldom a quick fix, but often a good result! There are a few ways to test for food intolerances, a topic for another column.

Eugene Sims, Warkworth Natural Therapies
www.wnt.co.nz