Food Intolerance Test

A food intolerance is difficulty digesting certain foods and having an unpleasant physical reaction to them.

It causes symptoms, such as bloating and stomach pain, which usually come on a few hours after consuming the food.

The number of people who believe they have a food intolerance has risen dramatically over recent years, but it’s hard to know how many people are truly affected. Many people assume they have a food intolerance when the true cause of their symptoms is something else.

What are the symptoms of food intolerance?

In general, people who have a food intolerance tend to experience:

• tummy pain, bloating, wind and/or diarrhoea
• or skin rashes and itching

These symptoms usually come on a few hours after eating the food.

It can be difficult to know for sure whether you have a food intolerance as these are very general symptoms, typical of many other conditions too.

Is it a food intolerance or food allergy?

A food intolerance is not the same as a food allergy. Here’s how you can tell the difference.

A food allergy:

• is a reaction from your immune system (your body’s defence against infection) – your immune system mistakenly treats proteins found in food as a threat
• can trigger typical allergy symptoms, such as a rash, wheezing and itching, after eating just a small amount of the food (these symptoms usually come on rapidly)
• is often to particular foods – common food allergies in adults are to fish and shellfish and nuts, and in children to milk and eggs as well as to peanuts, other nuts and fish
• can be serious

A food intolerance:

• doesn’t involve your immune system – there is no allergic reaction, and it is never life-threatening
• causes symptoms that come on more slowly, often many hours after eating the problem food
• only results in symptoms if you eat reasonable amounts of the food (unlike an allergy, where just traces can trigger a reaction)
• can be caused by many different foods