Food Intolerances
Those with food allergies have had bad reactions to certain foods that may have been life threatening. Those folks know what foods they can not eat and how to avoid them. They also know what to do if they were to eat something that contains an off-limits food. Food intolerances are a bit different, as they do not trigger an allergic reaction but they may trigger something else. When a food is not dangerous, but does not always go down well, you may have an intolerance. You may have to make some adjustments to your diet if this happens to you.
Lactose intolerance is probably the best known of the food intolerances out there. This is when someone is definitely not allergic to milk, but their body does not tolerate it very well. They may get an upset stomach after they drink milk or eat a milk product, or they may spend hours in the bathroom a few hours later during and after digestion. This is certainly not a life or death problem, but it can really impact your life. Avoiding diary is the best way to deal with this most common of all food intolerances. There are some substitutions so you can have ice cream if you like.
Your food intolerances may not be as simple to pinpoint as a problem with lactose. At times, you may come down with the same symptoms as stated above, but you are not sure why you are having them. This is when you have to pay more attention to your diet and you have to take some time to weed a few things out. You may have reactions long enough to have a few suspects in mind. What you should do is to eliminate all of the possible problems from your diet and then add them back in one at a time. This helps you pinpoint the problem food.
Hopefully, you are going to find that your food intolerances are simple and that the foods in question are easy enough to avoid. However, some things are going to be a bit harder, especially if they are favorites of yours. Fats can often trigger food intolerances, and you know fat is hard to avoid. It may mean that you have to eat leaner meats and learn to make substitutions so that you have less fat, but you may not entirely rid your diet of it. You shouldn’t either, as some fats are essential for a healthy mind and body.
Don’t mistake food intolerances for a simple illness. Just because you got sick once from something does not mean that food is bad for your body. You could have just caught a bug that reared up when you ate that particular food. However, if you find that you are uncomfortable, nauseous, and in the bathroom for hours each time you eat something in particular, you may have to face a life without that food. At the very least, you can have it when you know you don’t have anywhere special to go if it means that much to you.