Food intolerance may cause symptoms very similar to food allergies (including nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal distension).
What are the symptoms of food intolerance?
However, the mechanism of food intolerance is different than food allergy - it is not involved in the body's immune system. Intolerance to food or a food ingredient occurs when the body can not digest or absorb this ingredient properly, because, for example, it does not have any important enzyme necessary in its metabolism. While people with food allergies should completely eliminate the sensitizing ingredient from their diet, people with intolerance usually have no complaints after consuming small amounts of ill-tolerated product. The exception is gluten intolerance.
What is the most common reason for food intolerance?
There are two most common causes of food intolerance:
- lactose intolerance
- gluten intolerance.
Lactose intolerance
Lactose is a sugar found in milk. It belongs to the disaccharides, because it consists of a glucose and galactose molecule. The enzyme called lactase, present in the small intestine, causes the breakdown of lactose into simple sugars, which are absorbed through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. In the case of lactase deficiency, part of the lactose remains undigested. After going into the large intestine, it undergoes fermentation processes, feeding on intestinal bacteria. The result of these processes is the release of large amounts of intestinal gas, abdominal bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
In Europe, lactase deficiency is relatively rare. It is more common in the Middle East, India and some African countries. It is estimated that about 70% of adult people around the world do not produce enough lactase and have different symptoms of lactose intolerance. In Europe, the frequency of lactose intolerance is estimated at about 5% of the adult population. The amount of milk and dairy products that cause symptoms may vary widely.
Many people with intolerance can drink a glass of milk without unpleasant consequences, while the symptoms appear after eating a plate of milk soup. Most types of cheese, yoghurt and kefir are usually better tolerated than milk. This explains the prevalence of the habit of drinking fermented milk products in those areas of the globe where the lack of lactase is the most common. It is worth noting that lactose intolerance can be reduced by regularly taking small amounts of products containing lactose. In this way, the intestinal mucosa is stimulated to produce lactase.
Gluten intolerance
Gluten is a protein present in cereal grains: wheat, barley, rye and oats (the importance of this latter grain is controversial and is currently under investigation). Gluten intolerance is also called celiac disease or gluten-dependent enteropathy. It applies to different communities in Europe from 1/300 to 1/2000 people.
Celiac disease is a chronic disease. It is recognized in all ages, although it is most often seen in children and young adults. If a patient with gluten intolerance regularly consumes cereal products, the small intestine mucous membrane is damaged, which loses its ability to absorb nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins) from the intestinal lumen into the blood. Patients suffer from diarrhea, bloating and abdominal parenchyma, often thinning. The only way to control these symptoms is to use an elimination diet - with the exclusion of cereal products. It is called a gluten-free diet.Meticulous compliance allows for the reconstruction of the intestinal mucosa and relief of symptoms.
Recently, studies have been carried out to determine the amino acid sequence of gluten causing visceral disease. The results of these studies may be useful in the future for the development of cereal varieties that will not cause food intolerance.
Intolerance to food additives
Additives found in various foods are well tolerated by most people. However, some people are hypersensitive, for example to certain dyes or sulfites. The names of the additives used are listed on the labels of food products (they are marked with the letter E and a three-digit number). Therefore, people with hypersensitivity to these ingredients can easily avoid them.
He prepared:
dr n. med Janusz Ciok
Institute of Food and Nutrition