Food sensitivity occurs when your body cannot break down specific foods due to sufficient enzymes required to break down that food or other intestinal conditions. When you have food sensitivity, it’s easy to differentiate between it and food allergy because of the symptoms.
Food sensitivity is quite common and affects many people globally. Even though the cause for some food sensitivities like lactose intolerance is well known, it’s hard to pinpoint the causes of other food sensitivities. However, the best treatment for sensitivity symptoms is avoidance of the trigger food.
10 Common food sensitivity symptoms
You suffer from specific symptoms after consuming a specific food that will let you know you have a food sensitivity. These include:
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Stomach pain
- Fatigue
- Headache or migraine
- Upset stomach
- Heartburn
- Bloating
- Gas
Food sensitivity symptoms show in a few hours to a few days after consuming the food. The duration for the symptoms to show depends on various factors, including how easy it is to digest the trigger food.
When you have caffeine intolerance and drink coffee, you’ll notice that sensitivity symptoms will appear within a few hours. However, if you consume wheat pastries and have gluten intolerance, you’ll notice that these symptoms may take up to a day or three for the symptoms to show up, depending on your metabolism.
Regarding food sensitivity symptoms, the symptoms will only disappear once your body has gotten rid of the trigger food. Often, it takes a bit of time for the body to do this, and you may suffer from sensitivity symptoms for up to a week.
The severity of food sensitivity symptoms also varies from one individual to the next. What makes it different between individuals is their sensitivity or tolerance to that specific food. For example, the body produces very few lactase enzymes in lactose intolerance patients. So, if you consume a spoon of milk when you have lactose intolerance, it may be hard to have the symptoms of lactose intolerance.
However, if you consume two cups of cow’s milk, you may suffer adverse symptoms because you’ve given your body a lot more to work with, causing the severity of the symptoms. Knowing your tolerance level to foods you’re sensitive to can help you know which foods you can consume in small amounts and which ones you’ll need to eliminate from your diet because of low sensitivity levels.
Causes of food sensitivity symptoms
Some factors may contribute to your developing food sensitivity. These include:
- Absence of enzymes to digest food: When you have food sensitivity, it may be because you lack the the enzymes your body needs to digest specific foods. For example, you need lactase enzyme to digest lactose; you suffer from lactose intolerance when you lack it.
- Food additives: While food additives are great for preserving foods, some people may be unable to tolerate them. An example of this is sulphites. While these are used to preserve dry fruits, wine, and other products, they can also trigger asthma attacks in those sensitive to sulphites.
- Gut dysbiosis: An imbalance in microbiomes and bacteria in your intestinal tract may increase your chances of suffering from a leaky gut linked to food intolerances.
- Underlying conditions: When you have had a recent surgery involving the intestinal tract or conditions like ulcerative colitis, these tend to increase your chances of suffering from food sensitivities. That’s because they damage your intestinal walls or make them more vulnerable to food sensitivities. Sometimes, they even prevent your intestinal wall from producing the enzyme it should. You must treat these underlying conditions in such cases to ensure you heal correctly. You may even lose food sensitivity when your gut is healed as it starts producing the necessary enzymes.
- Chemical exposure: Sometimes, using additives and pesticides in your food may confuse your body between the chemicals and foods they are used to, which can cause you to develop food sensitivities.
Food sensitivity symptoms arise when the trigger food arrives in the colon. Usually, the food we consume gets broken down in the small intestines. However, if you lack the proper enzyme to digest a specific food, it is not broken down and is then pushed into the colon for extraction.
Upon reaching the colon, food stays there, fermented by gut bacteria. Fermentation in the stomach then causes symptoms like gassiness, bloating, and stomach pain. While this happens, the food also drives water into the colon to help push it out of the body. This process further leads to water retention, constipation, and loss of pain.
Because of this indigestion process in the stomach, many uncomfortable symptoms arise, and it can be challenging living with food sensitivity. However, once all the food is out of your system, you get relief and feel better.
How to manage food sensitivity symptoms
The best way to manage food sensitivity symptoms is by avoiding consuming foods you are sensitive to. To know your food sensitivities, you can take a Sensitivity Test. The test will let you know which foods you are sensitive to so you can manage your diet.
When you have this information, you can go on an elimination diet with the help of your doctor. An elimination diet will help you know your tolerance to the food you’re sensitive to. Knowing your tolerance level will help you better plan your diet with that trigger food.
However, if you’re very sensitive to that food, you may eliminate it. When eliminating foods, you need to replace them with other foods with similar nutritional profiles to prevent you from suffering deficiencies.
If you’ve accidentally consumed a food you’re sensitive to, you can use over-the-counter medications to manage your symptoms. For example, antacids can help you with heartburn. Painkillers can help with stomach pain and headaches. You can also take enzyme pills like lactase pills to help you digest lactose to help you with proper digestion.
You can also take fibre pills to help move along when you’ve been constipated for days. However, you must consult your doctor before taking fibre pills. Overusing over-the-counter fibre pills can mess up your gut health, which isn’t ideal.
Final thoughts
Sensitivity symptoms arise when you consume foods that you’re sensitive to. You must take a Sensitivity Test to know which foods can cause your sensitivity symptoms. This test will help you be aware of your food sensitivities so you can manage them. Knowing what sensitivity symptoms are will help you identify when you have food sensitivities, and sometimes, you may even know which foods are causing them.
