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