What are food intolerances and how do they affect your health?

Most people who suffer from lactose intolerance are familiar with what a food intolerance is. It occurs when the body cannot properly digest lactose due to a lack of an enzyme called lactase. However, lactose intolerance is not the only type of food intolerance that exists.

It's important to note that although food intolerances typically don't cause immediate respiratory symptoms like food allergies—which can even trigger anaphylactic shock when exposed to an allergen—this doesn’t mean such adverse reactions are any less serious.

Learn more about how to identify and manage food intolerances through your Immunonutrition approach.

What are food intolerances?

Food intolerances occur when your gut cannot digest a substance due to a lack of the corresponding digestive enzymes. They are not caused by an immune system reaction, but rather by issues with absorption, metabolism, or digestion of certain food components, precisely due to enzyme deficiencies.

If you experience digestive or extra-digestive symptoms after eating certain foods, and have already noticed a pattern, you may be dealing with a food intolerance. If you suspect this, it is advisable to consult a healthcare professional, such as a doctor or nutritionist, for a proper diagnosis. This may include elimination and reintroduction trials, as well as specific lab tests.

What are the symptoms of food intolerance?

Clinical symptoms may be both digestive and extra-digestive:

• Gastrointestinal issues: These are the most common and include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea or constipation, nutrient malabsorption leading to weight loss, and weakened immune function.
• General discomfort: Fatigue, anxiety, weakness, headaches, and muscle aches.
• Skin problems: Some food intolerances may show up on the skin and even be mistaken for allergic reactions, causing itching, redness, hives, or rashes.

What causes food intolerances?

Genetic factors

Some food intolerances have a genetic component. Celiac disease, a form of gluten intolerance, is strongly linked to certain genes.

Leaky gut

When your gut is permeable, it lacks sufficient digestive enzymes. If your diet includes difficult-to-digest foods—like gluten, grains, dairy, and sugar—you’re likely to experience more symptoms.

Sensitivity to specific food components

This includes substances like food additives such as colorants, preservatives, sulfites, or flavorings.

What are the most common types of food intolerances?

Gluten intolerance

Gluten is a protein found in all grains, flours, and their derivatives. It can be difficult for the small intestine to digest, leading to inflammation and permeability. This opens the door to other food intolerances and sensitivities, since 70% of your immune system resides in the small intestine.

FODMAP intolerance

FODMAPs are fermentable carbohydrates. This group includes lactose from cow’s milk and dairy products like yogurt, as well as fructans, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, and polyols (such as artificial sweeteners like sorbitol and xylitol). These intolerances often arise when there is an imbalance in gut microbiota, causing symptoms like cramping, diarrhea, constipation, and gas (Caroline J. Tuck et al., 2022).

Histamine intolerance

Histamine is a molecule naturally produced by your body for specific functions, but when it builds up—either from food sources or due to gut dysbiosis—it can trigger symptoms such as migraines, itching, skin allergies, asthma, allergic rhinitis, heartburn, and anxiety (G. A. Ramírez et al., 2022).

Fructose intolerance

This carbohydrate from fruits may cause gastrointestinal symptoms in people with enzymatic deficiencies.

How are food intolerances treated?

Food intolerances are treated by healing the gut. Here's a suggested step-by-step approach:

1. Apply the 3R Immunonutrition Protocol: This means removing from your diet the most common hard-to-digest trigger foods for the gut: grains and their derivatives, dairy and its derivatives, and sugar.
2. Keep a food and symptom journal: Read food labels carefully, and observe how foods affect you—whether immediately or hours after consumption. Remove or eliminate these foods and track how you feel when reintroducing them.
3. Consult with professionals: If after completing step one and reintroducing foods from step two you still experience symptoms, we recommend working with your NutriWhite Ambassador team to help you explore the root cause of your symptoms in greater depth.

What is the difference between an allergy and an intolerance?

The main difference is that a food allergy is mediated by your immune system: when you consume harmful foods, immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies are triggered in response to the antigens. By measuring these antibodies, you can identify and remove the trigger foods from your diet (Angel A. Justiz Vaillant et al., 2023).

Food intolerances are not immune-mediated, and unless caused by a genetic enzyme deficiency, they can often be resolved by healing the gut through the 3R Immunonutrition Protocol.

While it’s hard to quantify exactly how much of a food triggers each reaction, allergic reactions can occur with even the smallest amounts of the offending food.

You can explore all of this with your NutriWhite Ambassador team during your personalized NutriWhite Consultation, where they will help you build an action plan to evaluate food sensitivities and gut microbiota, and replenish specific nutrients and nutritional supplements.

 References:

• Tuck CJ, Biesiekierski JR, Schmid-Grendelmeier P, Pohl D. Food Intolerances. Nutrients. 2019 Jul 22;11(7):1684. doi: 10.3390/nu11071684. PMID: 31336652; PMCID: PMC6682924.
• Cucca V, Ramirez GA, Pignatti P, Asperti C, Russo M, Della-Torre E, Breda D, Burastero SE, Dagna L, Yacoub MR. Basal Serum Diamine Oxidase Levels as a Biomarker of Histamine Intolerance: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Nutrients. 2022 Apr 5;14(7):1513. doi: 10.3390/nu14071513. PMID: 35406126; PMCID: PMC9003468.
• Justiz Vaillant AA, Vashisht R, Zito PM. Immediate Hypersensitivity Reactions. 2023 May 29. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan–. PMID: 30020687.