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Food Intolerance

Gastrointestinal disease, digestive inability, skin condition, gastric issue, respiratory complication, an inflammatory reaction or all of it ?
Let us understand the inflammatory reaction of IgG

FOOD INTOLERANCE

Before jumping to a conclusion, let us understand the process and the shortcomings through it. When food enters the digestive tract, it gets disintegrated into several food proteins. Out of the various protein molecules, few undigested proteins bind with the immunoglobulin and form complexes called IgG. Abundant immune complexes lead to inflammatory reactions causing different symptoms and conditions. Hence, food intolerance is an inflammatory reaction caused due to the body’s inability to digest certain foods and this further leads to other symptoms like nausea, vomit, swelling, migraine and much more.

Watch for the Symptoms

Food intolerance is all about adverse responses of the body’s immune system towards specific foods and these responses reflect different kinds of symptoms like headache, vomit, swelling, hair fall, weakness, migraine, nausea, asthma and much more. Since the response comes from the digestive system and is dependent on formation of immune-complexes and inflammatory sequences then after, the reaction is slower and takes a lot longer to reflect, unlike food allergy. For an instance, you have intolerance towards wheat which you are completely unaware of and had any wheat product like a burger, whole wheat sandwich or some other wheat product; your body will reflect the symptoms of swelling, migraine or maybe less appetite and these symptoms will be reflected over the course of days or even weeks in certain cases. Food intolerance symptoms are generally a delayed reaction and not catastrophic but can still have a greater impact on your daily chores.

The impact of Food Intolerance over your body

Neurological Symptoms

Depression

Fatigue

Headache

Lack of concentration

Lethargy

Melancholy

Respiratory Symptoms

Asthma

Chronic Cough

Running Nose

Wheezing

Circulatory Symptoms

Edema

Irregular heart beats

Gastrointestinal Symptoms

Abdominal Pain

Heartburn

Bloating/Excessive gas

Constipation

Diarrhoea

Vomiting

Joint Symptoms

Arthralgia (Joint pains)

Muscle pain

Skin Symptoms

Eczema

Hives

Itching

Other Symptoms

Dysmenorrhea

Weight problems

Failure to thrive

Emotional Symptoms

Anxiety

Irritability

Mild depression

Brain fog

Is a food intolerance test required?

MANDATORY is the word! There is much research showing that IgG food reactions are quite relevant in certain disease processes, for an instance irritable bowel syndrome, migraine, obesity/weight gain, atherosclerosis, allergies, eczema, urticaria /hives, and ulcerative colitis. The common underlying mechanism of all these conditions is inflammation and the only way to detect the presence of IgG bodies and inflammation caused by them is food intolerance test. Food intolerance test helps you examine your food choices and separate out the borderline or elevated foods from the diet.  With tests like getFIT, you get certain of the food options and can make a diet best suitable for your lifestyle and body. Hence, a food intolerance helps you understand the food science like never before.

Food allergy and food intolerance aren’t same so lets understand the difference

Often people get confused if their suffering is due to food allergy or food intolerance or food sensitivity so to clear the air, here are the key differences that’ll help you understand your situation better.

Food Allergy
  • Immune reaction towards a specific food protein (allergen)
  • Immediate response after consuming the allergen (within minutes)
  • Specific IgE dependent
  • The response generated isn’t dose dependant as even the minimal allergen exposure can lead to fatal reactions
  • Some reactions can be severe and life-threatening
  • Allergen/offending food has to be avoided for lifetime
  • Allergy tests from serum or skin prick tests are done for diagnosis
  • Getting hives eating shellfish or nuts (common allergens), within about 30 minutes of eating that food is a case of food allergy
Food Intolerance
  • Digestive system response towards certain foods
  • Relatively slower response delayed by hours or days after consuming the causative food
  • IgG dependant
  • The response generated is dose dependant as the reaction is triggered after consumption in a sufficient amount
  • Reactions produced are generally mild and non- life threatening
  • Causative food can be consumed after elimination for few days by giving a food trial
  • IgG dependent tests like protein microarray and macroarray are done for diagnosis
  • Diarrhea from drinking milk, or lactose intolerance is the case of food intolerance.
Food Sensitivity
  • The immune system "guards" miscommunicate with any type of food or food chemical and send out "poison darts," or mediators, that cause inflammation until symptoms develop.
  • Reactions up to 72 hours after eating and sometimes. hard to pinpoint.
  • Mild symptoms of migraine, bloating, digestive pain/issues etc and chronic pain like fibromyalgia or joint aches reflect food sensitivity.

The Cure

In order to treat the food intolerance or food sensitivity, you must identify the food sources that trigger the reaction and to find the same, you have to get a food intolerance test before starting the treatment.

Food Intolerance Test

The food intolerance testing is based on a protein microarray biochip technology, which has 46 food proteins embedded over the small plate. Sample of your serum contains antibodies (specific IgG) and is tested against the protein over the reaction tray, which is picked and determined by the assay. The response of IgG against the food protein is given in +3, +2, +1 & 0 and is indicated via a specific color code where each color code indicates your body’s immune reaction to each protein food.

Elimination Diet

Once the intolerance is detected, a patient is advised for an elimination diet. Following the results of your tests, all the foods that fall under the elevated category are advised to be eliminated from your diet for a period of two to six weeks and then observe the digestive system behaviour. Once the normal behaviour is attained, the eliminated foods are re-introduced in the diet to check if the body still pertains to intolerance. Once the intolerance is confirmed, elevated foods are again removed from the diet for a span of 10-12 weeks. The process is followed consistently till the intolerance is treated successfully.

CONSIDER THIS before introducing the elimination diet

  • We always encourage to share your getFIT results with your doctor
  • Be sure to study the food and its nutritional importance before eliminating it from the diet.
  • Substitute foods should be introduced to fulfill the lack of nutrition when a particular food is eliminated.
  • People with physiologically and medical requirements like pregnant women, young children, geriatric patients should be the most careful while taking up an elimination diet.
  • Try to add the foods that are readily available and fresh in season.
  • Plan a diet with the foods falling under the normal category. This will help reduce the symptoms in an effective way.
  • Based on your prior experience, avoid the foods that have caused a problem even if they fall under the Normal category.
  • Do not practice elimination diet in holiday seasons or weddings as this can deprive you of the indulgence and make it difficult to follow the diet.

Treating your intolerance with Homeopathy.

Food intolerance is a digestive condition which can be cured with natural treatments of homeopathy. Under homeopathy, we go beyond dietary measures and aim for a holistic healing which can be achieved by growing the immunity of an individual. There have been countless cases of successful treatments for food intolerance with complete recovery and no side effects or recurring. With conventional treatment, no person sensitive to elevated foods can consume them for a lifetime but Dr. Randeep Nanda has made it possible with his practice of holistic recovery.