Many people experience unpleasant symptoms after eating certain foods, such as stomach pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, or nausea. These symptoms may be caused by either food intolerance or food allergy, two different conditions that affect how your body reacts to food. However, it can be hard to tell the difference between them without proper testing and diagnosis. In this article, we will explain what food intolerance and food allergy are, how they differ in their causes and symptoms, and how you can find out which one you have.
What Is Food Intolerance?
Food intolerance is a condition where your digestive system has trouble breaking down or absorbing certain components of food, such as sugars, carbohydrates, proteins, or additives. This can result in various digestive symptoms that usually occur several hours after eating the food. Food intolerance is more common than food allergy and affects up to 20% of the population.
Some of the most common types of food intolerance are:
• Lactose intolerance: This is when your body lacks the enzyme lactase that breaks down lactose, the sugar found in milk and dairy products. This can cause symptoms such as stomach pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, or nausea when you consume dairy products.
• Gluten intolerance: This is when your body has difficulty digesting gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains. This can cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, or fatigue when you eat foods containing gluten.
• Fructose intolerance: This is when your body has trouble absorbing fructose, a sugar found in fruits and some vegetables. This can cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, gas, diarrhea, or nausea when you eat foods high in fructose.
• Histamine intolerance: This is when your body has too much histamine, a chemical that is released during allergic reactions. Histamine can also be found in some foods, such as aged cheese, wine, beer, fermented foods, or fish. This can cause symptoms such as headaches, flushing, itching, hives, or nasal congestion when you eat foods high in histamine.
What Is Food Allergy?
Food allergy is a condition where your immune system mistakenly identifies a specific food protein as a harmful substance and produces antibodies to fight it off. These antibodies trigger an allergic reaction that can affect various parts of your body, such as your skin, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, or cardiovascular system. Food allergy affects about 2%-10% of the population and usually develops in early childhood
Some of the most common types of food allergy are:
• Peanut allergy: This is when your body reacts to peanuts or peanut products. This can cause symptoms such as hives, swelling of the lips or tongue, wheezing, coughing, difficulty breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, or anaphylaxis (a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction) when you eat peanuts or peanut products.
• Milk allergy: This is when your body reacts to milk or dairy products. This can cause symptoms such as hives, swelling of the lips or tongue, wheezing, coughing, difficulty breathing