FOOD INTOLERANCES
If you have been suffering for a long period of time with digestive symptoms, skin problems, lethargy or poor energy, or constant aches and pains, you may have wondered whether foods that you eat are triggering your discomfort.
Perhaps you know that when you eat certain foods, you feel bloated quickly, nauseous, get heartburn, headaches or your skin starts itching but you don’t know what to do about it!
Food intolerances come in different forms and can happen for a number of reasons. Often they do not need to be permanent if imbalances in the body are resolved.
Why do food intolerances happen?
➺ Infections of the gut such as gastro-enteritis, gastric flu, viral, bacterial and parasitic infections
➺ An immune imbalance following a period of illness
➺ Medications such as antibiotics, acid inhibitors and some anti-inflammatories
➺ Imbalance of the friendly bacteria in the gut
➺ High sugar or alcohol intake or a lack of diversity of fruits and vegetables in the diet
➺ Lifestyle factors such as inadequate sleep, stress, trauma and inactivity
➺ Surgery or trauma anywhere in the digestive tract
➺ Low production of digestive enzymes
➺ Auto Immune conditions affecting anywhere in the body
➺ Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
➺ Rarely, due to genetic variations that prevent you from producing the right enzymes to break down the food.
Unless you have been diagnosed with an allergy, it can be hard to get to the bottom of which foods are getting in the way of you feeling at your best.
Food Intolerance Tests
If you have already taken a food intolerance test or were planning to, it would help to speak to a nutritional therapist to help you find a long-term solution. Quite often food intolerance tests are not 100% reliable and you will forever be trying to avoid certain foods to make you feel better.
The aim of a nutritional therapist is to build up your tolerance to the foods making you ill, rather than cutting them out of your diet. I am offering free food intolerance consultations to explain this in more detail, and to see how I can help with your food intolerances.
How can I help?
You never need to suffer in silence.
Here are the steps to recovery I will go through with you:
💜 By using a food diary we can track your symptoms and what you eat.
💜 I can provide a referral letter for your GP detailing any standard tests that may help us to understand some possible reasons for your symptoms.
💜 We can discuss the functional tests available and the reliability of each so that you don’t eliminate foods unnecessarily.
💜 I can talk you through elimination protocols if needed, support you through the process and help you to reintroduce foods back into your diet as soon as possible.
💜 We can also discuss options such as rotating foods or reducing your intake to reduce symptoms.
💜 By providing you with a nutritional plan, recipes, meal and snack ideas.
💜 Advice on how to keep your food intake balanced and how to know which free from products are the best choices to replace your favourite foods.
Often it can take several consultations to work through identifying your food intolerances and taking steps to address them and feel better. If you would like to know more about how I can help you, contact me to arrange a complementary 30 minute phone consultation.