Ever feel unwell, confused, bloated, or itchy after eating certain foods? You could have a food sensitivity. Sometimes confused with food allergies, food sensitivities aren’t caused by an overactive immune system. Rather, the main concerns are gastrointestinal symptoms, and they’re usually not life-threatening.
However, if they’re not caused by an allergy, what causes food sensitivities? This article will answer the following questions and concerns:
Food Allergy, Intolerance, and Sensitivity: What’s the Difference?
There’s a lot of confusion surrounding food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities. Often, the terms are used interchangeably despite having different definitions. Here’s what you need to know:
Food allergies involve the immune system. In an allergic reaction, the body wrongly flags a certain food substance as dangerous, launching an immune response. White blood cells are signalled, and mast cells flood the body with histamine.
Common symptoms include red, itchy rash (hives or urticaria), swelling, breathing difficulty, and confusion. In severe cases, food allergies can trigger anaphylaxis – a severe, life-threatening condition.
Food intolerances usually refer to the inability to digest or process certain foods. The most common example is lactose intolerance, where individuals cannot fully digest the lactose, a sugar found in milk. Other food intolerances include alcohol, caffeine, salicylates, and FODMAPs.
Last, food sensitivities are something of an odd one out. Often, these sensitivities do activate the immune system; however, not in the same manner as an allergy. The body does not flag the food as a threat but can cause disruptive food sensitivities symptoms like joint pain, stomach ache, and brain fog. Gluten sensitivity is the best-known example involving the activation of the innate immune system.
Note: sometimes, the terms ‘food intolerance’ and ‘food sensitivity’ are used to describe the same thing. However, this is not actually the case.
Common Food Sensitivities Symptoms
Unlike food allergies, which involve the immune system producing an IgE antibody response, food sensitivities are typically non-IgE mediated and often affect the digestive system.
Here are some common symptoms associated with food sensitivities:
Gastrointestinal symptoms
- Bloating and flatulence
- Diarrhoea or constipation
- Stomach cramps
- Heartburn
- Nausea
Neurological symptoms
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Brain fog
Respiratory symptoms
- Stuffy nose
- Sinus congestion
- Wheezing
Musculoskeletal symptoms
- Joint pain
- Muscle stiffness
Systemic symptoms
- Fatigue
- Malaise
- Mood changes
What Causes Food Sensitivities?
Insufficient Metabolism
Food sensitivities are easily mistaken for food intolerances. In the case of lactose intolerance, there is no bodily reaction. Rather, a shortage of the enzyme lactase means an individual cannot digest lactose, resulting in digestive symptoms.
The absence of a key enzyme is a common non-allergy food problem. Here are some examples:
1.Caffeine sensitivity: Most people can drink up to four cups of coffee without any serious side effects (besides the mild jitters). Others, however, experience the same symptoms after much smaller quantities. This hypersensitivity is linked to a decreased ability to metabolise and excrete caffeine.
2.Alcohol sensitivity: Mostly prevalent in people of East Asian descent, the absence of aldehyde dehydrogenase prevents these individuals from metabolising a byproduct of alcohol, leading to flushing, palpitations, and nausea.
3.G6PD Deficiency: A lack of the enzyme glucose-5-phosphate dehydrogenase can lead to problems when consuming fava beans and certain medications, resulting in favism.
Poor Absorption
Technically not an inability to metabolise a particular food or compound; several insensitivities are caused by an inability to absorb a compound. These include:How Much Coffee is too much coffee
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FODMAPS (fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides, and polyols). The collective terms for a group of short-chain carbohydrates, they’re poorly absorbed in the small intestine, resulting in fermentation by large intestine bacteria. Common symptoms include bloating, diarrhoea, gas, abdominal pain, and constipation.
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Fructose. A type of FODMAP and a simple sugar found in fruits and vegetables. People with fructose intolerance lack adequate transporters to move fructose across the digestive tract lining, leading to GI symptoms.
Immune Activation
Gluten, a group of proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye, is well-known to cause coeliac disease. In this autoimmune condition, the body attacks the small intestine only when gluten is present. Unlike an allergy, the body isn’t attacking the gluten; gluten appears to trigger the autoimmune reaction.
Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, on the other hand, is a milder form of gluten intolerance. It activates the innate immune system, causing an unusual constellation of symptoms affecting the GI tract, joints, and brain.
Some theories suggest that gluten is inherently cytotoxic, while others implicate a third component, including:
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Amylase-trypsin inhibitors (ATIs): ATIs are proteins in wheat that can cause inflammation in the gut. Some people might react more to ATIs than gluten, leading to digestive problems like coeliac disease.
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FODMAPs7: Some foods, including certain wheat products, have high FODMAPs, which can upset digestion. People with IBS or similar issues might think they’re reacting to gluten when it’s actually the FODMAPs causing the discomfort.
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Excessive antibiotic usage: Taking a lot of antibiotics can mess up the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut. This imbalance can make the gut more permeable, letting substances like gluten provoke the immune system more easily.
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Pesticides: Certain pesticides can harm our gut lining or the balance of our gut bacteria. This damage can make it easier for gluten to enter the bloodstream and cause immune reactions.
Closing Thoughts
Understanding what causes food sensitivities is critical. If you identify with any of the food sensitivity symptoms we mentioned, you might be experiencing them firsthand. For a comprehensive assessment, take the Individual Ultimate Test, which evaluates 975 potential triggers and provides direction for an elimination diet.
