Food intolerances more than allergies

Food intolerance Cause of rumbling in the stomach

04/02/2014

Many people suffer from severe digestive problems and other noticeable symptoms after eating certain foods and drinks. Behind this can be a food allergy, but more often intolerances or so-called intolerances are the cause of the complaints, reports the German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS). In an older press release of the DGVS, Professor dr. med. Stephan Bischoff, Director of the Institute of Nutritional Medicine at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, that „Food allergies and food intolerances two sub-forms of food intolerances“ are very similar in their symptoms.

According to the DGVS, it is estimated that one to two percent of adults in Germany suffer from a food allergy caused by a malfunction of the immune system. In children, the proportion was initially even higher (four to eight percent), but many of the early allergies declined spontaneously over time. Less well known, although significantly more common than food allergies, according to Prof. Bischoff are the food intolerances in which the body rebels against a certain substance - without the involvement of the immune system. For example, about 15 percent of Germans are affected by a lactose intolerance or lactose intolerance, which often causes abdominal pain, flatulence and diarrhea after consuming dairy products, as the lactose-splitting enzyme lactase is missing. Overall, according to the DGVS, around one in five Germans is sensitive to the consumption of certain foods.

Intolerance to lactose, histamine, fructose, gluten and co.
Also, an intolerance to histamine may be the cause of the discomfort after eating. This is also an enzyme defect that prevents the processing of histamine. According to the DGVS, histamine is included in cheese, red wine, fish and sauerkraut, for example „is normally rapidly degraded by the enzyme diaminooxidase.“ If this enzyme is missing, histamine taken with food can lead to symptoms similar to a food allergy. The affected „suffer from redness, flushing, headache and gastrointestinal discomfort“, reports the DGVS. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting as well as possibly headache are also to be observed in so-called gluten intolerance (celiac disease) as well as in fructose intolerance (intolerance to fructose). Professor Bischoff emphasized that „ the delimitation of food allergy and intolerance in practice is often difficult, since the symptoms often differ little.“

Diagnosis of food intolerance often difficult
According to the expert, if appropriate symptoms are found after eating, a thorough anamnesis and possibly further physical examinations, for example based on modern imaging techniques (ultrasound, X-ray, computed tomography, magnetic resonance tomography), gastric or colonoscopy, are required for more serious illnesses excluded. Subsequently, an allergy test can be used to check whether there may be an excessive reaction of the immune system to certain components of the food. If this also turns out to be negative, it is suspected that a food intolerance is the cause of the complaints. However, there are diagnoses of food intolerances, according to the DGVS „only a few objective testing procedures.“

Nutrition change recommended
According to the German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases, a respiratory air examination is suitable for limiting suspicious foods. Furthermore, a food diary could help to determine the causes of the complaints. „With a little patience, it usually succeeds in identifying the trigger“, explained Professor Bischoff. Thereafter, the therapy is then obvious. Those affected would simply have to avoid the causative food ingredients. Here recommend a detailed nutritional consultation, in the patients „learn to change their diet away from processed foods to fresh foods and pay attention to food labels“, reports the DGVS. (Fp)

Picture: Sigrid Rossmann