What is food intolerance?
Food intolerance is a problem that concerns an ever-widening group of Slovaks. Even if it is not a direct threat to life, it can really complicate our lives. We are not always able to recognize it, because unlike food allergies, intolerance reactions or symptoms can come with a delay of several days. Intolerances do not need to be ignored, because loading the digestive tract with unsuitable food can only burden us. People with food intolerance must strictly follow their diets. Finding suitable foods is often quite difficult. In addition to finding a wide range of products in specialized categories in our retail network, our ambition is to spread awareness and provide expert information on this increasingly current topic. You will learn about food intolerance, how to recognize it and how to live with it in our new project “Life without limits”. We are pleased to be a partner of all people with food intolerances and to help enjoy life without limits.
It is stated that more than 45% of the population suffers from food intolerance.
Food intolerance manifests itself by:
Food intolerance can affect almost every organ in the body. The most common manifestations are indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, bloated abdomen, gastritis, but also swelling of the face and limbs, or even bronchitis. Typical symptoms are:
- Redness and itching of the skin, eczema, skin rashes, acne
- Headache, migraine
- Rhinitis, difficulty breathing
- Abdominal pain to cramps, constipation, colic, diarrhea, flatulence
- Irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, vomiting
- Overweight but also malnutrition
- Fluid retention
- Arthritis
- Gynecological problems, infertility
- Depression, migraine, anxiety, hyperactivity and the like.
How can it be prevented?
A properly set diet plan and dietary measures can eliminate the symptoms and side effects of problem foods. Elevated levels of IgG antibodies in the test may identify those foods that may be responsible for adverse events.
The most common and largest allergens include cow’s milk, cereals, egg white, corn, rice, seafood, yeast.
Diagnosis and examination for food allergies and intolerances includes:
- Consultation with an internal physician, anamnesis
- Sibo exhalation test – small intestinal bacterial overgrowth – means the syndrome of bacterial overgrowth of the intestine – a disorder of excessive growth of bacteria in the small intestine.
- Exhalation test for lactose intolerance
- Exhalation test for fructose intolerance
- Blood collection (if the test shows high levels of antibodies to specific foods, you should remove them from the diet for at least 3 months.)
- Evaluation of results and planning of individual dietary and therapeutic measures
What is a SIBO test and how to prepare for it
SIBO – small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
How does SIBO diagnosis work?
The examination takes place in the morning on an empty stomach, while if the recommendations are precisely followed before the examination, the sensitivity and specificity of this test may fall below 60%!
We measure the amount of hydrogen in the exhaled air, then the patient drinks the lactulose solution and at the specified intervals – 15 minutes, 60 and 120 minutes we measure the concentration of hydrogen in the exhaled air again.
It is necessary to count on an approximately 3-hour procedure.
Download pre-examination instructions here: INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE SIBO TEST
Exhalation test for fructose and lactose intolerance
Preparation before the test is the same as with the SIBO test.
The sugar intolerance test shall observe: the hydrogen recorded after the administration of a dose of sugar within the first hour of the administration of the solution shall be formed by processes taking place in the small intestine. If we see an increase in the amount of hydrogen above the baseline value at this time, it indicates that the normally digestible fructose passes unchanged into the large intestine. The product of this breakdown is hydrogen, which is carried by the blood to the lungs. There it is released into the breath, where it can be measured.
In the test for lactose intolerance, the following shall be observed: hydrogen recorded after administration of a dose of lactose within the first hour of administration of the solution is clearly formed by processes taking place in the small intestine. If we see an increase in the amount of hydrogen above the baseline value at this time, it indicates that normally indigestible lactose does not pass unchanged into the large intestine but decomposes in the small intestine by the action of anaerobic bacteria present. The product of this breakdown is hydrogen, which is carried by the blood to the lungs. There it is released into the breath, where it can be measured.
