A food chemical intolerance occurs when your body has trouble digesting the naturally occurring chemicals in food, which can trigger symptoms similar to allergies. But, a food chemical intolerance has some distinguishing features.

WHAT CAUSES FOOD CHEMICAL INTOLERANCE? 

Food chemical intolerances are often mistaken for food allergies, and can often cause confusion when allergy tests result come back clear. This is because while the symptoms can be similar, but the underlying cause is quite different.

Technically speaking, a food allergy is an immune response or reaction to the protein part of food, to be specific. Whereas a food chemical reaction occurs when a reaction causes irritation of the nerve endings in different parts of the body, triggering symptoms.

A food chemical intolerance can develop in a couple of different ways;

• A condition called “leaky gut” where the lining of the gut becomes too permeable and allows food particles to pass through into the bloodstream and alert our body’s defence system. You can learn more about leaky gut in our blog/podcast “The Link Between the Gut Microbiome and Allergies“
• When the sulphation pathway in our liver isn’t working optimally, it can inhibit the elimination of these food chemicals and cause intolerances to develop. You can learn more about the sulphation pathway in our blog/podcast “Salicylate Intolerance and The Sulphation Pathway“

FOOD CHEMICAL INTOLERANCE SYMPTOMS

The symptoms of a food chemical intolerance can involve any bodily system and varies widely from person to person. Symptoms can appear to flare up randomly, which can make them tricky to pinpoint and manage.

This is because symptoms only flare-up once you surpass your individual “threshold” of tolerance. It’s like a glass of water slowly getting topped up with a dropper that eventually overflows.

Some common symptoms include:

• Digestive issues (constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, etc.)
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Sinus issues (blocked nose, runny nose)
• Skin rashes (scaly skin sections, bumpy skin patches, itchy skin areas, red discolouration)
• Joint pain
• Headaches and brain fog

Many clients that we see also display a classic combo of respiratory symptoms along with digestive symptoms. If you’ve got the combination, that’s a big sign of a food chemical intolerance.

A commonly overlooked but very real symptom of food chemical intolerance includes its effect on mood. Food sensitivity affects our brains’ ability to perform certain functions, which contributes to symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as trouble focusing, remembering, and learning.

Diagnosing Food Chemical Intolerance

Food chemical intolerances differ from allergies, as they don’t involve the immune system, but rather the digestive system. This means they cannot be tested for conventional allergy testing methods that look for immune system markers.

A common approach to pinpoint a food chemical intolerance is following an elimination diet protocol. This approach involves eliminating the suspected food chemicals from your diet, then slowly reintroducing them back into the diet one at a time. This aims to pinpoint which substances trigger symptoms and your individual thresholds, so you can adjust your diet accordingly.

Although, when reactions are severe and you have multiple intolerances, an elimination diet is not a long-term solution. Without addressing the underlying issue, reactions are likely to worsen over time, limiting your diet further.

Positive Association Technique (PAT)

Positive Association Technique (PAT) is a non-invasive, natural allergy treatment to help manage food chemical intolerances. Holistic therapy combined with modern technology has led us to create a non-invasive and painless treatment for clients of any age.

In an Initial PAT Consultation, we’ll use muscle testing to test through various food and food chemicals to see what you’re reacting to, without needing to do an elimination diet.

Salicylates, Amines and Glutamates 

The most common food chemical intolerances are to naturally occurring salicylates, amines and glutamates in food.

Salicylates

Salicylates act as protection for plants and fruits, against insects, bacteria and fungi. They are highly concentrated under the skin of many fresh fruits and vegetables. They are also created synthetically, and used in medications and skin care products (e.g. salicylic acid).

Some big ones are all herbs and spices, broccoli, sweet potato, berries, tea, wine, almonds… quite a lot of healthy food.

Many people who have started on a healthy diet to improve their health, only to then start getting worse symptoms may have an underlying salicylate intolerance.

Amines

Amines are produced in food as they age or ripen, due to the break down of amino acids.

They are highly concentrated in foods that need to ripen before eating (e.g. avocado) and fermented foods/drinks (e.g. wine, cheese, chocolate). A well known amine is histamine.

Some high amine foods include; beer, wine, sauerkraut, cured meats, vinegar, fennel, nuts, legumes, a lot of meat and seafood.

A common symptom of an underlying to amines is experiencing frequent and chronic headaches and migraines.

Glutamates

Glutamates are proteins are found in many foods, and are responsible for enhancing flavour. Glutamate is also a neurotransmitter, so reactions often trigger mood and behavioural issues (especially in children). They are also manufactured in high concentrations to be used as flavour enhancers, for example MSG.

They are actually one of the most abundant neurotransmitters in the brain, so you could almost think of glutamate as a stimulant. And while it plays an essential role in the body, it can cause various issues related to its excitatory nature if people have a glutamate.

You’ll find it in high amounts in tomato, cheese, mushrooms, stock cube sauces, meat extract, and yeast extract. You can also find it in milk powder, whey protein, anything concentrated, so food is likely to cause symptoms are the tastiest ones.

MSG stands for mono-sodium glutamate, and MSG as a synthetic form of glutamate is specifically made to make processed foods more palatable and tasty. It can drive a lot of headaches and migraines, as it’s in such a concentrated form of glutamate that doesn’t usually occur in nature.

NATURAL ALLERGY TREATMENT

PAT is a non-invasive, holistic therapy, which:

• draws on acupressure and kinesiology techniques
• aims to re-train your body
• reducing your reactions to food chemicals

At Health & Wellness Australia & Auckland, we use a technique called muscle testing (or kinesiology) to help identify which food chemicals you may be reacting to.

Following testing, you’ll work with your practitioner to address your reactions using a natural allergy treatment called Positive Association Technique (PAT)  to reduce your reactions.

As some cases can be complex, our Naturopaths may also recommend supplements, herbs and lifestyle advice to help you achieve the best long-term results.

WHY PEOPLE CHOOSE PAT OVER TRADITIONAL TREATMENT TO ALLERGIES AND SENSITIVITIES

Why people love PAT’s non-invasive nature;

• No needles
• No herbal remedies
• No supplements
• No avoidance (in fact, you’ll be holding a vial of the substance in your hand).

PAT complements well with small lifestyle changes, so you can take PAT as a stand-alone treatment or a way to give yourself an extra boost in working with a complex condition.

Get in touch

We work with highly qualified Naturopaths who provide PAT from various clinic locations all over Australia and in Auckland, NZ.

To learn more and see if PAT is right for you, get in touch:

– Call us on 1300 853 023 / 09 479 5997 (NZ) to chat to our friendly staff
– Send us your question
– Get your Free PAT Information E-PACK