Food Chemical Intolerance
A food chemical intolerance occurs when your body has trouble digesting the naturally occurring chemical in food, which can trigger symptoms similar to allergies. But, a food chemical intolerance has some key differences.
The symptoms of food chemical intolerance can involve any bodily systems and vary widely from person to person. They often seem 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.
WHY DO WE HAVE FOOD CHEMICAL INTOLERANCES?
Food chemical intolerances are often mistaken for more commonly known food allergies. The symptoms can be similar, but the reason behind is quite different. Technically speaking, a food allergy is an immune response or reaction to the protein part of food, to be specific.
The gluten in wheat or the casing in dairy causing a reaction, for example.
Food chemical intolerances are where we have trouble eliminating chemicals from the body and breaking them down. What happens with these food chemicals is an irritation of the nerve ending in different parts of the body, but particularly in the gut. This is particularly why many people often feel symptoms such as belly pain – which can be the most common type of symptom we see from our patients.
It can be difficult for health professionals to diagnose food chemical sensitivities, as the symptoms can be so varied and also match many other conditions. The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology stated confusions over diagnosing have led to people living with food intolerances for most of their lives with proper treatments/actions to alleviate.
FOOD CHEMICAL INTOLERANCE SYMPTOMS
Symptoms of food chemical sensitivity vary from person to person, but typically involve skin rashes, gastrointestinal distress, migraines, muscle aches, joint pain, mood swings, and/or brain fog.
The frustrating thing is that symptoms typically tend to be delayed and all over the place, as well as mistaken for food allergy symptoms.
The most common symptoms are:
- Digestive symptoms (gastrointestinal symptoms), belly pain, stomach pain (really any abdominal pains area)
- Irritable bowel syndrome (anything that feels like it’s irritating the digestive tract)
- Drop in blood pressure
- Nasal congestion (blocked nose, runny nose)
- Skin rashes (scaly skin sections, bumpy skin patches, itchy skin areas, red discolouration)
- Joint pain
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.
All the above symptoms may be similar to the symptoms of food allergies, hence why the two are easily confused.
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.
The Role of Salicylates, Amines and Glutamates
The most common food chemical intolerances are two naturally occurring salicylates, amines and glutamates in food. This is due to their prevalence in various foods, as well as exposure to synthetically high concentrations in manufactured products.
Salicylates and food chemical intolerances
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.
Amines
Animes are produced in food as they ages or ripen due to the break down of amino acids. They are a naturally occurring food chemical, so they are not bad or good.
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.
More foods include; beer, wine, sauerkraut, cured meats, vinegar, fennel, nuts, legumes, a lot of meat and seafood.
If you have an intolerance to amines you may experience 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.
We 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.
