Food sensitivities

I have a gluten intolerance, Annie and I'll talk about it to anyone.

After years of symptoms - mainly having to plot journeys around loo stops - which is difficult in strange towns and countries - a friend was being tested for it and described her symptoms which were very similar to mine. I decided to try cutting out gluten containing products.

This was probably almost 10 years ago and, although I do occasionally get 'glutened', my digestive system is heaps better.

As going gluten free has become trendy availability of ingredients and ready made products has become much more widespread.

Good thread!

I have IBS and there are certain trigger foods which have me rushing to the loo - and if there isn't one available........

This means my life revolves around toilet availability - no loo and I don't go out. Obviously I do my best to avoid the triggers but sometimes I have to ask because eg cream might be in a soup I fancy. It surprises me that many servers don't know the content of menu choices.

Having fresh food at home has helped enormously

I'll happily talk to anyone about it as well. Talking raises awareness which is no bad thing

I have an allergy? sensitivity? intolerence? of all things cheesy e.g. creme fraich, yogurt, sour milk and any kind of cheese. I am however fine with fresh cream, milk, butter etc. Apparently it is the bacteria that 'turn' the milk that causes the problem. I am fine when I prepare and eat food at home but have suffered severe reactions (horrendous stomach pain and the runs for 2 or 3 days) when eating out. It only takes the smallest amount e.g. grated cheese stuck to the bottom of a ham roll prepared on the same board, a swirl of creme fraiche in soup, to trigger an attack.

As this seems to be comparitively rare in the UK (though common in Italy) there are never any warnings such as you get for nuts, though I can avoid problems by choosing dairy free dishes.

My sil is sensitive to some dairy. When we get together for lunch life can be difficult.

I suffer terribly with diverticulitis . I can't eat anything seeded, sweetcorn, nuts, peas or beans etc etc .

I have asked for tests but would have to wait for well over a year and travel fifty miles . Quite some time ago a poster said she had tried The York Test and it helped her. Others have said it's a con.

I am so restricted in what I can eat , wheat and I don't just need a loo I couldn't get from my bed to the bathroom in time! Can drink milk in tea but yogurt means so much wind I am awake for hours at night

Veg with the exception of carrots plays hell with IBS , most fruits causes ulcer to bounce around. Hate nuts so no idea if they cause problems

Big puzzle is cooked rice causes hives yet I can eat rice cakes !

DD has been gluten intolerant for years and we can all cope with that. Other serious complications have meant she now has an ileostomy and needs 'soft' diet.
Her dietician explained it by saying she should think of all the advice about healthy eating and these were the foods to avoid!
All vegetables cause problems - ok if they can be puréed but otherwise a nono!
I can't eat shellfish of any kind but all other fish is fine.
Have been worrying recently that, all of a sudden, red wine is causing similar side effects. Cramping abdominal pains and mad dashes to the loo!
I'd miss red wine far more than I miss prawns but so far haven't dared to try a glass!!

As far as I know there is a vast difference between food allergy and food intolerance.

Oh yes I would talk to anyone about my food intolerances! In about 1999 any food I ate went straight through me and floated in the loo! I started to lose lots of weight very quickly. After tests at the hospital, tubes up and down etc I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. I had never heard of it before. The clue was there as I have several autoimmune conditions. Was referred to a Dietician at the hospital, she said I would improve very quickly being on a gluten free diet. Well I didn't improve, everything I ate was still going through me, it was just awful. She suggested lactose could be a culprit too so all lactose was omitted from my diet. This didn't seem to help so she suggested I try an elimination diet. What seemed to show up was the gluten free bread that I had been prescribed by the Dietician. Yeast seemed to be the culprit too! I get fed up having only gluten free crackers instead of gluten free rolls or bread. I also react if I have too much fat in my diet e. g. lactose free cheese etc. So if I don't have any food that contain gluten, lactose, yeast or too much fat I am ok and my weight stays stable. It's very important to read the labels! It's good that there is much more free from food available now. I was diagnosed last year with a serious heart condition so I'm taking a lot of medication. I hope this might help others who are having problems with an intolerance to food. If I can be of anymore help please get in touch. Heath & Happiness to you all in 2018.

In my work I have, especially in the last 3-4 years, encountered an increasing number of people who say they cannot tolerate certain items in their diet. On discussing this sudden change my colleagues and I have been debating whether there is something in the modern lifestyle which is causing the problem or whether the internet could be responsible.

Esspee I think some of the problems stem from foods being 'mucked about' with too much. Wheat is a prime example, it's been bred to be drought resistant, pest resistant etc - and, inadvertently, human resistant!

I was diagnosed with IBS in the sixties, and had a perforated ulcer in the seventies . So certaintly nothing to do with the internet

My OH has an intolerance to garlic, it upsets his stomach dreadfully. This causes all sorts of problems, going on holiday and eating out has become a nightmare.
I have to check every packet or tin I buy, you would not believe how many things contain even a small amount of garlic.

I think manufacturers are cutting salt in their products and adding garlic instead.

I have IBS and tomato puree tends to trigger it, also too much cream, buttercream on cakes, soft cheese etc.

I have an intolerance to coconut, it runs (sorry!) in the family. Makes me very sick. Have to be careful eating out especially curries. Only met one person outside the family who has this intolerance.

mcem my OH has this with red wine, much to his annoyance he has had to switch to whisky

My feeling is that some people have genuine medical problems (e.g. coeliac), a great many have joined the fad (fueled online) but the group which most interests me are those who have become genuinely intolerant in recent years. My concern is that we may think something is perfectly normal in our diet but in time we could find we have been poisoning ourselves. (Think of how smoking was supposed to be good for your health at one time)

Coconut in any quantity rips my guts out. A tiny amount isn't a problem. Likewise with orange juice, tomato juice, and raw nuts.

Garlic makes my throat sore.

I lived for a while in New Zealand and was impressed at how many sprightly elderly couples I met in the supermarket (In their late 80's and 90's) who had always lived on a diet high in meat (especially lamb), eggs and dairy products. In this country you were being warned off animal fats, eggs and cream. The pendulum has started to swing the other way and now butter and eggs are no longer frowned upon.
When I lived in the Caribbean the government ran a programme to educate the population on the dangers of coconut oil. A while ago it was being promoted here as the perfect oil for cooking.
How are we meant to know what is best for us?

I take not the slightest notice of the warnings , if it's bad for us now in a few years it will be good for us. We need to listen to our own bodies

Sar53 so interesting to read about your OH and his intolerance to garlic as I have the same 'problem' and have never met a fellow 'sufferer'

I can’t eat garlic either and it’s in everything savoury these days. It does mean I eat very healthily as packet/processed/ready meals are out. I have now found one dish I can eat at the local Indian restaurant - a salmon dish. Everything else contains garlic!

When Mary Berry was on GN I did ask what to use in her recepes instead of garlic and she said to just leave it out and add more of the other flavours, but just sometimes only garlic will give that certain something. I’ve been experimenting with Ransomes (wild British garlic). Not much in the way of a bulb so I haven’t tried them yet, but I can eat the flowers, leaves and stems. It freezes fine.

Most people are incredulous and unbelieving, especially when I say I can eat onions.

I have to avoid avocados which give me a horrible stomach upset. Sadly, I can't tolerate caffeine, much as I love the aroma of coffee. It makes me jumpy and gives me a very queasy stomach. Cream also makes me sick, but that's no hardship as I don't like it. And I'm another who has to avoid nuts and grains because of diverticulitis.