What can food intolerance cause?

Symptoms may begin soon after eating or be delayed, and their intensity can vary with the amount eaten. Food intolerance is different from a food allergy, which can involve the immune system and may cause rapid swelling, hives or breathing difficulty. Persistent symptoms can also have causes unrelated to food, so a symptom alone does not identify the condition.

Repeated diarrhoea or avoidance of many foods may lead to dehydration or an unbalanced diet. A clinician can consider your history, examination and other possible causes.

Keep a simple diary of foods, portions, timing and symptoms. Do not remove several food groups at once, because that makes patterns harder to interpret and can reduce nourishment. A clinician may suggest a supervised elimination and reintroduction plan or refer you for Food Intolerance Testing.

Nutrition Counselling can help you replace suspected trigger foods while maintaining enough fibre, protein and calcium. Do not rely on home tests as a diagnosis without discussing the result with a qualified clinician.

Book an appointment for ongoing symptoms, unexplained weight change, blood in stool, nighttime diarrhoea or difficulty maintaining fluids. Seek urgent care for throat or tongue swelling, wheezing, faintness or rapidly spreading hives after eating, as these can suggest an allergic reaction.

Could another condition explain my symptoms? Should I test or remove a specific food? How can I keep my diet nutritionally adequate while investigating the pattern?