What should you know about US food intolerance?

Food intolerance is a difficulty digesting or processing a food component. Symptoms may include bloating, diarrhoea, abdominal discomfort, gas or nausea, often after a repeated food exposure. The timing and amount can vary, and symptoms may have several possible causes.

Food allergy involves an immune response and can cause hives, swelling, breathing symptoms or digestive symptoms. A food intolerance does not automatically predict an allergy, but sudden swelling or breathing difficulty needs emergency care. Keeping a symptom and food diary can show whether a pattern is consistent.

Write down what you ate, the portion, when symptoms began, how long they lasted, and any medicines or illness at the time. Arrange a clinical assessment if symptoms keep returning, interfere with eating, or lead you to avoid several foods. Food intolerance testing may be considered when the history supports it.

Avoid broad restrictive diets without professional guidance. A nutrition counsellor can help you test a practical change while protecting fibre, protein and other nutrients. Do not remove a major food group from a child’s diet without advice, because growth and nourishment need careful attention.

Get emergency help for breathing difficulty, throat or tongue swelling, faintness, or rapidly spreading hives after eating. Seek prompt medical care for blood in the stool, severe or persistent abdominal pain, repeated vomiting, dehydration symptoms, or diarrhoea that does not settle. These signs need more than a food diary.

Ask: Does the timing fit intolerance, allergy, infection or another digestive problem? Which foods should I continue eating? Is testing useful in my case? How can I avoid nutritional gaps? Would nutrition counselling help? What symptoms should make me seek urgent care?