What is the first treatment tried for food intolerance?

Food intolerance is different from an immune food allergy. Symptoms may include bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea or headaches, and several conditions can cause the same pattern. Keeping a food and symptom diary can reveal timing and serving-size patterns without assuming that one food is responsible.

Food Intolerance Testing may be discussed when the history is unclear, although no single test explains every type of intolerance. A clinician may consider lactose intolerance, coeliac disease, irritable bowel symptoms or another digestive cause before recommending a long-term restriction.

Change one suspected food or ingredient at a time and agree how long to monitor symptoms with a clinician. Replace removed foods with nutritionally similar choices rather than narrowing the diet repeatedly. Nutrition Counselling can help with label reading, meal planning and adequate fibre, protein and calcium. Do not remove major food groups for a prolonged period without guidance.

Arrange a review for blood in the stool, persistent vomiting or diarrhoea, difficulty swallowing, fever, unexplained weight loss, night symptoms or ongoing abdominal pain. Seek urgent help for severe pain, fainting, dehydration or breathing difficulty after eating. Breathing problems or rapid swelling may suggest allergy rather than intolerance.

Which diagnosis best fits my symptoms? Should I try removing one food, and for how long? Do I need Food Intolerance Testing? How can I keep my diet nutritionally complete?