Food intolerance is much more common than you may think and it is said that more than 20 percent of the people in the world are sensitive to some dishes or ingredients. Not being able to eat the thing that you love is difficult, and more often than not, we wonder what happens if we keep eating food, we are intolerant to. Keep on reading if you want to find out the answer to this question, and other things related to this type of sensitivity.
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What are the warning signs?
The first thing you need to know is that intolerance and allergy are completely different, and some people believe that this is the same diagnosis. In most people, the sensitivity will never be as treating or as bad as allergy can be, and the signs and symptoms will be easy to mild. This condition happens when some ingredients irritate our digestive system, and they cannot be properly digested and broken down.
So, when you first come in contact with things that you are sensitive to, the first thing you will notice is stomach pain. You may feel bloated and you may experience gasses. Depending on how much you’ve ingested, you may even start feeling nauseated, and some people also start vomiting. You can also get severe cramps that could lead to bowel movements and diarrhea.
Know that these signs are not the same for everyone, and some may experience far more severe symptoms, while others may have just some mild or even unnoticeable problems. The issue with the mild symptoms is that we can brush them off like they are not important, and like they are not going to affect us in any way. Even though in most cases, nothing serious will happen when you opt for foods that you are sensitive to, it is always better to protect your body and not make it fight something just because you have felt the cravings for a specific dish.
People have said that they have also experienced heartburn that doesn’t easily go away, and they always feel nervous and irritable, especially if they ingest large quantities of the things they are sensitive to. However, all these symptoms may lead you to believe you have some other condition, so it is always better to take a food intolerance test at intolerancelab.co.uk to make sure if this is the condition you are dealing with, or if there is something else you need to worry about.
What happens if you keep on ingesting things you shouldn’t?
Now let’s see what will happen if you keep on doing this, even after you’ve been diagnosed with this condition. The first thing that will happen is that you will experience all the warning signs, and they may even vary from extremely mild to pretty severe. You may feel like you had food poisoning, and you may end up being in constant pain until all the food is out of your system.
Note that in most cases, you will never have an extreme reaction like an anaphylactic shock, and it is not likely to get into a life-treating situation, but this does not mean that there won’t be any long-term consequences.
If you keep doing this for a long time, and if you just choose to live with the discomfort that the sensitivity brings, with time, you will damage the lining of your small intestine. This will affect the ability to absorb all the nutrients that you need to have a healthy life, and you may become malnourished.
So, as you can see, nothing serious will happen if you do it once, and nothing too painful will happen to you if you choose to eat these dishes, the long-term effects are going to be much more difficult than you can imagine.
Just the fact that you will have to deal with all the signs and symptoms should be a reason enough for you not to choose these dishes, and you should know that there is no way for you to protect yourself from the consequences.
Many people believe that if they take probiotics or if they do something else to help protect the lining of their stomach, they are going to be safe from any problems. Unfortunately, this is not how things work, and even if you do that, it will not make a big difference. Imagine this as easing old meat or dairy products. You would know that they have gone bad, and you would know that they are going to cause problems with your body. Even though you may take probiotics or active carbon to help your body fight the problem, and even though they will make some difference, it does not mean that you are still not going to spend all the night on your bathroom floor trying to stop vomiting.
What should you do?
So, this begs the question of what we can do if we want to keep on eating the things that we are sensitive to, and what can we do to protect ourselves? The first thing you need to know is that in today’s market there are so many products, as well as their replacements that you can use to get the flavor that you want, without putting yourself at unnecessary risk. So, if you are lactose intolerant, you can opt for dairy-free options that can be added to both sweet and salty dishes. You can try many different options and know that starting from rice milk to soy one, even almond and coconut, you can always find something that is tasty and is a great replacement.
You can do this with pretty much anything that you enjoy, and you will protect your health and wellbeing. It is better to spend some time looking for the right replacement than to subject your body to harmful things that will make long-term problems for you.
Even though nothing serious will happen if you choose to do this once in a few months, and you can indulge in your favorite foods in small quantities, it is better to avoid this or talk to your doctor about any possible treatment or medication that will decrease the symptoms and long-term consequences.
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