Food Allergy or Intolerance & IBS
Introduction
This is an area that causes a lot of confusion because people often use the two words as though they were the same thing. They
are very, very different conditions. The confusion comes because they have identical symptoms.
Allergy
This means that there is a specific immune reaction being triggered (e.g. asthma attack or itchy eyes if you are allergic to cats, or have hay fever). About 2 people out of every 100 have a food allergy.
Intolerance
This means that something is not being “tolerated” (i.e. just causing symptoms) but the immune system is not involved (e.g. burping or “repeating” with coleslaw or, feeling bloated after eating wheat). About 20 people out of every 100 have a food intolerance (so, actually very common).
Another key difference, is that with an allergy it is necessary to completely avoid the cause, whereas, with an intolerance a little of whatever is the cause may be tolerated. If you are "allergic" to cats, a kitten can still make you wheezy; but, if you don't "tolerate" cats, you might still find a kitten cute!
Are the symptoms different?
The symptoms that might suggest an allergy would be tingling or swollen lips, a sore mouth, “hives” (red, itchy skin bumps) or wheeziness. Also, allergies are more likely to occur in those of us who already have other allergies e.g. if we have asthma, hay-fever or eczema.
Bloating, diarrhoea, nausea, tummy discomfort, lack of energy etc. can occur with either an allergy or an intolerance. These symptoms just mean the tummy is not happy, but don't tell us why.
However, such symptoms are more likely to be due to an intolerance because food intolerances are so very much more common than food allergies, which are actually quite rare in adults. So, if you were the betting type, gut symptoms are more likely to be due to an intolerance than to an allergy.
Tests
The tests done for an allergy are either a blood or skin-prick tests (looking for evidence of an immune reaction). The tests done for an intolerance (the more likely sort of test that you might need) are what are called "functional" tests i.e. they test the function of the bowel after you taken the substance in question.
The most common type of test is a "breath test", where you drink a syrup made up of a specific dietary sugar and then blow (hence the name) into tubes for later analysis. Usually these check for lactose and fructose intolerance, as well as for "Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth". There is no such thing as a test for gluten intolerance!
This is an area that causes a lot of confusion because people often use the two words as though they were the same thing. They
are very, very different conditions. The confusion comes because they have identical symptoms.
Allergy
This means that there is a specific immune reaction being triggered (e.g. asthma attack or itchy eyes if you are allergic to cats, or have hay fever). About 2 people out of every 100 have a food allergy.
Intolerance
This means that something is not being “tolerated” (i.e. just causing symptoms) but the immune system is not involved (e.g. burping or “repeating” with coleslaw or, feeling bloated after eating wheat). About 20 people out of every 100 have a food intolerance (so, actually very common).
Another key difference, is that with an allergy it is necessary to completely avoid the cause, whereas, with an intolerance a little of whatever is the cause may be tolerated. If you are "allergic" to cats, a kitten can still make you wheezy; but, if you don't "tolerate" cats, you might still find a kitten cute!
Are the symptoms different?
The symptoms that might suggest an allergy would be tingling or swollen lips, a sore mouth, “hives” (red, itchy skin bumps) or wheeziness. Also, allergies are more likely to occur in those of us who already have other allergies e.g. if we have asthma, hay-fever or eczema.
Bloating, diarrhoea, nausea, tummy discomfort, lack of energy etc. can occur with either an allergy or an intolerance. These symptoms just mean the tummy is not happy, but don't tell us why.
However, such symptoms are more likely to be due to an intolerance because food intolerances are so very much more common than food allergies, which are actually quite rare in adults. So, if you were the betting type, gut symptoms are more likely to be due to an intolerance than to an allergy.
Tests
The tests done for an allergy are either a blood or skin-prick tests (looking for evidence of an immune reaction). The tests done for an intolerance (the more likely sort of test that you might need) are what are called "functional" tests i.e. they test the function of the bowel after you taken the substance in question.
The most common type of test is a "breath test", where you drink a syrup made up of a specific dietary sugar and then blow (hence the name) into tubes for later analysis. Usually these check for lactose and fructose intolerance, as well as for "Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth". There is no such thing as a test for gluten intolerance!
