Food Intolerance

I love food, love cooking, love eating and trying new cuisines.  

I have always been very conscious about my health, my weight and my day to day diet. Sometime I find myself feeling heavy and full after a small meal portion or only from a bowl of soup and sometimes I can’t have enough. I do not think it’s something I should be extremely worried about as it’s winter time and people tend to eat a little bit more just to keep themselves warm, but food intolerance might be one of the reasons why my stomach feels dodgy from time to time.

A BBC Health article says that food intolerance is an adverse reaction to some sort of food or ingredient that occurs every time the food is eaten, but particularly if larger quantities are consumed. This isn't the same as a food allergy, because the immune system isn't activated. Neither is it the same as food poisoning, which is caused by toxic substances that would cause symptoms in anyone who ate the food. Food intolerance doesn't include psychological reactions to food either.

I am curios to find out if I am intolerant to any kind of food. I do not have many actual food intolerance symptoms and I am more worried about what’s causing it. I never thought I was a very sensitive person, but I remember having stomach aches since I was little because I think that my digestion is the slowest in the world! Apparently food intolerance occurs in people with more sensitive digestive system and unfortunately I am one of them. Food intolerance occurs when the body is unable to deal with a certain type of food. This is usually because the body doesn't produce enough of the particular chemical or enzyme that's needed for digestion of that food. For example, one of the most common types is intolerance of cow's milk, which contains a type of sugar called lactose. Many people have a shortage of the enzyme lactase. Without this enzyme they can't break down milk sugar into simpler forms that can be absorbed into the bloodstream. But I have never had any problems with consuming milk, maybe I am intolerant to some diary products and I need to find out what are they!

I found out that eating one day old food makes my stomach act funny. So I always try to make fresh food for my lunch and avoid ready made meals unless it’s a salad. I also think that sitting all day in the office doesn’t help me to digest either. I love Covent Garden soups as they are a real treat to me when it’s rainy and cold, but always have irritable bowel straight after eating it and sadly I have to cut it out of my daily diet and maybe this is because it’s a ready meal… It’s a hard work to give up food you love, but if it leads to a happier me, I just have to do it!

Cure to keep your stomach happy:

Peppermint tea is a saviour! I recommend to everyone who has a slow digestion! Just one cup of this tea makes you feel better and it’s very tasty and refreshing!

Water Water Water! Please try to drink at least 5-8 glasses of water every day! It will benefit you in all the ways possible!

Going to the gym helps me a big time! Recently I stopped exercising for about a month as I was really busy and this made a big impact on my digestion system and the way I feel! I felt sluggish and moody, but I started going to the gym again and I am back on track!