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Food intolerances are a common form of chronically sore tummies. They’re not as severe as food allergies, which is why most people are able to live comfortably with an intolerance or two. Symptoms tend to manifest as a soreness in your abdomen, often coupled with bloating, severe toilet habits (on either end of the spectrum) and gas.
If you always have a sore tummy area, then there’s a chance
you might have some sort of food intolerance. A recent study found that about a third of people have some sort of food sensitivity, so it’s remarkably
common. Could this be the reason for your chronic pain? Here are a few helpful
steps that help you figure out if you have a food intolerance or not.
Step 1: Detox Your Gut
Kick things off with a gut detox that basically resets your
entire digestive system. If you’re wondering how to detox your gut, then it’s a simple case of removing certain foods from
your diet. You basically want to stick to a very relaxed whole foods diet
without any processed foods at all. Some people like to fast for a day or two
to help with the detoxification process, but the overall goal is to remove all
irritants from your gut so you’ve got a clean slate to work with.
Step 2: Introduce Foods Back Into Your Diet
Slowly but surely, you can introduce different foods back
into your diet. If you have a suspicion that a certain thing is causing your
stomach pain, then make it the first thing you add back to your normal eating
regime.
Step 3: Monitor Your Symptoms
After adding foods to your diet, keep a check on your general symptoms and gut feelings (no pun intended). How do you feel after eating, say, dairy products again? If you experienced no adverse symptoms during the detox, or even after adding other foods to your diet, but your stomach pain came back when you ate cheese, then make a note of it.
This is a big sign that dairy products could be the source
of your intolerance - and the same goes for any other food that triggers
symptoms. Monitoring how you feel also helps you rule out certain foods or spot
patterns. Hey, it may show you that you don’t necessarily have a particular
food intolerance too. If your symptoms return when you eat a mixture of foods,
maybe you’ve got a general digestive issue (like IBS) instead of an
intolerance.
Step 4: Visit A Medical Professional
Carrying out this dietary test helps you see how your body reacts with or without certain foods in your diet. You might suspect that you’ve got a food intolerance, so visit a doctor and tell them of your findings. They can perform additional tests or give you advice on how to deal with your intolerance.
At the end of the day, food intolerances and sensitivities are common
health issues you shouldn’t ignore. While not life-threatening, they can
make your life a lot worse and leave you with chronic pain. Figuring out if
you’re intolerant is the first step in treating your symptoms and living with
one less thing to worry about.
