When it comes to allergies to food although we commonly use the word ‘allergy’ to describe almost any adverse reaction, often it is not accurate. What we really should be differentiating between are allergies and sensitivities or intolerances.
When we have an allergic reaction to food it means that our body has triggered an autoimmune response to a particular food compound. This allergic reaction is an abnormal response in which IgE antibodies are involved.
Food Intolerances and Sensitivities
Reactions to foods which are not mediated by IgE antibodies are prompted for other reasons – and they can be numerous. These are the problems which mostly afflict Candida sufferers, however the good news is that they are often able to be remedied by a variety of different methods.
Food intolerances arise due to one of two reasons: either we have too little of a mediating compound within our body to deal with the incoming foods, or, too much of a particular product is coming into the body and the existing normal levels of mediators are inadequate to digest the large amounts properly. This may seem a bit confusing but it is often why we become sensitive to our favorite foods and if we take a couple of simple examples then things start to look a little clearer:
Lactose and Lactase
Lactose is a dairy sugar but when we ingest it, like many other sugars, it cannot be absorbed. What needs to happen is that this dairy sugar has to be converted into a sugar which the body can tolerate. This is done by an enzyme known as lactase. Once the lactase has converted the sugar, usually into glucose, then the job is done. If this does not happen because there is too little lactase in the body, then the lactose which comes in doesn’t get digested. This can result in a variety of problems including digestive discomfort, gas and even in some severe cases, extreme weight loss.
Most things that we eat need an enzyme to convert the original compounds into something which can be absorbed by the body. This means that deficiencies in particular enzymes will result in specific intolerances too.
On the other side of the picture is a problem which appears to arise when we build up too much of a certain compound in our digestive system – and with histamine this appears to be a growing concern. Some foods, such as certain species of fish, can build up levels of histamine as they age and this, combined with other factors can result in some pretty severe reactions. It is also thought though that people who suffer from intolerances to histamine are also lacking in some of the essential enzymes and this multiplies the problems which they suffer from.
Chemicals and Additives
The chemicals and additives in foods are often synthetics and can also cause our bodies many problems. Because they are synthetic this means that they are essentially foreign to the human digestive system and so take extra effort to convert into something we can absorb. Our digestive system also has to input extra effort into getting rid of any excesses of this foreign substance and this too uses up valuable metabolic resources. So, the more food additives you eat the more your body has to use compounds, usually enzymes, to break them down into foods which appear more natural to the digestive tract. Sometimes it is particularly difficult, even when we are aware of the issues, for us to spot additives. For example folic acid is the synthetic version of naturally occurring folate, (vitamin B9) and it takes the body a lot more effort to break this chemical down before it can enter the metabolic chain. Yet because the term folic acid is so commonly used, often even by scientists and doctors, then it has become recognized as the natural vitamin – even though it is not.
Candida and Food Intolerances
Because Candida arises due to an imbalance of digestive microflora then this means we aren’t producing the correct balance of enzymes and other mediating compounds in the digestive tract. Often the end result of this are intolerances to food which produce the gas, bloating, fatigue, rashes, flatulence and oth