In this article, we tell you everything about intolerances:

Are they common, or are they simply normal? Are they chronic, or can the symptoms be improved? What should we not do if we suffer from them, and what can we do to improve them?

You have surely heard about food intolerances at some point, or you may experience them yourself.

Let us tell you a little more about the most common ones, what their origin may be, and whether there is a solution beyond avoiding certain foods forever.

• A food allergy is much more serious; it involves the immune system, which overreacts by detecting this substance as something harmful (an allergen), when in reality it is not.

• A food intolerance is the body’s inability to properly digest a certain food. Although it can cause very bothersome symptoms, the consequences are less serious than those of an allergy.

But... why is our body unable to properly digest a food?

In most cases, it is due to the lack of a digestive enzyme

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Digestive enzymes are a kind of ‘scissors’ that break down food so it can be assimilated. In their absence, the food is not properly digested or absorbed, and travels to the large intestine, where it ferments and produces bothersome symptoms.

Unfortunately, this is quite common, but we should not normalize it. We must always treat the cause, not just the symptoms.

In the long term, this situation worsens, giving rise to new intolerances and may end in a diagnosis of a digestive disorder associated with dysbiosis.

If you suffer from any intolerance, the most likely thing is that your microbiota is affected, and this may be the origin or one of the main factors of the problem. It is necessary to ‘repair’ your gut and your microbiota to address it.

Despite being so common, their management and certain alternatives are not the most appropriate for treating them.

• Lactose, fructose and sorbitol are other intolerances, that, when not properly absorbed, travel to the colon and ferment there, producing gas and uncomfortable symptoms. Since the enzyme that digests lactose is produced in the small intestine, and fructose and sorbitol are absorbed there, it is common for these intolerances to be caused by localized problems in the intestinal epithelium, as we will review.
  

   

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These intolerances are also usually associated with bacterial overgrowth, and we are going to explain why.

When 'bad' bacteria grow, they can cause excess inflammation and damage to the intestinal wall. The most superficial part of it (the epithelium) has a kind of 'hairs' (imagine those of a brush), which not only help with nutrient absorption, but also produce digestive enzymes! (the scissors we have talked about).

When this epithelium is damaged (the brush hairs break or deteriorate), the absorption of nutrients and their digestion can be affected, leading to intolerances.

In short: what we are not able to absorb where it should be absorbed, ferments where it should not.

To address this problem, one of the preferred options of specialists for doing so is the low-FODMAP diet.

These acronyms refer to different fermentable foods: Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and (And) Polyols. In short, foods that can pass through the small intestine without being absorbed and therefore fermented in the large intestine (colon) are excluded from the diet.

Well, not exactly, and we explain why below.

The low FODMAP diet restricts foods that can be fermented, and therefore symptoms may improve a great deal (and very quickly) because we eliminate the raw material that produces gas in our colon.

However, this strategy has its risks, especially if it is not carried out with the guidance of an up-to-date specialist. Removing foods based on a list, even if they agree with us, will greatly impoverish the diversity of our microbiota. And this can make the problem more severe.

Let’s use a example to understand it:

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I have an aquarium, in which I have fish of two types: some are beautifully colored, and others are very ugly and aggressive.

When dysbiosis occurs, these ‘bad’ fish grow too much, and they eat the beautiful colored fish.

Then, I decide not to feed those fish anymore for a couple of months. None of them. What will happen during those weeks?

Well, many will not survive. But not only the fish I don’t like, the beautiful colored ones will also experience the same thing.

The same can happen in your gut.

Some species are key when it comes to digesting nutrients, so perhaps when you want to eat certain foods again, they will sit worse with you.

The FODMAP diet has to be reviewed and followed by a specialist, it has very distinct phases that must be strictly respected.

This can help address dysbiosis and repair your gut.

This can be achieved by gradually changing the diet.

To summarize and give an example, it is known that fiber-rich foods shift the microbiota toward a health-associated profile. It is as if we were feeding the ‘precious and good fish’.

Making deep changes in the diet, and gradually tolerating different fiber-rich foods can help you shift your microbiota profile and improve symptoms.

• This product contains inulin, a type of very special soluble fiber that has been shown to improve peristalsis and constipation.
• The soluble fiber combined with lion's mane will help with inflammation