What is a Food Intolerance?
Food intolerances impact your body’s ability to digest or break down certain foods or ingredients. Symptoms may happen hours after a food is eaten, which can at first make it hard to pinpoint the cause. While a food intolerance is not life-threatening like allergies are, they are nonetheless uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing.
Explore all of our digestive enzymes for food intolerances.*
Symptoms of a food intolerance can include:
- bloating
- cramps
- occasional heartburn
- occasional gas
- diarrhea after eating certain foods
- indigestion
- other digestive issues
Everyone is unique, so your experience might be different.
A food intolerance can be caused by a number of issues, such as enzyme deficiencies or problems with GI transit (or issues with the physical side of digestion).
Which foods are most likely to cause a food intolerance? Common food intolerances include complex carbohydrates, milk sugar (lactose), milk protein (casein), gluten, phenols and FODMAPS (fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides and polyols).
- Lactose: the sugar found in dairy
- Casein: one of the proteins found in dairy
- Gluten: a protein found in wheat and other grains like barley and rye.
- Phenols: a group of organic compounds found in plants
The severity of food intolerances ranges from disrupting everyday life to relegating foods to special occasions. It’s common for individuals to experience more than one intolerance.
What’s the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance? A food intolerance is a gastrointestinal response to food(s), while an allergy is an immune response. (They are not the same!) The term “food sensitivity” is sometimes used in place of “food intolerance.”
