How To Find Out If You Are Intolerant To Dairy

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According to stats 30 million to 50 million people are lactose intolerant. However it is not just those that are lactose intolerant who can have problems when eating dairy. Dairy intolerance is becoming increasingly common among people and can lead to a wide range of every day illnesses including bloating, IBS, fatigue, migraines, and more. But how do you find out if these problems you are having are due to being intolerant to diary?

Before diving into this it is worth understanding a bit about what dairy products are. Dairy foods are foods that are produced from milk, and not always just cow's milk. Dairy products are very common in certain parts of the world and none more so than in Europe, the Middle East and India, where cow's milk finds its way into a multitude of different recipes. Examples of dairy foods are butter, yoghurt, cheese, ice cream, whey, and buttermilk - essentially any foods that contain milk. Sometimes eggs get lumbered in with the dairy products however it is worth noting that eggs are in fact its own entity and those who are intolerant to dairy can actually consume eggs without any problems.

So then back to understanding how you can identify if you have suffer with food intolerance. The most widely used method to identify foods that are causing you problems is to eliminate foods from your diet for a concentrated period of time and then monitoring to see if there has been a change in symptoms. Called an elimination diet, this method is very time consuming and difficult to measure as you have to test against numerous food groups.

Recently however you can now take a simple food intolerance blood test. These tests are simple finger prick blood tests that can be taken in the comfort of your own home. Once you have a blood sample you simply send it off to the laboratory where it is analysed. The laboratory is able to identify specific food groups that you are intolerant to in a much quicker time then it would take an elimination diet to work out. By removing these problematic foods you can begin to feel a reduction in certain symptoms thereby making you feel a lot better.

If you find that dairy is one of the food groups you are in fact intolerant to then fear not as there are alternative food groups. Examples are oat, rice, coconut, soya and almond milks, and for eggs, commercial egg replacers (with ingredients such as potato starch and tapioca flour), mashed bananas to add bulk, and tofu. Of course you should still find out if you have intolerance to any of these food groups before you begin any diet modification and if you are in doubt you should seek the help from your doctor or a registered nutritionist.

About the Author:
Dr. Gillian Hart is a Scientific Director for YorkTest Laboratories who have specialised in food intolerance and allergy testing for over 25 years. For more information visit www.yorktest.com or call 0800 074 6185.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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