Hi Kim,
That's an interesting article. Note the author's definition of a food intolerance:
Sensitivity to certain foods, or food intolerance, is the inability to properly digest or fully process certain foods
That's sort of true, as far as it goes, but it's a bit too simplistic for the inflammatory bowel diseases, since failure to digest foods completely, (or properly), is quite common, and usually doesn't cause any issues. A prime example of that is insoluble fiber. The medical community, USDA, health advocates, and do-gooders in general, promote the consumption of lots of insoluble fiber, for improved health, and yet, the human digestive system cannot digest it at all - not one iota. And, of course, "normal" people, (those who are not gluten-sensitive), can eat gluten all day long, without any symptoms, (other than perhaps, obesity, if they make a habit of eating it all day long. LOL), and yet they cannot completely digest gluten - they cannot digest the gliadins and the glutenins that we react to. Unlike us, though, those peptides simply pass harmlessly through their digestive system, causing no apparent symptoms. Therefore, it is not the lack of digestion that causes the problems, it is how the body reacts to those peptides. If it ignores them, all is fine. If the immune system chooses to attack them, then all hell breaks loose.
Sugar intolerances, (including lactose and fructose intolerance), simply result in undigested complex sugars that pass into the colon, where they are digested by fermentation, resulting in gas, bloating, and diarrhea. This is a typical result for what most people consider to be food intolerance. In our case, though, (with MC), food intolerance can cause much more severe symptoms, since it can actually trigger an autoimmune reaction by our immune system, resulting in severe intestinal inflammation.
Of course, that article makes no distinction between poor digestion issues, and autoimmune reactions, so presumably, it covers all of them, (although the author is probably not even aware that these are completely different types of phenomena). Therefore, IMO, that article is applicable to people with IBS, and various minor digestive system issues, and it also applies to conditions that, if not corrected, can lead to the development of microscopic colitis, and possibly other IBDs. IOW, it applies to us also, but it doesn't go far enough, in the case of the IBDs.
One of the reasons why I say those things, is because of the authors claim that:
There are only 4 main types of food intolerance (also known as food sensitivity):
* Gluten intolerance
* Dairy sensitivity
* Fructose sensitivity
* Yeast sensitivity
* (See also Wheat intolerance (Wheat Sensitivity), a common trigger for symptoms.)
You may be wondering: “Why only four food intolerances? What about allergies and trigger foods like coffee, soy, strawberries etc.?” Good question!
There is a very good reason to start with the four main food intolerances.
But if you follow the link, to see why only these four "intolerances" were chosen, there's no science behind it - no justification for the author's claims - really, no explanation at all. In fact, I can't understand why they bothered to include that, "clarification", since it doesn't clarify anything. Also, if you follow the link to see the author's version of the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance, the long, drawn-out discussion there, sorta sucks, IMO. There are a total of 132 "references" listed on the site, but none of them are linked with specific claims, (as one would do in a scientific article), so that gives the impression that someone just listed 132 arbitrary celiac and autoimmune disease articles, just so they could say that they listed 132 references.
Actually, the difference between food allergies and food intolerances is quite simple, and can be stated in just a couple of simple phrases: food allergies result in immediate, histamine-based reactions, (affecting primarily the upper respiratory tract, and the skin), which, in a worst case scenario, can result in anaphylaxis, while food intolerances typically result in delayed symptoms of poor digestion, with no respiratory tract involvement and no risk of anaphylaxis. Obviously, there can be other complications with food intolerances, but the lack of histamine involvement is the primary distinction. (Of course, we all know that those of us with mast cell involvement, are exceptions to that rule, but mastocytic enterocolitis is a whole 'nother ball game, and beyond the scope of this discussion).
While I don't claim that fructose "intolerance" is not a problem for many people with digestive system issues, I consider it to be a part of a larger sugar, (carb), "intolerance" problem, and not a separate issue, as claimed by the author. In fact, I tend to agree with Dr. Symes, (Dogtor J), that the four main food intolerances are exactly the ones that he claims:
The fact is that corn is the fourth food- along with gluten (wheat, barley, rye), dairy (casein) and soy- that can damage the villi of the small intestine and cause them to atrophy.
http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id110.html
My reasons are the same as his, namely, that these four foods have the capacity to damage the villi of the small intestine severely enough to cause serious long-term malabsorption, and various related major health issues. The effects of fructose "intolerance", for example, while irritating, and inconvenient, certainly are nowhere near as big a threat to one's overall health, as the villus atrophy caused by a true food "intolerance" which results in an autoimmune reaction. IOW, IMO, lactose and fructose "intolerances" are food nuisances, not food intolerances, from the viewpoint of someone with an IBD. For someone with IBS, then yes, they would probably be viewed as more serious, since IBS ranks much lower on the overall health risk scale, than the IBDs.
The biggest problem that I have with that article is that the author makes a big issue about identifying one's major "intolerances", (presumably the four listed), but of course, to find out what yours are, specifically, you have to send them money. That said, though, my guess is that for someone with idiopathic digestive system issues, the return on an investment in their program would probably be just as productive, or more so, (on a benefits per dollar basis), as money spent in a typical GI doc's office. I'm not endorsing their program with that statement, I'm just pointing out that GI docs don't exactly have a sterling record for treating such digestive system issues, either, as we're all aware.
Tex
