Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Food Intolerance
Inflammatory Bowel Disease refers to a set of intestinal disorders that cause an unexplained inflammation of the digestive tract.
Although IBD itself is not usually considered fatal, it can lead to serious life-threatening complications. Visit your GP if you notice a persistent, unexplained change in bowel patterns or discomfort.
Common Causes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Unfortunately IBD has no known cause. According to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, IBD is the result of the immune system reacting inappropriately, “mistaking benign or beneficial cells and bacteria for harmful foreign substances” which can then harm the gastrointestinal tract.
Two notable types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease include:
- Crohn’s Disease
- Ulcerative Colitis
Symptoms Include:
- Abdominal cramps, pain
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhea
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Unexplained weight Loss
How Food Intolerance Can Worsen IBD Symptoms
While there’s no evidence that claim diet adjustments can cure IBD, monitoring how food reacts with your system can go a long way in managing negative symptoms.
Food intolerances, for example, can cause increased inflammation in the gut. Being that IBD sufferers already experience unexplained inflammatory effects, adding more can only multiply symptoms. In fact, some cases of IBD are also associated with malnutrition due to loss of appetite and the inability to digest and absorb proteins, another shared side-effect of food intolerances.
Effectively monitoring how your body reacts with your diet can help identify possible trigger foods that worsen flare-ups.
How a Food Intolerance Test Can Help
Eliminating and replacing problem foods from your diet may help fight against IBD or reduce symptoms. The quickest way to identify your food intolerances is by taking a blood test that measures IgG antibody levels against a variety of different food proteins.
This kind of testing helps to quickly identify which foods are responding negatively with your system and can be much more efficient than food journaling or guess-and-check diets.
All that’s left to do after you get your results is to eliminate the foods you’re intolerant to. That’s it. No follow ups. No exercise regiments. Zero hassles.
