Food intolerance: No gut, no glory

Who doesn’t love to eat? We love food with a passion that some of us have stomachs with a life of their own. Food gives us pleasure, makes us feel good. But it can also make us feel bad. Which brings us to this unsavory topic: food intolerance. Food intolerance is defined as “the inability to digest certain kinds of foods, overlooked because their reactions appear more slowly and at times are even unnoticeable.”

July being Nutrition Month, the good news is, Filipinos are now becoming more aware of food intolerance.  And the even better news is that Global Medical Technologies Manila now makes available the Cambridge Nutritional Sciences (CNS) Food Intolerance System, the global leader in food diagnostics, to help Filipinos better manage their nutrition.

“Nutrition is the basic foundation of our well-being. The food that we take in supports the proper functioning of our body,” says Mitch Genato, managing director of Global Medical Technologies Manila. “It is also important to note that our body reacts differently to food. What could be good food for one person may be bad for another because his or her body is unable to process that food,” adds Genato.

Truly, one man’s food could be another man’s poison.

FYI: “Food intolerance is a mild inflammatory reaction of the tissue that is directly in contact with food, the gut. Swelling and edema of the gut can lead to intestinal discomfort and malabsorption, causing our digestive system to malfunction unknown to us, such as more gas formation, inadequate absorption of nutrients, and toxin staying longer inside our body.” 

You must have the guts to listen to your gut because food intolerance is really a serious matter. Consider these short-term symptoms: indigestion that includes a bloated feeling, hyperactive bowel sounds, flatulence, acid reflux, and sometimes  diarrhea. Left untreated, this may lead to long-term manifestations: systemic malnutrition, such as frequent illness with propensity for bacterial and viral infections, chronic fatigue, inappropriate weight gain, skin and hair deterioration, and bowel movement inconsistencies.

Once you’ve mustered enough guts to deal with your gut, the first step is to find out which food items your body is intolerant to through a Food Intolerant Test (FIT).

Cambridge Nutritional Sciences has its two Food Intolerance Test, Food Detective and Food Print, now available to Filipinos. The Food Detective is a qualitative food intolerance test, which accurately determines which food your body is reacting to. On the other hand, the Food Print is a quantitative food intolerance test, the most advanced and comprehensive laboratory service that detects the exact presence of IgG (Immunoglobulin G, an antibody found in all body fluids, that protects against bacterial and viral infections) food specific antibodies to a wide range of foods that we consume.

Through FIT, you will now know what food groups you react to or are not fit for you. Among the most common food intolerances are gluten (thankfully, there are a lot of gluten-free food now), lactose, fructose, and alcohol.

So, what can we eat then? Don’t despair, says Genato. “According to medical experts, the best way to manage intolerance is to manage the intake of food that causes reaction in the body. Don’t throw a fit over FIT yet because you can still enjoy your favorite foods that are included in your list of indigestible items through a well-guided nutrition program from a health provider.”

LifeScience Center for Wellness and Preventive Medicine, the first partner of CNS in the Philippines, equips consumers with the life-saving knowledge of which food items they are intolerant to, providing a complete integrative care in managing symptoms and ensuring that a person’s well-being is supported by proper nutrition.

LifeScience helps consumers manage the symptoms of food intolerance through various methods such as elimination diet.

Dr. Ben Valdecanas, LifeScience Center medical director, stresses, “Since our bodies are unique, we have individual needs in terms of the quantity and quality of the food that we should eat. That’s what the elimination diet wishes to achieve — to find the perfect food match for you. We will remove certain foods for a period of time, then slowly reintroduce them and monitor a person’s symptoms for possible reactions.”

On top of improving a person’s threshold of tolerance, the LifeScience nutrition program provides a tailor-fitted meal plan for clients. It helps clients discover substitutes for specific food items by providing a list of food items that can be used to replace the food that you are intolerant to and where these food substitutes can be sourced.

More, LifeScience ensures that consumers get the needed vitamins and nutrients. “Customizing a person’s supplements helps in maintaining the vitamins and nutrients in your body at the right level, especially those that you can’t get from food due to intolerance,” Dr. Valdecanas adds. “LifeScience believes that good nutrition and correct vitamin and micronutrient supplementation are the baseline of good health and approaching health from a preventive standpoint.”

To sum it up: Eat, drink, and be merry, but also be very wary!

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For more information on the CNS Food Intolerance Tests, visit www.gmtmanila.com. Call Global Medical Technologies at 952-4205.

More information about LifeScience and its preventive wellness programs is available at www.lifescience.ph. LifeScience Center for Wellness and Preventive Medicine is located at the 8/F AccraLaw Tower, 2nd Avenue corner 30th Street, Bonifacio Global City with telephone number 828LIFE (5433).