What Are Food Sensitivities and How Can They Affect Me?

Food sensitivities exist when a person has difficulty digesting a specific kind of food or different groupings of food. These differ from food allergies because sensitivities don't result from an immune system reaction as food allergies do. The symptoms of a food intolerance or sensitivity also differ from that of a food allergy in that they are not as abrupt and are sometimes not as easy to spot. If you experience fatigue, depression, migraines, joint pain, gas, bloating, indigestion, skin rashes, hives, nasal congestion, or sinusitis after eating certain foods, you may have food sensitivities.

There are many different factors that can make someone sensitive to a type of food, one of which could be a lack of specific chemicals or enzymes needed to digest particular food substances. For example, if your body is lacking in the appropriate amounts of the enzyme lactase, you may have difficulty digesting milk and other dairy products because lactase breaks down the sugar lactose to allow for digestion. You may also experience symptoms of food sensitivities if your body is depleted of sucrase or maltase because you would not be able to effectively digest the sugars sucrose or maltose, respectively.

Food sensitivities can be difficult to identify, especially when, as previously stated, it may take hours or days after ingesting a specific food for a reaction to surface. However, if you are able to figure out the particular food you are sensitive to, eliminating it from your diet can sometimes assuage your symptoms. If locating the source of your discomfort proves too difficult and the symptoms continue, you should seek medical help from your doctor or dietician.