Do I have a food intolerance?
How should I test for it?
Natural living expert Adele McConnell (pictured) answers your FAQs about health and nutrition.
Q: I feel bloated all the time and suffer from indigestion. I’m pretty sure that I can’t eat dairy and may have a wheat intolerance, but what is the best way to test for this? And how is this done?
Janella: You don’t need to do a test for this – your body will tell you if it likes something or not. Most of us are having trouble digesting foods like red meat, dairy products and grains. Especially wheat. Unless you have an allergy, you can handle eating these foods sometimes.
Take them out of your diet for a week and then introduce them back in, one at a time, a week apart. Then try to include them sparingly, as they are not foods that we ‘need’.
Also, consider taking some herbal medicine to strengthen your digestion. These are herbs like chamomile, peppermint, New Zealand herb kawakawa, mandarin peel, and fennel. You could probably do with a strong practitioner of probiotics to help that good bacteria proliferate.
Start eating fermented foods if you’re not already. These include vegie-based ones like sauerkraut, tempeh, miso and kimchi, and dairy-based such as kefir and quark. Just be sure to get them from a health food store though or even better, make your own. It’s really very easy and cost effective. Also, avoid GMO foods. These are corn, soy and canola.
NEXT: Food allergies: the facts>>
