Food Intolerances:

Food intolerances never involve the immune system and, are generally not too severe or common.

However many people worry too much on the side of caution after hearing about a food intolerance, even though most of them have enough enzymes to deal with small and occasional quantities of what they think they are intolerant to. Lactose intolerance though may be longer lasting and may have a link to iron deficiency. Sensitivity, such as to mono-sodium glutamate (Ajinomoto) an ingredient in Chinese foods, is many times a self – induced effect.

But we do need to be sensibly careful. Wheat products for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or fructose from fruits and sweeteners practically in all meals, or the wrong milk products, day after day or improperly cooked legumes and lentils can be too much and can lead to stomach aches, repeated bouts of diarrhea, or severe fatigue and other symptoms of intolerance.

We need to remember that all our foods come from plants and from animals that live off plants. All plants have a variety of phytoachemical self defense systems to protect themselves from animals and insects. Such phytochemicals do at times get concentrated in Hybridized and Genetically Modified plants to levels that may have adverse effects on our health. Our ancestors did not evolve eating such foods and our immune systems cannot handle them. Hence the many food intolerances!

It is therefore necessary for us to understand the phytochemicals involved and also what we can do to reduce their ingestion to more acceptable levels or in some instances to eliminate them from our diet.

The main phytochemicals to worry about are:

• Saponins – found in over 100 species of plants including most vegetables, beans, soy beans, peas, lentils, some grains and pseudo grains such as quinoa and herbs. They possess soap like qualities and produce lather when rinsed with water and can bind with water as well as with fats and oils. This means that many edible saponins, in the digestive tract, bind with the bile acids and help eliminate them from the body, preventing cholesterol from being re-absorbed, and also wash away various toxins and even support bone health and have many other beneficial health effects.

Saponins taste bitter and can also be slightly toxic and some, especially the steroidal varieties, may even cause stomachaches, bloating and digestive troubles. Some may even weakly mimic human hormones and adversely affect our health.

It is therefore advisable to reduce the saponin content before ingestion.

• Phytates – the phosphorous stored in edible seeds, nuts, beans/ legumes and grains as phytic acid, then binds to minerals in the digestion tract to become phytates which are often considered antinutrients, as they make the nutrients there less available to our bodies. Yet, these some anti-nutrient properties can also help in the prevention of chronic diseases. The potential negative effects of Phytic acids on mineral absorption are offset by its health benefits.So it is advisable to only reduce their ingestion.
  • Enzyme Inhibitors – are molecules that bind to an enzyme and block its activity. They are used in many medicines to treat metabolic imbalances and are also used in pesticides. In beans/ legumes and pulses, tryptin inhibitors interfere with digestion.

  Here again it is advisable to reduce their ingestion.

  • Lectins – glycoprotein carbohydrate binders are found in most of the foods we eat and are a growing cause of food intolerances and the resultant adverse effects on our health.

  – In grains, wheat, wheat germ, rice, quinoa, buckwheat, oats, rye, barley, millets and corn.

  – In vegetables, all night shade vegetables including eggplant, potato, tomato and peppers.

  – In legumes, beans, lentils, peas including soy beans, peanuts and seeds.

  – In Dairy, all milk products from grain fed animals. Products from raw boiled milk are better than those from Pasteurized milk

  Lectins are concentrated more in seeds, early stage leaves and roots. Leaves typically contain fewer lectins. Lectins cause clumping together of particular cells, making it harder to be digestion and absorbed efficiently. This can lead to auto immune disorders and degenerative diseases and even to a leaky gut.

  Lectins also affect the Gut microflora causing other adverse health effects. Lectin intolerance causes bloating, stomachache, headache, fatigue, indigestion, water retention, swollen joints, skin problems and even food poisoning. Lectin toxicity can often be ‘sub-clinical’, not showing any obvious symptoms for many years. Lectins intolerance is not an allergy, though the top eight allergens (see-below) also contain some of the highest amounts of lectins.

  Lectins can be inactivated by specific carbohydrates. Glucosamine is specific for wheat lectins. A carbohydrate limiting diet, even though not specific, will help in controlling lectin intolerance.

  To reduce the ingestion of these food intolerance agents we need to follow proper Food Preparation habits. (See – ‘Cooking Methods, Oils and Transfats’)

  Note: The ‘Blood type – Diet’ is based on reaction to lectins (See – www.healthoracle.org). However, scientific research is yet to satisfactorily confirm such correlation.

  Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6