Live well despite food intolerance
Recently in the village was again flax market. "Weeks before, I'm looking forward to it," says Silvia Hüsken with shining eyes. "There is a stall with French fries made from fresh potatoes, baked in very good oil." What would not be worth mentioning for most people is an extraordinary experience for the 55-year-old.
Food intolerance restricts life
Silvia Hüsken has food problems because she has more than just food intolerance. It can tolerate neither lactose (lactose) nor fructose (fructose). Histamine, a substance found in many foods such as sausage, cheese, ham, seafood and chocolate, is also a source of concern. It can not eat fruit and dairy products and poultry only when it is absolutely fresh.
Food allergy? and everything will be different
She can only dream of Currywurst, who loves hearty food because of food intolerance. Of roast beef too. Although she prepares it occasionally, but only for guests - she cooks extra for herself. "What I eat, I can not expect others," says Silvia Hüsken.
Often she does not even dare to taste the sauce for frying for fear of catching too much of one of the incompatible substances. "Everyone thought I was getting dressed, they did not even find anything in the hospital."
Pain indicated incompatibility
But the delicate Rhinelander is a standing woman, it has always been, she says. At the moment she has to endure many restrictions. But it is, if things go well, almost free of complaints. That was not always so. And the way to here was long and rocky. About ten years ago, her abdominal pain and cramps - "I always had them somehow" - became so massive that she often had to go to hospital with colic.
It took three more years until she came to a doctor who could help her. "Before, I was with at least four other doctors, they all thought I was going to stand up and they did not find anything even in the hospital.
Finally she came to an allergist. The ruled out an allergy, but was the first food intolerance lactose intolerance, a lactose intolerance. "I did not find that problematic," says Silvia Hüsken. "I just ate a lot of meat and salad, which I loved."
Many horrors and no end
It was not better, but rather worse. Then came the next diagnosis: Fructose malabsorption, a disrupted intake of fructose. The list of allowed food became shorter, the beloved salad was canceled. But the symptoms remained despite treatment of this new food allergy, also the tachycardia and the sweats, under which she suffered for years.
Finally, her allergist came last Food intolerance of histamine intolerance on track. "There really was a world collapse for me, in the beginning I spent whole afternoons with my husband in the supermarket, looking for food with long lists that I could even eat." Since then, she only buys meat from a farmer around the corner; She knows that it is really fresh.
A complete waiver of certain foods is in most cases not necessary for food intolerance. It often takes a long time to make a diagnosis, "says Dr. Imke Reese, a nutritional therapist specializing in allergies and intolerances.
"It usually takes some time for those affected to go to the doctor, for one thing, they do not take their suffering seriously enough, and for another, it's them embarrassing to talk about flatulence or diarrhea, even with a doctor. And unfortunately there are also many home and even specialist doctors who do not take the complaints seriously or do not recognize the connections. "
Help from the nutritionist
Meanwhile, Silvia Hüsken has come to terms with her food intolerances: "I now know how to feed myself so I'm fine." At first she was with a nutritionist. "That helped a lot, but in the end, you have to try what you can handle yourself."
This is also confirmed by Imke Reese: "A complete abandonment of certain foods is not necessary in most cases. Many can still use small amounts of lactose and fructose. If they completely renounced it, this residual ability would also be lost over time. "
The nutritional therapist helps people find out what amounts and what combination of foods they can tolerate: "It makes a big difference whether you bite an apple on an empty stomach or eat the apple grated together with cream quark." "Creamy quark digests the fruit much more slowly." The fruit sugar does not come in one go, but gradually into the gut Then he is often admitted. "
Tablets against food intolerance?
Imke Reese says little about the regular use of enzyme tablets that help break down lactose or histamine: "They may make sense, for example, if you have little influence on the food at a family celebration. In everyday life, however, sufferers should try to take what they personally tolerate. "
Silvia Hüsken is coping well with her life despite food intolerance? Family celebrations, restaurant visits and travel are as good as impossible for them. Your big dream is, together driving through California with her husband in a camper. So far, the fear of not finding the right foods there was too great. "And then lying flat in the motorhome for days? I do not want that!" Says Silvia Hüsken resolutely.
Eating out due to food intolerance
The two, who did not dismantle the long path of the disease, but rather welded it together, would like to eat out together. Eight years ago, they were in a restaurant for the last time. But maybe at least this wish can be fulfilled soon. "Recently there was a restaurant nearby offering allegedly lactose- and fructose-free food, which we could try," says Silvia Hüsken, beaming at her husband.
Intolerance or allergy?
Around one third of the population can not tolerate certain foods. Fast is spoken of an allergy. But in most cases it is "only" an incompatibility - an important difference in recommendations for eating behavior.
Food Allergy
It occurs when the body's immune system reacts defensively to certain foods or their ingredients. It is sensitized by these substances and forms antibodies (immunoglobulin E = IgE) against it. These can be detected in the blood (IgE test). If the allergen meets these antibodies, it causes complaints. Most of the corresponding food must not be eaten.
Food intolerance
If the body does not produce antibodies when in contact with certain substances, experts speak of a pseudoallergy or intolerance. Nevertheless, it comes to allergy-like symptoms. As with intolerances caused by a congenital or acquired defect of enzymes in the digestive system.
Lactose intolerance
If a certain enzyme, lactase, is not produced in the small intestine in sufficient quantity, the body can not properly break down milk sugar (lactose). Instead, it is decomposed by bacteria in the colon. This causes bloating, abdominal pain or diarrhea. Affected in Germany about ten to 15 percent of the population. How much lactose or dairy products are tolerated, must be tested individually.
Fructose malabsorption
When digesting so-called "transporter" nutrients through the intestinal mucosa into the blood. If a certain transporter (GLUT-5) is missing, the intake of fructose (fructose) is disturbed. The doctors call the malabsorption. For healthy people, the transporter creates 35 to 50 grams of fructose at once. Patients with fructose malabsorption tolerate a maximum of 25 grams. With more, it comes to flatulence, nausea or diarrhea. This recording disorder occurs in about one third of the population. It is not - as is often falsely claimed - an intolerance. Affected do not need to completely abstain from fruit or honey. Only a few people actually have congenital fructose intolerance.
Histamine Intolerance
Histamine is the substance that is released in allergies and is responsible for many symptoms. Histamine intolerance causes similar symptoms: abdominal discomfort, runny nose, shortness of breath, headache, sweating and palpitations. This is what happens when histamine is taken from food through the intestine or the breakdown is disturbed. Larger quantities of this substance contain fermented or aged foods such as sausages, cheese, cured meat, anchovies and wine. What somebody can handle in which amount has to be tried out. A true intolerance is very rare and difficult to diagnose. Frequently, histamine problems result from fructose or lactose intolerance; If this improves, the histamine intolerance disappears.
More info
"Eating and drinking with fructose malabsorption", brochure of the German Nutrition Society, for one Euro at www.dge-medienservice.de (also on the subject of lactose intolerance); Food database for the search for low-lactose products: www.lactonaut.de; Guide, practical tips, recipes: www.fruktosecoach.de; scientifically validated overview: www.was-wir-essen.de; Help with finding a diagnosis, seeking a doctor and dealing with complaints is provided by the "Working Group on Dietetics in Allergology" at www.ak-dida.de
Lactose intolerance, celiac disease (gluten intolerance), histamine intolerance: Which diagnostic method is serious?
Incompatibilities are difficult to determine. And often investigations are offered that say little. Privatdozent Jörg Kleine-Tebbe, CEO of the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI), says which tests can be trusted. These diagnostic methods are backed up by studies:
H2 breath test
To detect lactose or fructose intolerance, the patient must drink a solution containing a certain amount of lactose or fruit acid. What the body does not process convert intestinal bacteria into hydrogen (H2) um, which is exhaled. This is measured every 30 minutes.
Blood test for lactose intolerance
After the patient has consumed 50 grams of lactose, the glucose level in the blood is measured for two hours. Normally, the lactose is converted into glucose, the blood sugar level rises.
Blood test for histamine intolerance
If the enzyme that breaks down histamine (diaminooxidase) is found in the blood, this may indicate a breakdown. A confirmed diagnosis only gives a comprehensive allergological examination.
Allergic tests such as prick and IgE test
These tests are performed when it is unclear whether there is an allergy or intolerance. The prick test allergen solutions z. B. dripped on the arm, then the skin is superficially "pretended" ("pricked"). The examination of the IgE antibodies in the blood can provide information on allergy triggers.
colonoscopy
With this procedure, the doctor can check whether an inflammatory bowel disease is the cause of complaints. These diagnostic methods are demonstrably unsuitable
Blood test for fructose
According to the studies no intolerance can be determined. Blood test for histamine: "Unfortunately not very meaningful, as the histamine levels in the blood fluctuate greatly," says Jörg Kleine-Tebbe.
Blood test for IgG (immunoglobulin G) antibody
This is even considered a test for the home, but usually offered as a private service by doctors or non-medical practitioners. For up to 400 foods, it should be an intolerance or allergy. But: "These tests only show if a person had contact with a food, nothing more," says allergist Kleine-Tebbe. "No serious doctor offers such an IgG test."
Kinesiology, bioresonance therapy, electro-acupuncture after full
By measuring electrical currents or the arm power To determine how the body reacts to certain foods. "You can not diagnose anything with this," says Kleine-Tebbe. Scientific studies even showed that healthy persons were attributed to intolerances, but that high-grade allergic persons were not "discovered".
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