A FOOD INTOLERANCE FAD?
The number of us who think we can’t eat certain foods is far higher than medical science suggests
BREAD and cheese were once staple parts of our diet - but more people than ever believe they have an intolerance to them.
Polling by YouGov shows the number of people who say they can’t eat certain foods has risen sharply.
Six in ten people now think they have an intolerance of gluten, while half think they have an intolerance of dairy produce.
But there is evidence that the number of people who really shouldn’t be eating those foods might be considerably lower.
The British Nutrition Foundation estimates that fewer than two in every 100 people actually suffer from a food intolerance.
And a separate survey found that while nearly half of the adult population thought they had a food allergy or intolerance, only 15 per cent had actually received a medical diagnosis. The YouGov poll, meanwhile, found 28 per cent of the public believe intolerances are “just in people’s minds”.
Experts say the rise of social media influencers and celebrities might help explain why so many people now think they can’t eat certain foods.
Sarah Elder, a registered dietitian and member of the BDA, said: “Of those people that identify they have a food intolerance, 22 per cent believe this due to hearing that a celebrity has an intolerance.
“Other reasons include taking advice from family members or social media influencers.
“The concern is that people are looking for quick fixes to improve their health but are being offered incorrect information and following restrictive diets which can result in nutritional deficiencies if they are not supported by a registered health professional.”
Food intolerances are different to allergies because they involve the digestive system, while allergies are to do with the immune system.
The NHS says a person has a food intolerance when they have difficulty digesting a particular food. It can lead to stomach pain, bloating, and itching. Intolerance symptoms include can include bloating, diarrhoea, skin rashes, and night sweats - among other things.
Allergies are easier to diagnose and can, in extreme cases, be lifethreatening.
Allergy UK advises that intolerances “can be caused by different factors, such as lifestyles with erratic food intake and poor nutritional intake or high intakes of refined foods, poor intakes of dietary fibre or high fat diets”.