Jamie Oliver first got us Brits stired up about our diets, now it seems as a nation we are all more informed about nutrition and the phrase ‘food intolerance’ is cropping up regularity.
Food intolerance can appear in many forms, from skin rashes to stomach problems. Iritable bowel Syndrome is one of the most common symptons of a suspected food intolerance, causing pain and discomfort, so successfully identifying the problem food is paramount to feeling better.
Google Trends offers a clear insight into our raised awareness of IBS, between January 2004 and January 2014 searches for ‘IBS symptoms’ have increased by 85%. Suggesting that more people are suffering from IBS-like symptoms.
Even though we have become more informed, why is it we as a nation are still so unhealthy?
Of course another thing us Brits are well known for is our weekend binging and this lifestyle of excess could be the cause of the problem.
It’s clear that many people are fully aware that eating badly at the weekend is likely to impact how they feel on Monday, although this clearly does not prevent them from indulging in unhealthy behaviour at the time. From the weekend fry up to the ‘on the way home’ kebab, we just can’t help ourselves.
Our decision is clearly to binge on a weekend but continue to eat foods which our bodies do not agree with. Symptoms for food intolerance sometimes don’t appear for 72 hours after eating the problem food, so we often aren’t aware of how much damage we have done to ourselves till much later. Remember that pizza you ate on Saturday night? Whilst we’re sure you enjoyed eating it at the time, come Monday morning a suspected intolerance to wheat might be wreaking havoc on your stomach and how you feel. This may further explain the increase in searches for food related problems on a Monday.
To discover whether you have a food intolerance, take YorkTest’s FirstStep Test or speak to an expert on 0800 074 6185 +44 (0)1904 410 410.
