What foods can people be intolerant to?
There is also a wide variety of foods associated with food intolerance. The most frequently encountered in an island of Ireland context include milk (lactose intolerance) and gluten (coeliac disease; wheat intolerance) but also certain food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG).
A person with lactose intolerance cannot digest milk properly (lactose is a milk sugar). Lactose cannot be absorbed by the body resulting in symptoms such as cramps and diarrhoea. For more on lactose intolerance see the medical information section.
A person with coeliac disease reacts to gluten which is a protein found in foods such as wheat, rye, barley and oats. This results in damage to the gut with effects on nutritional status and general wellbeing.
Some people have reported symptoms such as flushing, temperature increase and headache after eating the flavour enhancer MSG. These symptoms are also known as "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome", related to the fact that MSG is a frequent ingredient in many Chinese dishes.
Other foods to which susceptible people are known to react include red wine, cheese, caffeine and salicylates which are found in certain vegetables, herbs, spices, fruits and chocolate.
