Why Am I Always Tired – Food Intolerance To Blame?
The feeling of being tired as a concept is extremely hard to define, since everybody has their own idea of what being tired means. Everybody is tired once in a while and the most common reason is, of course, lack of sleep. The number of people complaining of tiredness increases every year; 1 in 10 people are suffering from persistent tiredness, with women more likely to be affected than men.
Chronic fatigue is a medical condition characterised by drowsiness, slowness, general indifference, or tiredness so much so that you can’t perform all of the normal, daily activities you used to. Some people battle chronic fatigue for many years. The cause of chronic fatigue is not known, although it is clear that the immune system, the body’s own protection mechanism, is involved. It is also clear that the most common symptom of food intolerance is fatigue although people often use other health conditions as an explanation for their symptoms.
Adverse food reactions can create almost any symptom and affect almost any body system. Many problems with food allergy or intolerance can be traced to problems within the intestinal tract. Leaky gut syndrome is one contributor to food intolerance. In such cases, food reactions improve when the leaky gut is repaired using nutrients. The fact is that every individual person is unique with a different biochemical make-up, even to others with similar conditions. Wheat, kidney beans and eggs may cause one person to feel more washed out and lacking in energy but will be fine for someone else to eat even though they suffer from chronic fatigue.
For those with chronic fatigue, acknowledging that certain food combinations can contribute to symptoms, and then identifying and eliminating the specific foods from their diet, is an important step forward in improving energy levels. The problem with attempting any dietary modification is that first you need to know what to change. Currently the best accepted method for confirming food sensitivities is by elimination diet. This involves eating a restricted diet for several weeks. If there is no reduction in symptoms during this time, it is assumed that the food type that has been restricted is not the problem and the process is repeated with another food type. Everyone’s food reactivity “fingerprint” is different and the average number of foods that someone with food intolerance reacts to is 5. This means that, using this traditional food elimination method, it is impossible to find out the exact combination of food types that may be causing the problems; it is a very ineffective process.
In one survey of 648 sufferers of fatigue, 87% reported that their energy levels increased if they removed the foods from their diet that showed a positive reaction to IgG food antibodies in their blood. The food intolerance test that was used in the survey was the York Test; it only requires a few drops of blood from a finger prick that can be collected in the comfort of your own home. The First Step test is a pre-screen which identifies whether food-specific IgG antibody reactions are detected or not. If food-specific IgG antibodies are detected then you can choose to embark on the more comprehensive FoodScan or Food & DrinkScan programmes. Included in the YorkTest programmes, which test for reactions to up to 158 different food and drinks ingredients, are two consultations with a qualified Nutritional Therapist who will help you look at how to manage the changes you need to make to your diet in order for you to feel better.
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