The Food Intolerance Index

Food intolerances are relatively common, so if you do experience symptoms whenever you eat something specific, it’s possible that it directly causes those symptoms. For example, one in ten people are lactose intolerant, so will feel effects when they drink milk or eat food containing dairy. But there’s a wide range of foods that humans can have an intolerance to, which can make narrowing it down challenging. Some of the most common food intolerances include:

• Dairy, such as milk, yoghurt and cheese
• Gluten, such as bread, cereal and pasta
• Wheat, such as pasta, bread and pastry
• Eggs, including chicken and duck eggs
• Yeast, such as bread, beer and parties
• Sugar, such as sweets, fizzy drinks and processed food.

But these are just some of the foods you may develop an intolerance to. We’ll explore more potential triggers below.

Similar to fruit, some vegetables also contain high levels of fructose, which means if you have a fructose intolerance you may experience symptoms after eating certain veggies. This includes broccoli, artichokes, mushrooms, peas, red pepper and tomato.

Other vegetable intolerances include:

• Celery
• Green Bean

Another possibility is food in the allium family. If you have an allium intolerance, your body will struggle to digest onions and other similar foods, like garlic, leeks, shallots, Shiitake mushrooms and chives.

Dairy intolerance is the most common food intolerance in the world, with around 25% of people struggling to digest the sugars found in milk. That means, if you have a lactose intolerance, you’ll likely experience symptoms when you eat or drink:

• Milk
• Butter
• Cream
• Chocolate
• Certain cheeses
• Milkshakes
• Ice cream
• Yoghurt

If you’re lactose intolerant, you may still be able to eat certain types of cheese that are low in lactose. This includes hard cheeses like parmesan, cottage cheese and cheddar. However, everyone’s different so this might not be the case for you.

Eggs are a versatile food that can be eaten in a variety of different ways on its own, but also as an ingredient in cakes, pastries, desserts, processed meat, pasta, condiments and more. If you have an egg intolerance, you may have an intolerance to the white, the yolk or both.

Gluten is a protein found in different cereals and grains which means it’s found in a huge range of different foods, including pasta, bread, cereal, cake, soup and beer. Gluten intolerance is relatively common in the UK, so if you experience symptoms when eating different types of food that contain cereals and grains then that could be the cause. If you do suffer from a gluten intolerance, you may want to consider natural gluten-free options such as rice.

It’s possible to have a wheat intolerance while not also having a gluten intolerance. Someone with a gluten intolerance struggles to digest the protein gluten, while someone with a wheat intolerance only struggles to digest wheat. However, wheat is a key ingredient in pasta, cakes and processed foods, so there is some crossover. For more information read our article on the difference between wheat and gluten intolerances.

Yeast is an ingredient commonly used in food including bread, cakes, beer and pastries, which means it can also be confused with a gluten intolerance. And because yeast is a fungus it can become airborne very easily, meaning it’s possible to inhale spores which can cause symptoms. That means a yeast intolerance or allergy can be tricky to manage.

Tree nuts are another common intolerance and allergy trigger that has symptoms ranging from mild to severe. Walnuts, cashew nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, macadamia nuts and brazil nuts are all types of tree nuts. They’re found in lots of different foods, including chocolate, cereal, desserts and sauces.