Following the diet suggested in my book ‘Food Intolerance Solutions’ ensures on average 90% improvement.
Here is the chapter about tummy issues…
Chapter 4: Gastro-intestinal and digestion
It is a miserable existence for someone whose life is ruled by their gut.
Pains, cramps, bloating, rushing to the toilet, all affect their quality of
life.
If you are or your child are suffering from digestion symptoms, these
can include; infant colic, tummy aches, bloating, wind, loose stools,
diarrhoea, urgency, incontinence, constipation, indigestion, refl ux,
nausea and vomiting; avoiding the foods or drinks you are intolerant of
will help your symptoms.
Many adults with the above symptoms are given a diagnosis of Irritable
Bowel Syndrome. It sounds like a bona fi de diagnosis, but means very
little apart from ’your bowel is irritated by something’. If your bowel is
being irritated by a food or drink, it is very likely to be one you frequently
consume.
You will almost certainly have tried to work out what your problem foods
are, because of symptoms suffered after certain meals. You may have
decided that all kinds of things, maybe vegetables, fi zzy drinks, red meat,
rich meals, fi brous meals and acidic foods are aggravating your tummy.
Frequent consumption of a staple food or drink is usually the cause, but
the sufferer assumes the food most recently eaten is the culprit.
The frequently consumed food upsets the gut, and then it seems anything
the person eats is a problem, making them windy, bloated, giving them
pain, abnormal stools, refl ux or indigestion. Sufferers start to avoid
anything that seems linked with the timing of their symptoms and
consequently exclude an ever-increasing number of foods from their diet.
Their daily menu becomes unhealthy, bland and boring, and they can end
up creating new intolerances.
Part 2: Symptoms
41
Chapter 4: Gastro-intestinal and digestion
Even if you have a diagnosis of hiatus hernia, ulcerative colitis, colitis,
diverticulitis or Crohn’s disease, a change of diet can seriously improve
things for you.
Case Study
Jodie, a 28 year old beauty salon owner, came to me for a food
intolerance test following a recommendation from a friend. Her main
problems were tummy related, but she had some other symptoms
which could have been linked to food intolerance. She complained of
daily bloating. This bloating was extremely uncomfortable because her
tummy swelled to such an extent on some days she looked six months
pregnant. Flatulence was a major problem for Jodie, particularly
later in the day. Her stools were always loose and occasionally she
suffered diarrhoea. When she had diarrhoea, it was preceded by pain,
and associated with a very urgent need to get to the toilet. Jodie
had seen her GP several times during the previous ten years. Eight
years previously she had been referred for a colonoscopy, but nothing
abnormal was discovered. Consequently, she had been diagnosed as
suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
The other symptoms that Jodie presented with were fatigue, lethargy
and joint pains in her fi ngers, wrists and elbows.
Jodie was suspicious of wheat, because the bloating started after
lunch. She usually ate a sandwich or a wrap at lunchtime. Her diet
contained very few vegetables, because she thought they were a
trigger. Her GP had advised her to avoid vegetables, fi zzy drinks and
anything that seemed to make her more windy. I explained often
with tummy issues, the person perceives that certain foods such as
vegetables, spices, a rich meal, a fatty meal or a big meal can affect
them. But once the underlying problem food has been excluded from
the daily diet, the person can cope with the foods of which they were
suspicious.
When I tested her, I discovered that Jodie was intolerant of:
42
• cow’s milk products; and
• dark brown food colouring E150–E155.
Jodie used cow’s milk on cereal every morning, in two cups of tea
and two cups of coffee daily. She ate cheese most days, and ate
at least one yogurt a day. I explained to Jodie that people become
intolerant of foods they tend to eat or drink most frequently. She
quickly realised that cow’s milk products were the food group that
she consumed more often than any other food or drink, on average
seven to eight times daily.
Dark brown food colour is in cola drinks, gravy and stock cubes mainly.
Jodie had noticed that she felt even worse after a roast dinner, but
thought it was because it was a large meal, or because the vegetables
had made her windy. When she felt worse after a diet coke, she
presumed that it was because of the bubbles.
Why these foods? Cause
Cow’s milk products Frequency of use
Why then? Trigger
Starts the pill age 20 [symptoms
started]
Hormonal
Recent work stress [symptoms
worsened]
Stress
Jodie agreed to avoid these foods, and after a week she was feeling
much better. She suffered a few headaches in the fi rst few days
because of withdrawal symptoms, but her tummy settled down. She
had much more energy and was no longer lethargic. Her joint pains
completely disappeared. The only hiccough she encountered was
when she ate goat’s cheese. Her tummy became very bloated again.
She assumed, following an email conversation with me, that she could
not tolerate any animal milks, cheeses or yogurts.
After three months exclusion, Jodie gradually reintroduced her
problem foods. Now she eats cow’s products again, but tries not to
Part 2: Symptoms
43
Chapter 4: Gastro-intestinal and digestion
The table below details the most common food intolerances of the 345 adults and 96 children who suffered tummy symptoms in my 2015 Survey.
Food Percentage adults Percentage children
Milk 39 82
Cocoa 41 46
Coffee 33 0
Orange 31 50
Yeast, cheese, yogurt 38 0
Tea 29 0
Some form of alcohol 11 n/a
Sweet artificial flavours15 20
Apple 11 31
Monosodium glutamate 9 10
E150 [caramel] 14 7
Aspartame 3 11
Soya 3 10
Sunflower 7 5
Wheat >1 0
have them more than twice a day. She has learned to enjoy her
coffee black, and uses almond milk in her tea and coconut milk on
her cereal. When Jodie introduced E150 [caramel] in the form of coca
cola again, she felt bloated within four hours and was back to feeling
unaccountably tired. Instead she has lemonade if she wants to have
a fi zzy drink. She has learned to make her own gravy using marmite
instead of gravy granules.
44
Points to note
• In children with tummy symptoms, cow’s milk products are a cause
in 11% more cases than for all other symptoms.
• Orange intolerance in children with tummy symptoms is 4% higher
than for other symptoms.
• In adults, coffee is 4% more likely to be a cause of tummy problems,
than it is for all other symptoms, whereas tea remains the same.
• More children with tummy symptoms, 20%, react adversely to
sweet artificial flavours compared to 12% of children with other
symptoms.
Case Study
Louise a lawyer aged 31, came to see me for testing because she
had major problems with constipation, wind and abdominal pain. She
occasionally had loose stools and on those days had a real problem,
needing to fi nd a toilet fast, sometimes so urgently that she felt
uneasy about leaving the house on a bad day. Also, she was suffering
from frequent headaches. She felt unaccountably tired. Louise felt
that her GP was ‘losing the will to live’ every time she pitched up
at the surgery. Louise told me that until three years before, she was
really healthy apart from suffering from acne. She had been put on
the pill to help her severe acne and although her skin was now clear,
she had never felt well since. Her tummy issues and headaches had
started within one month of taking the pill.
At around the same time she had suffered a very painful split from a
long term boyfriend. Her GP’s approach mainly consisted of saying
that Louise was suffering from stress and would be helped by being
able to relax more. Louise recognised that her job was a stressor, she
worked long hours and she was anxious, but she felt that her anxiety
was because of her health concerns and not vice versa.
Louise thought that bread might be a part of her constipation
problems, but, like many other people, she felt that it was from the
wheat component. Despite having avoided wheat for a while, she
recognised this was not the full story.
Part 2: Symptoms
45
Chapter 4: Gastro-intestinal and digestion
On testing, I found Louise was intolerant of:
• yeast, all cheeses and all yogurts;
• coffee; and
• cocoa.
Louise loved cheese! Also, she regularly ate yogurt. By cutting out
wheat, she had mostly cut out yeast, because she did not like the
taste of wheat or gluten free breads. But, she was still eating cheese
daily. Because Louise was so tired, she had got into the habit of
using coffee to keep herself awake. She was therefore having up to
six or seven strong coffees daily. She said she rarely ate chocolate
and could not understand why she had become intolerant of cocoa. I
explained to her that the coffee bean and cocoa bean are very close
relatives. When one of them is a major problem the other can give
similar symptoms. Of interest to me was the fact that Louise had felt
extremely well when on holiday in Thailand. While there, she hardly
drunk any coffee and rarely ate bread or cheese. By taking my advice
and avoiding these foods in her diet, Louise was headache ad tummy
symptom free within 11 days.
She was far more energetic and her fatigue was minimal despite her
job being demanding and stressful. I had suggested to her that she
reduce her coffee intake by one mug a day during one week, so her
withdrawal symptoms were not too severe.
I felt the trigger for Louise to start suffering from food intolerances
had been starting the pill. She was not happy about being on it
anyway, so decided to stop. Her one concern with regard to stopping
the pill, though, was that her acne might return. I told her that one
of the commonest food intolerance causes of acne is cheese, so I felt
fairly confi dent that if she followed my suggested diet her severe
acne would not return even if she stopped taking the pill.
46
Why those foods? Cause
Coffee Frequency of use
Cocoa Too close to coffee
Yeast, cheese, yogurt Frequency of use
Why then? Trigger
Starting the pill Hormonal
Relationship break-up Stress
Stressful job Stress
Health anxiety Stress
On testing Louise for vitamin and mineral defi ciencies, I found she
was Vitamin A defi cient. One of the symptoms of Vitamin A defi ciency
is adult acne. I suggested she take Vitamin A in the form of Betacarotene
15mg, which she agreed to do. Louise’s acne did not return
when she stopped the pill. Louise chose not to introduce most of her
problem foods back into her regular diet, because she felt so much
better and did not want to risk feeling unwell again. She did miss
cheese and maybe eats it once a fortnight. Because she likes wraps,
she is using those instead of bread.
Case Study
Caitlin was 11 when I fi rst met her. She had missed on average three
days a week schooling in the previous term. Every day, all day, she
felt sick. Her tummy was always uncomfortable and frequently very
painful, on which occasions she suffered acute diarrhoea. On really
bad days she felt too unwell to attend school. Also, she was extremely
tired.
Poor Caitlin was very pale and lethargic on the day that I tested her.
She had a history of loose stools as a baby, which had responded well
to a change from a cow’s milk formula to one with a soya base.
Part 2: Symptoms
47
Chapter 4: Gastro-intestinal and digestion
She h ad suff ered w ith ecz ema as a todd ler. Th e ecze ma stopped
when she was around six years old when she started getting tummy
symptoms again. Her parents reduced the amount of dairy products
that she was consuming, with good effect.
Six months before I saw her Caitlin had moved to high school and had
found the transition hard. Within a few weeks at the new school, her
tummy symptoms had started again.
The school felt the problem was an emotional one. She was seen by
a paediatrician who suggested a gluten free diet and that she use
lactofree products. This made minimal improvement to her distressing
symptoms and child psychiatry was being considered, when Caitlin’s
mother found my website and requested an appointment.
On testing, I discovered Caitlin was intolerant of:
• cow’s milk products;
• E471 and E472;
• apple; and
• cocoa.
Lactofree products will not help people who are intolerant of all
cow’s milk products. The people for whom these products are suitable
are those who do not produce enough lactase enzyme in their small
intestine, and as a consequence cannot digest lactose [milk sugar].
Lactofree milk is normal milk with lactase added, so for Caitlin the
use of lactofree milk made no difference to her symptoms. E471 and
E472, Mono and Diglycerides of fatty acids, are emulsifi ers which are
found in many breads and margarines. Caitlin may have seen some
improvement in her symptoms when she was using the gluten free
bread, because it did not contain those emulsifi ers, whereas the
family’s preferred brand did.
48
Caitlin loved apple juice, drank it two or three times a day and ate
an apple most days.
Caitlin used to eat chocolate every day, but thought that it made her
more nauseous. She had stopped eating it four weeks or so before she
saw me.
Luckily for Caitlin she was better within three days of changing her
diet to my recommendations. Child psychiatry was not necessary, and
she is enjoying school now that she feels well.
Why those foods? Cause
Cow’s milk products Frequency of use
Orange Past frequency of use
Why then? Trigger
Starting high school Stress
Case Study
Barbara aged 53, had been suffering for 18 months from Irritable
Bowel symptoms, including enormous amounts of embarrassing wind
and almost daily bloating. She occasionally suffered loose stools and
on those days, not to put too fi ne a point on it, would often let go a
‘wet fart’. Otherwise, she tended to be pretty constipated and only
opened her bowels twice a week.
Movicol had been little help with any of her symptoms. Colonoscopy
had been performed a few months before Barbara came to see me,
but the results had been normal.
Barbara also suffered from an extremely irritating rash on her neck
and torso.
On testing, I found Barbara was intolerant of:
Part 2: Symptoms
49
Chapter 4: Gastro-intestinal and digestion
• all tea, including green tea and redbush tea; and
• fragrances in products.
Barbara’s regular tea intake was high, up to eight a day on a weekday,
when she drank it regularly in the offi ce.
Fragrances in products were aggravating Barbara’s skin rash, and she
reacted adversely to her regular Persil non-bio and Comfort ‘Pure’
fabric conditioner. I advised Barbara to use the brand Surcare to wash
her clothes, but not to use the Surcare fabric conditioner at all. She
loved Radox bath and shower products, but I explained that these,
being so highly perfumed and coloured were also affecting her rash.
She agreed to try Simple products. Her normal shampoos were also
a problem and because the itchy rash was present on her back and
neck, she agreed to try Simple shampoo and conditioner.
Two or three weeks later, Barbara emailed me to say she had seen
little improvement in her symptoms. So we arranged an appointment
for further testing. On questioning, Barbara said she had been quite
hopeful as, although she had quite a bad headache in the fi rst few
days of following the recommended diet her tummy had been much
more comfortable and her skin less itchy.
However, after a couple of days, it had all worsened again. On testing
we found she had started to react to coffee. Following my advice, she
was only having two coffees daily. Therefore, I wondered why she had
been so unlucky. It turned out that a few years previously, Barbara
had been a big coffee drinker and following a bout of fl u, had gone off
coffee in a big way, leading to complete avoidance. She still did not
like the drink very much, but felt almost forced to join in the offi ce
tea/coffee drinking system. I think what happened was very quickly,
she developed a new intolerance. Sometimes our bodies are trying to
tell us something if we ‘go off’ a previously favoured food or drink.
50
In addition to my suggested change of diet, if you do not see a marked
improvement, there are some basic self-help actions you can take to
enable your gastro-intestinal tract to function better. I know many of you
will have tried these things because they are very obvious suggestions,
but if you have not, it may help.
• Sit up straight when eating. Digestive organs have no room to
function well if you are slumped.
• Never eat with your mouth open, air gets in!
• Eat slowly, one mouthful at a time, well chewed. Put your utensils
down while chewing, so you are not tempted to eat so fast.
Supplements to take if you still have symptoms despite a change
of diet.
Take these supplements for at least a month.
• Polyzyme Forte from Biocare, which contains digestive enzymes
and probiotics. Initially you will need to take this with every meal.
• L Glutamine powder 5g at night. L Glutamine helps to heal the gut.
Should you not see any improvement following a change of diet and taking
these supplements, you will fi nd it helpful to consult a nutritionist. Make
sure that the person is BANT [British Association of Nutritional Therapists]
registered.
Why those foods? Cause
Tea Frequency of use
Green tea, redbush tea Too close to normal tea
Coffee Aversion and former frequency
of use
Why then? Trigger
Menopause Hormonal
Part 2: Symptoms
51
Chapter 4: Gastro-intestinal and digestion
Still no change?
Consult your GP.
To recap
• Gastro-intestinal symptoms will be triggered by frequent daily
foods or drinks.
• Lactofree products are not milk free.
• Probiotics and gastric enzymes can help those whose symptoms do
not completely go away with a change of diet.