In Cantonese, there is a derogatory saying, "mei zai dou," which refers to someone who is used to a simple diet of greens and tofu and will get an upset stomach if they eat luxurious foods like abalone, shark fin, or bird's nest. They simply don't have the stomach for it. Of course, this is just an insult, but the phenomenon it describes does exist.
Yes, you do have foods you "can't eat," but this kind of food sensitivity is "invisible." After eating, the body does not have an immediate allergic reaction, but symptoms like rashes, pimples, and diarrhea appear slowly. While not life-threatening, it can affect the digestive system's function over the long term.
According to statistics, delayed food sensitivities are often caused by foods such as dairy, eggs, and gluten. Food sensitivity is not age-specific, but most patients can recover by eliminating the problematic foods from their diet. This phenomenon also has a name: "food intolerance."
Case Study: Vomiting milk three times a day for three years before discovering a milk sensitivity
According to a report from Hong Kong, 5-year-old Zeng Aiqing started vomiting milk as an infant, almost three times a day. Her father said, "In the beginning, we had to bring three sets of clothes for her whenever we went out." He took Aiqing to see more than 10 Chinese and Western doctors, spending nearly 200,000 Hong Kong dollars, but her condition did not improve. It wasn't until she was three and a half years old and underwent a food sensitivity test that they discovered the problem was a sensitivity to dairy and eggs. The doctor advised her to stop all dairy and egg products.
Yang Xiaojun, an associate chief physician of internal medicine at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, said that drinking milk on an empty stomach can worsen sensitivity symptoms. He suggested that patients with these symptoms eat a steamed bun or some savory crackers before drinking milk, or switch to yogurt to avoid this situation.
Nearly half of the population has foods they "can't eat"
The number of people with this "can't eat" problem is quite large. The British Allergy Association's statistics show that up to 45% of the population has some degree of intolerance to certain foods. The incidence in infants and children is even higher than in adults. The exact mechanism of food intolerance is still debated, but its existence and consequences are recognized. The most common symptoms of food intolerance include digestive issues, skin problems, and migraines.
Symptoms caused by "food intolerance" include:
Digestive symptoms: Abdominal pain, diarrhea, bad breath, mouth ulcers, nausea, and bloating;
Skin symptoms: Eczema, urticaria, cutaneous amyloidosis, and acne;
Nervous system symptoms: Dizziness, headache, migraine, and sleep disorders;
Respiratory symptoms: Asthma, chronic cough, chronic rhinitis, and sinusitis;
Urinary and reproductive system symptoms: Frequent urination, urgent urination, vaginal itching, and abnormal vaginal discharge;
Cardiovascular symptoms: High blood pressure, arrhythmia, and rapid heart rate;
Other: High blood sugar, obesity, and easy fatigue.
Mental system symptoms: Anxiety, depression, lack of concentration, irritability, and restlessness;
As long as you don't eat them, the symptoms disappear
Everyone's situation is different, so the types of "intolerant" foods also vary. A person with food intolerance may not just react to one food; they might be intolerant to 4 or 5 foods, or even more. Furthermore, symptoms generally appear several hours to several days after eating.
In fact, many people can figure out their own "trigger foods" from their daily lives, just as one might know that drinking milk gives them diarrhea, eating mangoes causes an allergic reaction, or eating bamboo shoots makes them break out. Many of these patterns can be discovered.
From a medical perspective, research on food intolerance test kits is already underway in China and abroad. These tests detect food-specific IgG to identify the foods causing intolerance, potentially finding the root cause of an illness and allowing for a tailored dietary plan. Desensitization treatment is also available at hospitals.