Allergic or Intolerant to Food?
Helps you establish whether you are reacting to food due to an allergy or an intolerance and provides you with all the details you need with a simple table.
Carbohydrate Intolerance
Definition
It is the inability of the digestive system to completely process carbohydrates (sugars and starches) due to lack or inadequate amount of one or more of the enzymes needed for their digestion leading to symptoms such as gas, cramps and flatulence. Lactose Intolerance is the most common type of carbohydrate intolerance affecting more than half the world population, however the inability to break down starch is another common form.
Carbohydrate intolerance also plays part in obese people, where the inability to process carbohydrates properly leads to decreased level of fitness and increased metabolic disorders due to accumulation of fat around the muscles. More information on this here.
Description
Similar to the fuel of a car, carbohydrates (sugars) are the primary source
of energy. They are also one of the three major nutrients in the human diet,
the
other two being fats and proteins. Carbohydrates come in different
forms and sizes and are classified into three types according
to their structure. These are monosaccharides - based on one unit of sugar such as glucose 
and fructose
(the sugar found in fruits), disaccharides - two units of sugars joined together such as lactose (milk sugar) and
sucrose (table sugar - glucose and fructose joined together), and polysaccharides - a complex carbohydrate with many units joined together as in starch and glycogen, see figure on the right.
Causes & symptoms
- gas
- cramps
- bloating
- flatulence
- diarrhoea
Monosaccharides can easily go through the wall of the small intestine, but anything bigger needs to be broken down by enzymes. Digestive enzymes produced in our digestive systems simply break down chemically the linkages between the joined sugars into simpler sugars so they can be absorbed through the wall of the small intestine. Amylase produced by the saliva breaks down starch (found in cooked rice and potatoes) into disaccharides. Once ingested other enzymes in the stomach or small intestine break them down into monosaccharides to be readily absorbed through the small intestine. Other disaccharides, such as lactose is broken down by lactase, sucrose is broken down by sucrase while maltose (in grains) is broken down by maltase. Lack or inadequate amount of the required enzyme will leave the disaccharides and polysaccharides in the digestive system causing symptoms of food intolerance.
The severity of the symptoms depends on the extent of the enzyme deficiency, and range from a feeling of mild bloating to severe diarrhoea. Undigested sugars remain in the intestine, which is then fermented by the bacteria normally present in the large intestine. These bacteria produce gas, cramping, bloating, a "gurgly" feeling in the abdomen, and flatulence. The distress normally begins about 30 minutes to two hours after eating or drinking foods containing the offending sugar, such as lactose in the case of lactose intolerance. Food intolerance can be confused with food allergies, since the symptoms of nausea, cramps, bloating, and diarrhoea are similar, but they are completely two different things and must not be confused.
Moreover, sugars that are not broken down into one of the simplest forms cause the body to push fluid into the intestines, which results in watery diarrhoea (osmotic diarrhoea). Diarrhoea may sweep other nutrients out of the intestine before they can be absorbed, causing malnutrition.
Treatment and Cure
There is no cure for carbohydrate intolerance yet and the only way to avoid symptoms is by abstaining form the offending sugar. This can prove very difficult and frustrating since so much food contains one or other carbohydrate sometimes as an added product to unsuspecting foods. Alternatively one can take commercially available digestive enzymes which help break down the sugars and hence avoiding the symptoms.
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