Do you always seem to have a stomach ache after having a glass of milk? Do you always regret eating a certain type of food after you spend the next few hours feeling ill? Do you avoid entire food groups because you're afraid of the stomach distress those foods will cause? You could be living with food intolerance, a condition shared by millions of people.

When your body is unable to digest specific types of food, this is called food intolerance. Milk is the most common food to cause a food intolerance. In about 10% of Americans, milk is poorly digested. Food intolerances can manifest at any point in your life, they can even be present at birth. Food intolerances can be temporary or permanent.

Is there a way to see if you suffer from food intolerance? Symptoms vary from person to person, as two people with the same intolerance can experience different symptoms. The common ones include headaches, nausea, abdominal discomfort, fatigue, gas, diarrhea, and sore throat. The symptoms are usually extremely unpleasant and can possibly lead to ill health and long-term suffering on the person's part.

Food allergies can include all of the above listed symptoms and could also include things like skin hives, itching, swelling, vomiting, wheezing, swollen lips and swelling of the throat. Food allergy symptoms are swift and severe and occur as you are eating the food to which you are allergic. Food allergies can be life-threatening, so if you have symptoms of food allergies, you need to seek immediate medical treatment.

An initial step in the management of food intolerance is to be certain you do not have an allergy to a food instead, and this can be a bit tricky. Visit a physician, preferably an allergist for allergy test for the suspect foods. If testing is negative, you have ruled out food allergy and can be reasonably sure it is intolerance.

Once you know that you are intolerant to specific foods, how do you adjust your nutrition? You will first need to remove that item from your diet. Make sure to avoid items that have your intolerance hidden, as it can still trigger your sensitivities. You should feel a lot better once the food has been eliminated from your diet.

Dairy foods are difficult to completely remove from your diet, so if you are lactose intolerant, some problems may arise. Fortunately, most such people can eat some forms of dairy without much trouble. One strategy that you might use is to avoid all dairy foods for two weeks, and then slowly reintroduce certain dairy products into your diet to see which ones cause your problems. Many people can eat yogurt or cheese but cannot drink liquid milk, for example. So dairy may not have to completely disappear from your diet.