Digestive Intolerance With Garlic

Many people regularly experience digestive problems, including bloating, diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, abdominal pain and cramping to varying degrees. Although most people try to identify the foods or other factors responsible for their digestive issues, many are not able to find the cause of their gastrointestinal discomfort. Food intolerances are common, and garlic is one of the many potentially offending foods that could be responsible for your symptoms.

Food Intolerances

Food intolerances are not the same thing as food allergies. While food allergies trigger a reaction from your immune system, food intolerances may cause irritation, inflammation and an array of symptoms without involving your immune system and creating an immediate threat to your life. The most common symptoms that can result from an intolerance can affect your gastrointestinal tract by causing digestion problems, abdominal pain, bloating, constipation and diarrhea and can also affect other parts of your body and cause headaches, asthma, eczema, fatigue and restless leg syndrome. Food intolerances are difficult to identify because they are often caused by foods that you eat on a daily basis. You can have a food intolerance to almost anything, including vegetables such as garlic, eggs, dairy products and nuts.

Keeping a Food Diary

Keeping a food diary is a useful tool to start identifying relationships between your food intolerances and your symptoms. Use a blank diary or notepad and note the foods you eat along with your digestive symptoms. Include notes about the frequency of your bowel movements and the appearance of your stools. After a couple of weeks, you may be able to see trends between your gastrointestinal problems and the consumption of some foods. Your digestive symptoms may appear within a few hours to up to three days after consuming the offending foods. Garlic may be part of the problem, but you could also be intolerant to more than one food.

Problematic Compound in Garlic

Garlic is naturally rich in fructan, a molecule made of a short chain of fructose linked by a bond. Most people do not react to fructans, but it is possible that you do not tolerate it well if you experience abdominal pain, bloating or other digestive issues when including garlic in your diet. All forms of garlic contain fructans, but this potentially problematic compound can also be found in onion, wheat, rye, watermelon, Jerusalem artichoke and chicory root. If you suspect that you are intolerant to fructans, consult a registered dietitian with experience in this area for completely eliminating all fructan-containing food from your diet and relieving all of your digestive issues.

Avoiding Garlic

You should not only avoid fresh or roasted garlic, but you should also stay away from garlic salt, garlic powder, vegetable salt, chicken salt and broth. Carefully read the ingredient lists on processed foods, especially soups, stews, sauces, crackers and frozen entrees to keep garlic out of your diet. When eating out, ask the waiter for help finding the best garlic-free option for you to prevent you from suffering from digestive problems.