Common Food Intolerances & How to Spot Them

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Coffee

Everyone has some level of caffeine sensitivity, but it can vary considerably from person to person. Most people fall into one of the following three categories: normal sensitivity (average consumption with no bad side effects), hyposensitivity (can consume large amounts, even later in the day, without unwanted side effects) and hypersensitivity (low tolerance for caffeine with negative side effects). Unfortunately, the latter group is the one that can experience intense side effects from even the smallest doses of caffeine.

Common symptoms include:

• immediate intense adrenaline rush
• jitters
• restlessness
• headache
• anxiety
• racing heartbeat
• insomnia

To determine if you're overly sensitive to caffeine, you should keep a food diary, making sure to attentively read food and drug labels, as caffeine may be more present in your daily intake than you realize. Once you figure out how much caffeine you consume daily, you should talk with your doctor about your symptoms to confirm the cause. Then you can decide whether to take steps to reduce or eliminate caffeine from your food intake.