With age comes wisdom...

In my early 20s, almost every night after I'd eaten my dinner I'd fall asleep. I could barely hold a conversation, so my husband and I would literally just veg out in front of the TV before finally admitting it was time to go to bed. It's only in recent years that I finally realised it wasn't because I'd had a busy day, it was because of what I was eating.

photo credit: Milk via photopin (license)

My stomach was busy trying so hard to digest everything I'd stuffed down my throat that I was incapable of doing much else. Back then we used to eat an awful lot of pasta... often with creamy sauces. Exactly the kind of thing that I now know I'm intolerant to: gluten and even worse, lactose.
And it wasn't just at dinner that I was putting my poor body through this hell, it was breakfast and lunch too. Breakfast cereal full of wheat and doused in milk. Later, a large milky coffee and a cheese toastie. It's crazy when I think about it now. Why was I so stupid not to have realised? I felt awful most of the time yet I did nothing about it.
What's that saying? With age comes wisdom....

Well it certainly has and now that I know what causes all the problems, I actually do something about it. I avoid it or, more recently I've discovered something awesome: lactase tablets, which literally allow me to eat a cheesy pizza every once in a while! Yippee! 

But when I'd rather avoid it altogether, then I have goats cheese instead. As for the gluten, I've come to realise I can eat it in small amounts. It's bread that causes the problem more than anything. At least now I know what the problem is though!
I'm so relieved to have sorted out the problem and now understand how certain foods can have such an incredibly negative effect on the body... but more on that another time :)
How about you guys? Do any of you have any food intolerances? Allergies?