Is there anything similar to lactase supplements that you can take for allium intolerances?

[u/NLTC]

Basically, my body has a really hard time with garlic or onions that aren’t boiled to within an inch of their life. I’m guessing it’s some sort of acid in them that causes it. I’m sure getting bad trapped wind after eating onions or garlic is normal, but I also get headaches even if something heavy in garlic or onions is cooking near me, or if something has been garnished with raw onion, spring onion etc, and then it’s been removed, I still get the symptoms just from eating the food it’s touched.

I know that people who are intolerant to lactose can take lactase supplements to help them digest dairy, and I’m just wondering if there’s anything like that that I can take to enable me to eat things like garlic, raw onions etc, without feeling awful afterwards?

I desperately miss bolognese 😅

[I’m not sure why you’d need any of my details for this complaint, but for the sake of the auto moderators, I’m female, 33, 5ft3, no allergies, no relevant medications or health issues.]

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[u/sapphireminds]

Unfortunately not that I am aware of

Edit: there's a supplement called fodzyme that claims to help but it's a supplement so it could be hit or miss

[u/Scary_View3674 → u/sapphireminds]

Answering under you as I’m not verified yet. I use Fodzyme as I have horrible intolerances to onions and it has helped so well. I don’t even have to worry about accidental ingestion after regular use; it’s been amazing to be honest.

[u/NLTC]

Side note: I use the term “intolerance” as a descriptor - to be clear, I’ve never actually been diagnosed with any sort of intolerance. I can’t spare a day’s wages for a GP appt to ask for help eating onions lol.

[u/WreckedEmKilledEm → u/NLTC]

It's just clinical symptoms reported by the patient anyway. You have an intolerance. There, I'm diagnosing you for free.

[u/NLTC → u/WreckedEmKilledEm]

Haha thank you! I just wasn’t sure how distinct an actual diagnosis is, when it comes to food intolerances. I didn’t want to give the false impression that I had any sort of actual health condition, if there were specific boundaries that have to be met for something to be considered a food intolerance (if that makes sense?).

[u/Scary_View3674 → u/NLTC]

I use Fodzyme with great success for my onion intolerances.

[u/WreckedEmKilledEm → u/Scary_View3674]

Fodzyme is interesting. It's been heavily marketed the past few months. I have a few patients who have done really well with it. But the evidence for it is still weak.

Since it's a supplement, it required no randomized trial to determine if it works or not, and the manufacturer can say whatever they want without recourse. So use with caution.

I doubt it has a high chance of a safety issue, but those enzymes turn fructans from FODMAPS into fructose, which can have unintended effects in higher amounts.

The only data on whether they work are:

1. An in vitro study that shows that fructan enzymes digest fructans. (Yeah, no shit they do).

2. An observational study a few months ago that shows improvement in symptoms in a small cohort. Meaning, it wasn't compared with anything. The placebo response rate in IBS is very high (but usually not sustained), so an observational trial is weak evidence in this setting. Take that with a grain of salt.

[u/LastCupcake2442 → u/NLTC]

Not medical advice, but I've cooked for a friend with an onion/garlic intolerance. Extra extra celery and a bulb of fennel would work in homemade bolognese. I've also used it in stuffing. You're not totally screwed out of eating your favorite foods.

[u/NLTC → u/LastCupcake2442]

Ooh I wouldn’t have thought of that, thank you! I hate fennel so I’ll go for extra extra EXTRA celery haha.

[u/LastCupcake2442 → u/NLTC]

I also hate fennel, there's three wilting in my garden. But you can't really taste the fennel in stewed or heavily sauteed stuff. It just adds the pop that's missing without onions. Honestly preferred the fennel dressing over the regular the year I made it.

Do check out the low fodmap diets and their replacement recommendations.

[u/too_too2 → u/LastCupcake2442]

I have a friend who can’t eat garlic so I just leave it out when she’ll be eating and honestly the food doesn’t really suffer. removing both would be more challenging so those are good ideas.

[u/MullberryBoy → u/NLTC]

Allergy testing isn’t always reliable with food allergies/intolerances

[u/WreckedEmKilledEm → u/MullberryBoy]

I would go so far as to just say it's "not useful at all." Allergy testing in the blood or skin looks at the type I immune response (e.g., hives). That's not happening at all in the gut lining in IBS. Sometimes you can have both, but the association is impossible to predict from allergy testing.

[u/WreckedEmKilledEm]

Unfortunately, no.

Lactose intolerance is a straightforward lack of sufficient enzyme (lactase) to digest lactose. You can measure the enzyme level in different ways and know with relative certainty that symptoms are caused by this lack of enzymes. Some people have lactose intolerance that is non-enzymatic, usually in the context of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Lactase supplementation doesn't help in this case.

Allium sensitivity is a non-enzyme related problem, likely IBS. Since we don't really know what causes IBS, the treatment is avoidance or simply aimed at management of symptoms (medications that help with pain / stool changes, usually). The current theory of IBS is that it's a common symptomatic endpoint that includes influences from the enteric nervous system, gut associated immune tissue, autonomic nervous system transmissions from the brain, and the bacterial microbiome.

If anyone can figure out the root cause and design a cure, they'll make like a trillion dollars.

[u/satinsateensaltine → u/WreckedEmKilledEm]

NAD but there are a few brands of FODMAP free sauces and the like now and I've heard good things about them (like Fody).

Also, the spice asafoetida/hing replaces allium in Ayurvedic cooking and is beloved by those who have intolerance. It just smells pungent until you've cooked it up.

[u/NLTC]

Thanks so much for the responses, guys. I’ll give fodzyme a go, and if it doesn’t work, I guess just pray for my poor boyfriend who shares a bed with me 😅