Tips for eating out with a food intolerance

Managing a food intolerance at home is fairly straightforward. You can shop strategically and control every part of the cooking and baking process.

But what about when you’re out of the house? What if you go to a restaurant and you know that eating fructans or lactose is going to give you an upset stomach? Here are five tips to help you enjoy your food, even when you’re eating out with a food intolerance.

1. Bring Intoleran with you

Let’s start with the obvious one. If you bring Intoleran enzymes with you, you can safeguard your digestive system before eating any troublesome food.

When you have a food intolerance, most of the time this means your body can’t create enough digestive enzymes to break things down on its own. Consuming an enzyme supplement shortly before eating gives your body the firepower it needs to properly digest everything, this helps to reduce symptoms or side effects.

2. Look for allergens on the menu

The restaurant world is slowly adapting to the unique needs of individual eaters. We’re at the point now where many locations will mark allergy and intolerance food items right on their menu.

Always check for various food allergy symbols. These will often vary, but they’re usually easy to identify and come with a key. (Here’s an example of how one restaurant created its own allergy icons for its menu.)

3. Check company websites

Another area that often houses allergy info is a company website. This is especially true if you’re eating at a larger food chain.

The fast food chain Wendy’s, for example, has an entire page on its website devoted to food allergens and nutritional concerns.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions

Sometimes, the easiest way to understand the intolerance situation is to go right to the source. Don’t be afraid to ask a waiter about ingredients or even how things are cooked.

Be patient and kind. They may not have an answer right away. But when that’s the case, chances are they’ll be able to ask around in the kitchen for you.

5. When in doubt, stick to what you know is safe

If you’re eating out and you aren’t sure how to proceed, stich to what you know is safe. A plain garden salad, for instance, isn’t likely to have any dairy. Grilled chicken should be clean compared to a breaded and fried alternative.

If you can’t get the information you require to make a smart decision and you don’t have digestive enzymes to help, stay safe and keep things simple

Eating out with a food intolerance

Food intolerances can be troublesome, but they don’t have to hamper your lifestyle. When it comes to eating out, use the tips above to ensure that you enjoy every minute of your meal without paying the price afterward.