Our modern preoccupation with food intolerances is striking. Throughout history, societies have directed large-scale intolerance toward other groups of people; today, however, many individuals report that certain foods make them feel unwell. Often these claims lack robust scientific evidence, yet they are influencing what we buy and how products are are presented on supermarket shelves.
It’s unclear whether future generations will view this moment—together with the broader wellness movement—as a meaningful shift in how we think about food, or simply as a fleeting, unscientific trend.
The “Cult” of Wellness
Wellness attracts skepticism. Critics frequently target bloggers and influencers who promote health benefits despite having little formal nutrition training. Some, like Ella Woodward, describe life-improving changes after altering their diets. Faced with medical uncertainty, they share their experiences online, and their personal stories can attract large followings.
Popularity in these cases isn’t necessarily manufactured by the blogger; it emerges because readers resonate with the voice and the experiences being shared. In countries where free expression is protected, a wide range of food perspectives can find an audience online. The popularity of these voices often says more about public interests and concerns than it does about the individuals themselves.
Numbers, Facts, and Lived Experience
Some critics insist that only what can be proven with data is real. That stance is limiting. Not every human experience lends itself to neat graphs or laboratory measures. Mental health, for example, resisted clear quantitative measures for a long time despite being real and consequential. Insisting that only scientifically quantified phenomena count dismisses a vast realm of lived experience.
Scientific validation usually follows, rather than precedes, widespread human observation. The study of consciousness and subjective experience remains in its infancy; to wait for complete scientific proof before listening to people’s reports is to adopt a closed mindset.
Food Intolerance and Criticism
What frustrates me is the intolerance directed at people who adopt wellness or “free-from” diets. Dismissing these choices simply because they lack a formal medical diagnosis ignores the importance of personal preference and embodied experience. When people share that a particular diet improves their quality of life, it’s worth paying attention to those accounts rather than reflexively rejecting them.
My own experience illustrates this. A few years ago I tried baking with spelt because others recommended it. The experiment became a preference: spelt simply made me feel better than conventional wheat. That decision wasn’t based on studies or charts but on how I felt after eating it. Conversely, dairy has long made me feel unwell—so much so that I avoid a large glass of milk because it consistently makes me sick. I don’t need a lab report to understand that my body reacts negatively.
Emotion and the Body
Recent reading about the connection between emotions and physical sensations has deepened my appreciation for why diet can be so personal. Researchers such as Candice Pert explored how emotions are experienced throughout the body, not just in the brain. Neurotransmitters and neuropeptide receptors are distributed widely—including along the spine and in the gut—so emotional states can produce physical sensations in multiple places.
The notion that personality traits or emotional styles can influence susceptibility to certain illnesses—the so-called “disease-prone personality”—has been investigated and, in some cases, quantified. These findings underscore that emotions and bodily health are intertwined, and food, which strongly affects both mood and physiology, is part of that complex picture.
Moving Forward
Dismissing food intolerance and wellness movements as nonsense because they lack immediate scientific proof is counterproductive. Personal feelings—sadness, discomfort, relief—exist even when they can’t be plotted on a chart, and those feelings can affect physical health. The relationship between food, emotion, and long-term wellbeing is complex and not yet fully understood.
What matters is that people feel strongly about these issues. The popularity of wellness and free-from diets reveals important shifts in how many of us perceive food. Rather than attacking or ignoring those shifts, we should investigate and listen. There is insight to be gained from people’s experiences, and engaging thoughtfully will help us better understand the evolving role food plays in health and daily life.