There is a very high prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) complaints during exercise among long-distance runners, triathletes and athletes involved in other types of strenuous long-lasting exercise [
6]. These GI complaints occur because of the redistribution of the blood flow, that is shunted from the viscera to skeletal muscle, heart, lung and brain [
7].
The symptoms include dizziness, nausea, stomach or intestinal clamps, vomiting and diarrhea. Prevalence of 30-50% has been reported among marathon runners. Severe symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea and occur mainly during running [
8]. It has been suggested that these problems occur mainly because of the movements of the gut [
9]. However, an association was reported between nutritional practices and GI complaints during a half ironman-distance triathlon with the intake of fiber, fat, protein and concentrated carbohydrate solutions during the triathlon, in particular beverages with very high osmolarity [
10].
The symptoms are often mild and may not even affect performance. Some of the symptoms, however, can be life-threatening, such as blood loss in feces in the hours following the running presented by some marathoners and long-distance triathletes [
8].
Damage to the gut and impaired gut function is associated with increased of intestinal permeability after a marathon [
11]. Moreover, vigorous exercise (jogging, aerobics, dancing, tennis, bicycling, racquetball, swimming, and skiing) [
12,
13] facilities allergen absorption from the GI tract [
14], leading to a food-dependent exercise induces anaphylaxis (FDEIA).
FDEIA is a subtype of anaphylaxis induced by exercise that is related to the intake of specific foods [
15]. Allergic symptoms are elicited when triggering factors such as exercise or aspirin intake are added after intake of the causative food [
16]. FDEIA is a unique disorder caused by exercise after food ingestion [
17].
Ingestion of aspirin combined with exercise increased GI permeability in humans, thus allowing for the detection of food-derived allergens in serum [
5]. When food intake and exercise are exposed independently, patients will not experience allergic symptoms [
14]. However, the onset of anaphylaxis occurs during or soon after exercise when preceded by the ingestion of a causal food allergen [
4,
5].
FDEIA is an IgE-mediated hypersensitivity. As in other allergic syndromes, mast cells seem to play a prominent role, and most FDEIA symptoms can be explained based on the release of mast cell mediators, including histamine, leukotrienes (LCT4), and prostaglandins (PGD2) [
14,
16,
18,
19]. Increased norepinephrine may be involved in the onset of FDEIA since it may selectively inhibit T-helper (Th) functions while favoring Th-2 responses [
20].
Many kinds of food have been identified as causes of FDEIA, but any kind of food appears to be responsible for it. Specific FDEIA has been associated with cereals, seafood, peanut, free nuts, eggs, milk and vegetables [
21]. FDEIA only occurs after consumption of a food allergen if this is followed by vigorous physical activity within a few hours of consumption [
15]. Elicitation of the allergic symptoms is known to be dependent on the amount of the food intake [
16]. FDEIA can be controlled by avoidance of food before exercise [
13].
GI problems, hyperthermia and hyponatremia are potentially life-threatening in longer triathlon events. Problems with hyperthermia seem to be related to the intake of highly concentrated carbohydrate solutions, or hyperosmotic drinks, and the intake of fiber, fat and protein [
8]. Hyponatremia has occasionally been reported, especially among slow competitors in triathlons, and probably arises from the loss of sodium in sweat in association with very high intake (8-10L) of water or other low-sodium drinks [
8].