Food Intolerance

ALLERGY AND FOOD INTOLERANCE

ALLERGY - Food allergy is probably best defined as an abnormal reaction to food that involves the immune system. Therefore if an individual is exposed to a food they are allergic to, an immune response occurs which can be measured in the blood. It classically involves the production of special antibodies to foods called IgE. These antibodies can be measured by an Acute Food Allergy Test


FOOD INTOLERANCE OR SENSITIVITY

Medically the term allergy is very specific, however most people tend to confuse allergy and intolerance. Many people suffer adverse reactions to substances, particularly foods; these responses are normally classed as intolerances or sensitivities and have a very wide range of causes, symptoms and degrees of severity.


SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS associated with food intolerance:

Some conditions, such as celiac disease are caused by specific foods or food components. Often particular foods may be poorly tolerated because of some underlying condition. For example IBS sufferers find that specific foods trigger reactions; for sufferers from Crohn’s specific foods irritate their condition; migraine sufferers may find that specific foods trigger attacks; some mental health conditions such as depression can be made better/worse by certain foods etc

The amount of the food needed to cause a reaction and the length of time it takes to do so will vary hugely. Moreover, in many cases, as the underlying health condition improves, so does the person's ability to tolerate a food which had previously caused a reaction.


LEAKY GUT

A serious gastrointestinal upset, poor nutrition, regular intake of junk foods, high alcohol intake, antibiotics or other medications or major stress could all lead to ‘INCREASED GUT PERMEABILTIY or a ‘LEAKY GUT’.

The leaky gut wall would allow partially digested proteins through the gut wall into the blood stream causing symptoms such as joint pain, headaches etc...

In this situation, specific food proteins (or parts of proteins) may trigger symptoms, so removing that food from the diet may reduce the symptoms, even though the problem lies with the leaky gut wall and the patient’s general health rather than the food itself.

Temporarily removing that food from the diet will reduce the stress on the system and, if combined with other improvements to diet, nutritional status and lifestyle, will allow the gut wall to heal and the patient’s general health to improve to the point where they are able to tolerate a normal range of foods.


FOOD INTOLERANCE TESTING

Most of the evidence suggests food intolerances or sensitivities are influenced by our environment and our own dietary and medical practices. These involve a series of complex immune reactions, the detection of which needs a specialised test such as the FACT test.

The Lab that I use offers:


ELIMINATION AND CHALLENGE TEST

Any tests for food intolerance can be validated by elimination and challenge – i.e. avoiding the suspect food or substance for a period (usually three to six weeks) and monitoring whether the symptoms improve, and then ‘challenging’ your body by eating the food and seeing whether the symptoms reappear.

Some allergists would regard elimination and challenge as the only really reliable allergy test and, having taken a detailed patient history, would go straight for it. There is certainly no doubt that it is the most reliable and can be tailored most precisely to the individual’s needs. However problems arise when more than one allergen is involved (so eliminating only one may not achieve any significant improvement in symptoms) and where the reaction is delayed, so that it is difficult to attribute a specific reaction to a specific allergen.

Please CONTACT ME if you wish to discuss or book a test.