†Always check food intolerance symptoms with a Medical Professional first. If you have  been to see a Medical Professional but have not been given a clear diagnosis for your symptoms or have been told to start "eliminating" foods from your diet;  then you may be suffering from food intolerance. This is who the testing is for. It is not an allergy test as you will see explained below and is hard to get on the NHS.

 

 

An Explanation of Food Intolerance

What is the difference between allergy and intolerance

 

The term ‘food intolerance’ and ‘food allergy’ are often confused and are two very different things.

Genuine food allergy is relatively rare.  Only about 2% of the adult population are affected.  A food allergy is a swift response by the body’s immune system to a specific food.  In this type of reaction, the body’s immune system mistakes a food for an ‘invader’ which often results in a rapid allergic reaction often within minutes, but generally within a maximum of two hours.  This type of allergic reaction is commonly associated reactions to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs and seafood.

Food intolerance is quite different to food allergy and whilst the symptoms can impact the person’s quality of life they are not life threatening.  Food intolerances are much more common than food allergies.

When foods and drinks are digested the proteins within them are broken down into smaller fragments for easy absorption into the body.  Larger fragments can pass through without breaking down, and sometimes the body reacts by attacking them using antibodies called Immunoglobulin G’s (IgG). 

A recent study* has shown that those who eliminated trigger foods based on food-specific IgG test results had reductions in weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference and improvements in all indicators of quality of life that were measured. The quality of life indicators included physical and emotional wellbeing, mental health, social life, pain levels and vitality.

*Lewis J et al, 2012: Eliminating Immunologically-Reactive Foods from the Diet and its Effect on Body Composition and Quality of Life in Overweight Persons. Journal Obesity & Weight loss Therapy 2:1

 

Allergy vs Intolerance

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       

 

Symptoms of food intolerance

 

Food intolerance† is a condition with a wide range of symptoms including: including gut symptoms, bloating, migraines, low mood, weight gain, fatigue and skin problems.

 

• Abdominal Pain

• Aches and Pains

• Acne

• Bloating

• Constipation

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Diarrhoea

• Dizziness

• Eczema

• Fatigue

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

• Itching

• Fluid Retention

• Headaches

• Hyperactivity

• Migraine

• Nausea

• Rashes

• Rhinitis

• Sinusitis

• Stomach Cramps

• Tension

• Tiredness

• Urticaria

• Weight loss/Weight Gain

• Wheezing

•  

Symptoms of food intolerance can take up to 72 hours to appear after eating the trigger food or group of foods.  On average people who suffer from food intolerances usually have between 4 and 8 trigger foods. 

Many people suffer for years, having formed a coping mechanism to deal with the symptoms but being unable to enjoy a normal work and home life.  Many people don’t realise that there are easy steps to take that could resolve their condition.

Using food intolerance tests is the fast track approach to finding the starting point for an elimination diet to help optimize health and wellbeing.

 

If you think you might have a food intolerance and have been told to try elimination; but want to get to the root of your problem quicker, this test will be for you.