A recent study by "Allergy UK" found that up to 45% of people have symptoms linked to a food intolerance, such as headaches, migraine, eczema and irritable bowel syndrome.

It can affect anyone at any age, but since symptoms often occur some time after the food has been eaten it can be difficult to find the problem food without the use of advanced laboratory testing.

Some food intolerances are as a result of an enzyme deficiency, whilst others are due to food specific anti-body (IgG) immune response. Unlike food allergies, food intolerance symptoms are slower to appear. Food intolerances cause unpleasant symptoms, but are unlikely to be life threatening like food allergies. Food intolerances generally do not cause anaphylaxis: swelling of lips or throat, skin rashes, vomiting or breathing.

Food intolerances are difficult to identify.

An allergy to food will flare up within minutes of a particular food being eaten.

A food intolerance might take several hours or even a day to cause symptoms. The complexity of most diets mean that trying to pick the food that you are intolerant to is difficult. For example: the dish which contained an ingredient that you are intolerant too, might take a day to give you a migraine or a sore stomach.

What causes a Food Intolerance?

When proteins are eaten, the natural digestion process breaks these into pieces or peptides. In some people these peptides can be misinterpreted by the immune system causing anti-body's (IgG's) to be formed. Each time that food is eaten another legion of antibody defences is formed.

Each individual has their own unique reaction to food. Antibodies against the food may appear in the blood. Whenever that particular food is eaten, an immune response is triggered that causes a number of uncomfortable symptoms.

Most would advise to avoid eating that food to lower the risk of food intolerance symptoms.

Surely following a food avoidance diet will be straightforward?

Food-avoidance diets are very restricted, that makes them boring, inconvenient and generally unworkable. Choose an approach that uses testing and experience to create a practical solution to food intolerance.

Only antibody tests that use blood like the YORK^(tm) test are recommended by Allergy UK. Electronic testing methods are still to be scientifically proven to identify food intolerances.

We use the Cambridge Nutritional Sciences' antibody tests that are very similar to the YORK^(tm) test but offer a faster turn-around.

Order a home food intolerance test kit or book a test at our Inverness clinic.