Food intolerance test
- Thread starter despina
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Don't waste your money!!
I had two, one by York test laboratories. They told me I was allergic to loads of foods based on a blood test. After trying the diet for a long time, I eventually found that those foods gave me no problems whatsoever. I eat them all happily now, they don't correlate with my symptoms at all.
Also the nutritionist with whom I had phone call sessions that they provided knew absolutely nothing. He told me I had "leaky gut syndrome" and that I would heal and feel better by following his dietary advice for a few months. At the end of the months during which I followed his advice to the letter, my digestive symptoms were worse than any other time in my life, before or since. I kept telling the nutritionist that my weight kept dropping and I couldn't eat enough to keep a healthy weight on this diet, but he told me to keep with it anyway, and that he didn't understand why I couldn't gain weight.
I had a second test by a nutritionist who had a "vega" machine. It said I was allergic/intolerant to a completely different set of foods that the York test. Again, following her advice I lost weight I didn't need to lose, and my symptoms got worse, not better. She actually got angry with me when I told her I wasn't feeling better, said I must be cheating and sneaking bars of chocolate or something (I wasn't) and stopped returning my calls.
The reason I got worse on their diets, I have since learned, was because they had me eating lots of fruit and veg and nuts and seed, and I can't handle too much fibre. And the reason their food intolerance tests didn't work was because they are completely meaningless tests.
Your doctor can test you for lactose intolerance, and you can be tested for coeliac (allergy to gluten). Apart from that, I don't think you can be intolerant to foods, and if you had a true allergy, you'd know it immediately because you'd have a severe reaction to the food. Some foods may give you more problems than others, but the only way to find out which foods hurt you, is to find out by trial and error - there's no test. Some foods are known to give many problems, so trying without the most common difficult foods - like those high in fibre, dairy, wheat, etc. may be good ones to test yourself for first.
I had two, one by York test laboratories. They told me I was allergic to loads of foods based on a blood test. After trying the diet for a long time, I eventually found that those foods gave me no problems whatsoever. I eat them all happily now, they don't correlate with my symptoms at all.
Also the nutritionist with whom I had phone call sessions that they provided knew absolutely nothing. He told me I had "leaky gut syndrome" and that I would heal and feel better by following his dietary advice for a few months. At the end of the months during which I followed his advice to the letter, my digestive symptoms were worse than any other time in my life, before or since. I kept telling the nutritionist that my weight kept dropping and I couldn't eat enough to keep a healthy weight on this diet, but he told me to keep with it anyway, and that he didn't understand why I couldn't gain weight.
I had a second test by a nutritionist who had a "vega" machine. It said I was allergic/intolerant to a completely different set of foods that the York test. Again, following her advice I lost weight I didn't need to lose, and my symptoms got worse, not better. She actually got angry with me when I told her I wasn't feeling better, said I must be cheating and sneaking bars of chocolate or something (I wasn't) and stopped returning my calls.
The reason I got worse on their diets, I have since learned, was because they had me eating lots of fruit and veg and nuts and seed, and I can't handle too much fibre. And the reason their food intolerance tests didn't work was because they are completely meaningless tests.
Your doctor can test you for lactose intolerance, and you can be tested for coeliac (allergy to gluten). Apart from that, I don't think you can be intolerant to foods, and if you had a true allergy, you'd know it immediately because you'd have a severe reaction to the food. Some foods may give you more problems than others, but the only way to find out which foods hurt you, is to find out by trial and error - there's no test. Some foods are known to give many problems, so trying without the most common difficult foods - like those high in fibre, dairy, wheat, etc. may be good ones to test yourself for first.
SarahBear
Moderator
It was suggested that I have one at one time, but I ended up not following through because the symptoms that were concerned my doctors stopped. I was tested for Celiac's by my GI, and that's all.
This article might shed a little light on what an intolerance is and how it's different from an allergy: http://www.webmd.com/allergies/foods-allergy-intolerance
Bloating is a common symptom of food intolerances. If you can find no other answers, I don't see how it could hurt to try the test.
:hug: Good luck!
This article might shed a little light on what an intolerance is and how it's different from an allergy: http://www.webmd.com/allergies/foods-allergy-intolerance
Bloating is a common symptom of food intolerances. If you can find no other answers, I don't see how it could hurt to try the test.
:hug: Good luck!
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I've had various blood tests for food 'allergies' and they've all been absolutely useless and usually suggested I eat things I know I shouldn't and taken away tons of things that I'm fine with. Not to mention come back with totally different answers after only a few months.
Save your money for some nice grass-fed meat or a gym pass or some books on diet
Save your money for some nice grass-fed meat or a gym pass or some books on diet
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My mom had a "food intolerance test" done at her naturopath....they used some stupid machine and it gave her a rating for each food from green to yellow to red (seriously) but it was kind of a useless list. Shes spent the last 2 years working her way through the list and trying everything on it, some of the stuff bothers her, some doesn't but the "results" really weren't very accurate. The only way you'll know if something bothers you, and how it bothers you, is to try it.
But the best way to find out what bothers you might be to do an elimination diet. Start from very basic things that do not bother you and then slowly add things back in. Have you heard of "The Virgin Diet"? It sounds like a cheap diet gimmick, I know, but it takes you down to a pretty basic diet before adding things back in to see how you feel. It might be worth a try if you don't want to pay for the test.
But the best way to find out what bothers you might be to do an elimination diet. Start from very basic things that do not bother you and then slowly add things back in. Have you heard of "The Virgin Diet"? It sounds like a cheap diet gimmick, I know, but it takes you down to a pretty basic diet before adding things back in to see how you feel. It might be worth a try if you don't want to pay for the test.
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I don't have IBD (here due to suspicion of IBD in one of kids) but had food intolerence tests (vega machine ones) as a teen when I had Chronic Fatigue. I had 4 sets of tests in all over the course of year & my mum kept me on a strict diet following their recommendations. Every time I was tests I was intolerent to a load more things, eventually there was virtually nothing it didn't say I was intolerent too. I lost stacks of weight and got really sick.
I find this all very interesting, because one of the things my doc said is that he thinks I need to be tested for food intolerances. I've been lactose intolerant for years (never officially tested but I have lots of pain and bloating any time I eat any dairy). I'm supposed to see the GI in June, one of the things he wants them to do is test me for food intolerances. I'm already skeptical because I've been doing the elimination diet and the foods I've reintroduced that cause reactions are widely scattered, so how could they all be intolerances? I've had severe burning pain and bloating with nuts, raw veggies, red meat, cheese, bacon, and a few other things too. I just don't see how it could just all be food intolerances.
Despina, I hate the bloating too, and I've found it's best to keep track of what foods cause it and just avoid them. I don't bloat much when I avoid the wrong foods.
Despina, I hate the bloating too, and I've found it's best to keep track of what foods cause it and just avoid them. I don't bloat much when I avoid the wrong foods.
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Lactose intolerence is a little different to other intolerence I think as it's caused by not having enough of a specific enzyme (lactase) to be able to breakdown all the lactose you consume.
Do you feel better when you eliminate lactose from your diet, my husband has a IBS diagnose but his issues appear to be primarily caused by lactose intolerence. If he sticks to low lactose dairy products he generally doesn't have many issue.
Do you feel better when you eliminate lactose from your diet, my husband has a IBS diagnose but his issues appear to be primarily caused by lactose intolerence. If he sticks to low lactose dairy products he generally doesn't have many issue.
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The only true way to find out if a particular food is causing a problem is to eliminate it from your diet for a period of time and see if you are better. However, if multiple foods are causing problems, you won't know it from this.
An intolerance is different from an allergy. You can test for allergies, but not intolerance.
An intolerance is different from an allergy. You can test for allergies, but not intolerance.
rygon
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Apart from gluten and lactose there really isnt any other tests that will tell you if you are intolerant to foods which are of any use. It seems food may "show" an intolerance one day but not the next, and as we dont understand why it is all guess work.
I think the best thing to do is to keep a food diary and see what foods seem to cause a problem for you.
I think the best thing to do is to keep a food diary and see what foods seem to cause a problem for you.
