Food Intolerance Tests?

Athravan · 1 October 2006 at 10:57AM

Does anyone know if there is a reliable place you can get food intolerances? I have been tested for coeliac but I know i have some food intolerances - caffeine, chocolate, alcohol that cause IBS.

Other than an exclusion diet, which I've tried and just found incredibely hard and actually made me feel worse - i've heard of health shops offering an "intolerance" test via a !!!!! of blood... and someone told me there was a more reliable one you could send off for.

My GP told me only coeliac was on the NHS and that I wouldn't even get a lactose intolerance test, which I think would be quite valuable for me.

Are they at all reliable, are they worth the money, and if so, where's the best place to get the most reliable one done?

Nile · 1 October 2006 at 11:12AM

Athravan wrote:

Does anyone know if there is a reliable place you can get food intolerances? I have been tested for coeliac but I know i have some food intolerances - caffeine, chocolate, alcohol that cause IBS.

Other than an exclusion diet, which I've tried and just found incredibely hard and actually made me feel worse - i've heard of health shops offering an "intolerance" test via a !!!!! of blood... and someone told me there was a more reliable one you could send off for.

My GP told me only coeliac was on the NHS and that I wouldn't even get a lactose intolerance test, which I think would be quite valuable for me.

Are they at all reliable, are they worth the money, and if so, where's the best place to get the most reliable one done?

Hello Athravan

I haven't used them myself but I've heard this company mentioned in a lot of magazine articles about food intolerance testing.

Regards

Nile

vickylee · 1 October 2006 at 11:20AM

Holland & Barratt do Food Sensitivity Testing quite regularly. No blood needed, but then it's only a sensitivity test and not an intolerance test. Although you could try it and see how it works out. I did it once and came out with possible sensitivities to dairy, wheat, chicken, beef, blackcurrant, and potato!

CarolnMalky · 1 October 2006 at 11:20AM

I went to my local Jan de Vries clinic and it was well worth the £35!
Good luck.
Carol

ariba10 · 1 October 2006 at 11:24AM

From what I have read you will get a different conclusion from whoever you try.

The more experts you consult the more confused you will be.

Murtle · 1 October 2006 at 11:57AM

Removing food from your diet is the best way to do it. If you have a strong reaction to certain food types you won't have to eliminate them for long to know what was causing it.

But if you really don't want to do that access your GP for recommendations.

Athravan · 1 October 2006 at 3:58PM

Nile wrote:

Hello Athravan

I haven't used them myself but I've heard this company mentioned in a lot of magazine articles about food intolerance testing.

Regards

Nile

They sound really professional but £250 to test for 113 food intolerances! :eek: That's a months rent right there! No matter how sick I feel I'm not sure I could justify spending that much money when the GP hasn't recommended it.

I have spoken to my GP but he simply said there were things available from health places and private clinics but if they were that reliable they would already be on the NHS and that says it all - his words.

Now to me, just because something isn't on the NHS doesn't mean it's not reliable, it just means the NHS has found a corner to cut whereby they don't have to pay any extra for what would be an expense that most people wouldn't need and wouldn't find useful - yet they'd have to test millions of people if they made it available, very few of whom would have a result that would change their health (I'd imagine).

Gemmzie · 1 October 2006 at 7:39PM

Athravan wrote:

They sound really professional but £250 to test for 113 food intolerances! :eek: That's a months rent right there! No matter how sick I feel I'm not sure I could justify spending that much money when the GP hasn't recommended it.

I have spoken to my GP but he simply said there were things available from health places and private clinics but if they were that reliable they would already be on the NHS and that says it all - his words.

Now to me, just because something isn't on the NHS doesn't mean it's not reliable, it just means the NHS has found a corner to cut whereby they don't have to pay any extra for what would be an expense that most people wouldn't need and wouldn't find useful - yet they'd have to test millions of people if they made it available, very few of whom would have a result that would change their health (I'd imagine).

I've been sick permenantly since I was a small child, the NHS did nothing. Mum eventually decided to send me to a nutritionist, who recommended an allergy test.

1 - 100 scale where 100 will probably kill you, 1 is no reaction. Cow's Milk = 84 :eek: Removed it from diet in March, no problems since. I now have an immune system for the first time in my life and a cold doesn't leave me in bed for a month.

The GP is talking complete rubbish. There are 113 foods which are tested for, how can you remove each one from your diet and wait for a reaction? It's utterly ridiculous.
I told mine of my results and they recorded it and then decided to test for coeliac (just incase :rolleyes: ). It costs the NHS £300 and they just can't afford it.

Tiff_2 · 2 October 2006 at 9:00AM

Hi Guys,
Good ol' Tiff is dairy free for 4 years now. The excluson diet is the REALLY accurate way to tell what's triggering you.
I asked my GP about a lactose test etc after the last round of public articles but he said they aren't really much good and not really accurate as it measures the inflammation in your blood or something like that. So for example, if you've got a cold, broken a leg, have arthritis or any other allergy including hayfever, your test will come back positive for the reaction but it won' be able to tell you what from - it could be any of the above not just lactose.
Keep your pennies folks. Exclusion diet is hard and long but SO worth it. After all, why give up chocolate if you don't have to?

Much Love
Tiff

tim_n · 2 October 2006 at 9:34AM

Similarly I suffer from IBS from something... I'm fairly sure it's chillis (which I love and eat sparingly)

I asked my GP who is someone I not only trust (built over many years) but is also someone I work with when out on my SJA duties. His opinion of the local health markets tests are that they are financially motivated to find problems with foods that you'll only find replacements for in that health store. I'm not severely reactive to these bouts - just enough to put me off going out maybe a day or so every month or two. I just make sure I eat carefully and in moderation and am gradually whittling it down to a few ingredients that set me off.

Obviously in more severe cases I guess you really need to go visit someone, but don't goto a health shop that offers free testing! The cost comes from somewhere...

Tiff_2 · 2 October 2006 at 3:27PM

Totally agree Tim. I've had this problem for 15 years, including severe IBS, and exclusion diet really is the foolproof way.
I think if there was a guaranteed blood test for intolerances, then GP's as busy as they are, seeing hundreds of people every week with this problem, would be writing out pathology dept. slips quicker than you could say 'Hippocratic Oath!' It would make their lives so much easier.
Tiff

Food Intolerance Tests?

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