does the nhs doctor do food intolerance tests for adults and

I think it was BBC watchdog who did a report on Superdrug who a few years (2 or 3) back offered allergy and intolerance tests. A reporter visited a few branches to take the test and got several different readings, was told she was either intollerant to everything or nothing at all...I think Superdrug have since withdrawn the tests.

I think the only conclusive way is to keep a diary of your symptoms for two weeks (and if you have no symptoms maybe you don't need to do this) then cut out which ever food is in questin for atleast 2 weeks making sure you are thorough. Note down any symptoms along the top of the page, 14+ days down the side of the page, mark a tick whenever you notice a symptom, as time goes on see if there are any patterns.

Don't forget though that aside from allergies (where the change is very in-your-face) and intolerances (where you get reactions at a slower pace and less sudden) there are also other things to consider like dust mites, reactions to washing powers, hayfever, taking certain pills or too many vitamins...food is not always to blame so really think about everything.


I am at the moment trying this (cuitting out) with Dairy to see if it reduced my eczema as so many people have suggested it to me in the past 10 years. I started 2 weeks ago, thought I saw no difference...'till I realised the Carrot and Corriander Soup from Sainsburys I had been eating has cows milk in! You must be careful to read the label.
It's now been about 5 days of properly cutting out Dairy and two weeks of cutting out what I thought was dairy. I wont really know for another week and a half if it has anything to do with my eczema but the itching has reduced quite alot infact, although my GP did also give me pills for Candidas (I have several skin conditions all at the same time) which could have also made a difference. Guess I wont know for sure 'till I add it back in to my diet.

just wanted to echo jenniewb's post about checking labels - when i was on a restricted diet the supermarket shop was twice as long.... couldn't have some sliced ham (for lunch, since buying it wasn't an option) as they add lactose to it and i was off dairy.... quite a scary experience all round when you read the whole ingredients list! for example - sainsbury's salad cream doesn 't have gluten but hellman's does.... it's not even the food type, it's the particular brand and item!

as far as stock cubes go - the ingredients vary across brands - i haven't used oxo in a few years since i realised (from a post on the OS board!) that they have msg in them! knorr certainly used to but don't appear to any more.

Regarding the York test, I have just read an article in May's edition of Essentials magazine about a 53 year old lady who suffered for ten years with arthritis, she took the York test (£9.99) and had to pay about £10 (she says) for a blood test at her GPs,she then had to keep a food diary for a month then have another blood test. She then sent everything away and within a fortnight she was told she was allergic to yeast, egg white and coconut. She cut them out of her diet and is much better.

I wouldn't really like to say if food intolerence tests work or not. But my friend paid someone who does it from home to test her as she had been having terrible bouts of stomach pain and hospital couldn't tell her what was wrong. Result of the test showed she had Candida in her gut, changed her diet and hasn't had an attack for about a year.