Food Intolerance and Allergy Testing
Nutritionist: Lotty Sykes
What is Nutritional Therapy
- Applied biochemistry – how nutrition and nutrients interact on the cellular level
- System biology – how the systems of the body interact with each other ie how the immune system and endocrine system interact, how our hormones are affected by immune system or digestive system interacts with our mood health
- Basically combining how our diet and the foods we eat can either exacerbate or help our health condition by having an understanding of what is going on on the cellular and system level
- The therapy side is how to make those changes which are specific for the individual in the context of their life with their individual
Food is central to every aspect of our life on every level: physical, psychological, and emotional. On the physical level no other relationship is as close; the food we eat becomes an integral part of our bodies. The building blocks for every cell in our body – bones, internal organs, brain, blood, skin, hair and all the rest – come from the food we eat. The energy for every bodily function is also supplied by the food we eat.
Digestion, the circulation of our blood, the functioning of our brain, walking, working, loving, every internal physiological process and every moment – these are all fuelled by our food.
Food Allergy or Food intolerance
25 % of the population think they have a food allergy but research suggests it is more like 2% in adults. Whereas 40% of the population is thought to have a food intolerance.
Food Allergy
Food allergy is ‘an immunologic reaction resulting from the ingestion of a food or food additive’.
Symptoms can occur in the respiratory tract, skin & mucous membranes, digestive tract, nervous system.
Severe reaction is anaphylactic shock.
The signs of a food allergy are
- It produces acute distinctive symptoms, usually within seconds or minutes.
- In extreme cases, it can be life-threatening.
- It doesn’t depend on the amount of food eaten.
- A tiny trace of the problem food can cause a reaction.
Food Intolerance
Food intolerance as ‘a general term describing an abnormal physiological response to an ingested food or food additive which is not proven to immunological’.
- Metabolic dysfunction – for example, enzyme dysfunction such as lactase deficiency.
- Pharmacologic responses – for example, a reaction to a pharmacologically active agent, such as tyramine found in fermented foods such as cheese and cured meats.
- Toxic reactions – food poisoning in response to microbial toxins in foods
Food intolerances are much more common than food allergies. The symptoms of food intolerance tend to occur more slowly, often many hours after eating the problem food. It’s possible to be intolerant to several different foods. This can make it difficult to identify which foods are causing the problem. Lactose intolerance are type of food intolerance.
The signs of food intolerance are
- It produces delayed, long-lasting symptoms, which mainly involve the digestive system.
- It’s never life-threatening.
- It usually depends on the amount eaten. A reasonable portion of food is needed to cause a reaction although some people are sensitive to small amounts.
- The problem food may be craved.
- It’s difficult to diagnose. Only a few reliable tests are available.
Testing
- Blood – IgE test which tests for allergies
- Blood – IgG test for allergies
- Stool – Comprehensive stool analysis tests is a functional test which look at the overall health of the gastrointestinal tract providing information about digestion, absorption, bacterial balance, yeast over growth, inflammation, metabolic activity and immune function.
- Other functional tests
Consultation Process
Initial consultation
- First consultation is 1 ½ hour
- A detailed patient history
- Analysis of current diet
- Possible recommendation of tests
- Dietary recommendations based on patient’s history
- Possible recommendations to other health care professionals
Follow up
- Follow up consultations 45 minutes
- Analysis of tests results
- A detailed dietary plan in light of tests results
Our Clinic
The clinic is a Food intolerance Clinic which though the consultation process and testing can help our patients.
Food allergies we can test for however for anaphylactic shock patients or patients with serve symptoms then they need to be referred to an immunologist
Our Aim
The ultimate aim in managing and living with food sensitivity, is the detection and elimination of specific antagonistic foods and the formation of nutritionally sound diet to ensure optimal health.