Is your diet making you ill? A food intolerance test in London with Future Health Management will provide the answer
In the UK, around two million people suffer from some sort of food intolerance or allergy. The good news is that there’s a simple, but smart, non-invasive and painless food intolerance test that can determine what part of your diet is having an adverse effect on your health.
First, let’s look at the symptoms. The most common are bloating, constipation, weight loss, migraines, fat malabsorption and diarrhoea. In severe cases, food intolerance can lead to anaemia and vitamin D deficiency.
The cause of food intolerance is the immune system identifying certain constituents as foreign invaders. It can happen at any stage of your life but, usually, it kicks off if you start to eat more fast food or get into bad habits.
Common food intolerances
Wheat is one of the most common culprits. One of the main reasons is that most of the bread we eat today has far more preservatives, such as:
- Calcium propionate for a longer shelf life
- Amylase
- Chlorine dioxide, which bleaches the flour
- L-cysteine hydrochloride – E920, used to make the dough more elastic
All the above help to keep the bread soft, white and light. Traditional bread is just made from flour, yeast, salt and water. This is much better for you but doesn’t keep as well.
A key source of intolerance is gluten. This is due to a process called hybridisation of the wheat which adds new proteins. It can cause systemic inflammation and higher rates of celiac disease. Also, we eat far more gluten today than our ancestors did, as wheat is often found in fast food and prepared foods.
Examples of other common causes of intolerances are chocolate, strawberries, dairy products, nuts and food additives, such as nitrates in processed meats.
Food intolerance test
You can keep a food diary to identify which foods are causing a problem. However, this is a lengthy process and requires diligence and patience.
At Future Health Management I use a number of food intolerance tests and biofeedback therapy in London, with full support once the results come in. There are a variety of tests available for identifying intolerances. However, I usually suggest an ALCAT test. It involves taking a blood sample – I realise some people are squeamish about needles – but it does give a good indication of what foods may be making you ill. It takes about 14 days to get the test results which show four sensitivity levels – severe, moderate, mild and acceptable. The programme offers a diet to follow according to a four-day cycle. This rotation helps to optimise your eating habits and to give the body a rest.
Alternatively, there is biofeedback therapy. This is a simple, smart and on-invasive option, in other words, needle-free. The machine has an accuracy rate of 98% and results come within 60-90 minutes. It works by scanning and measuring the body’s organs and tissues for their frequency energy levels and identifies how each food reacts with the digestive system. Once the scan is complete, I can then tailor a nutritional plan to suit.
Banishing the culprits
Ideally, you need to cut out the affected foods from your diet for three to six months and then try reintroducing them one at a time to see if thee are any issues. Finding substitutes can be difficult. The good news is that the food intolerance issue is more widely recognised and stores increasingly gave gluten-free sections.
As a naturopathic nutritionist, I help clients to find the diet that works for them. It might just be simply cutting portion sizes. For example, if fructose is a problem, having half a cup of fruit juice may not affect you quite as severely as having a full cup.
The important thing to remember is, if you are excluding things from your diet, you have to replace them via other avenues. So, if wheat is causing a problem, then it’s important to swap it for another fibre-containing food, such as buckwheat or brown, gluten-free bread. Similarly, with dairy, you need to go for alternatives that will keep up your calcium levels, i.e. almond or coconut milk.
If you would like to find out more about a food intolerance test in London, then please feel free to contact me hello@futurehealthmanagement.co.uk