Where to get a food intolerance test?

Dapos

Hi,

I'm looking for somewhere to get a food allergy or food intolerance test (not even sure are they the same thing). Any recommendation around dublin? Also what would they normally cost? 50/60 euro?

CathyMoran

Go to your GP who will refer you to a specialist who is qualified in this area. It has been years since I got one done. Good luck.

Supercell

I had one done a couple of years ago in the Blackrock clinic (blood test), was was over €250 IIRC

That needed a referral by my GP thugh.

Waste of time, apparently I'm allergic to pretty much everything except milk, some things more than others. Doctor told me they didnt know what to advise me to eat but to avoid pork and potatoes.
Funny thing is apparently it didnt show me overly allergic to fish or peanuts that, even if I inhale the smell of, makes my throat start to close over and my breaths become laboured.

Allergy testing imho isnt very accurate at all.

Shabadu

Be careful of the con artists who take a bit of of your hair and sample it. It's nonsense. As far as I know, you'll be asked to exclude groups like dairy & wheat from your diet and keep track of your symptoms.

I-like-eggs,mmm

Hey.... I had a food intolerence test done there back in April- was really good.

The guy took a sample of blood from me, sent it off to be tested( for around 250 foods or so), I got the results in about 2 weeks.

Then he went through the results, gave the level of intolerence for whatever food I was intolerent to (Milk and Eggs)- and he went through alternatives.

Felt great anyway when I stayed away from the food he mentioned. He emphasised staying well away from the food when I was under any sort of pressure or stress as the digestive system is more sensitive to these foods at those times.

The test was around 200Euro. It was an IGg test (IGg tests for intolerences and IGe is for allergies as far as I remember).

He's based in Rialto and he has a book on the basics of food intolerences, if you're interested?

Dapos

I am trying to find a place that doesn't use blood samples and isn't as expensive. These tests usually cost around 60 euro i'm told. Holland and Barretts (Nature's Way) do them but they are booked out for a few weeks, wondering is there may other places?

Dapos

Ok i got one done on saturday. It's a place called "Down to Earth" on George's St. 40 Euro. Intolerant to a few things, i'll give it a go for a few weeks and see how i feel. For future reference some of the Nature's Way stores do the test but u would have to book a few weeks in advance, 65 euro with a 20 euro deposit. La Sante in Dun Laoghaire do them too for 40 euro (10 Euro deposit). From wat i gather they all seem a similar test, no blood, no needles.

musicfan

Has anyone ever had one of these tests done i.e. the ones that don't involve blood or hair samples?

Are they any good or how accurate are they?

Any opinions / experiences etc??

microgirl

Longfield wrote: »

I had one done a couple of years ago in the Blackrock clinic (blood test), was was over €250 IIRC

That needed a referral by my GP thugh.

Waste of time, apparently I'm allergic to pretty much everything except milk, some things more than others. Doctor told me they didnt know what to advise me to eat but to avoid pork and potatoes.
Funny thing is apparently it didnt show me overly allergic to fish or peanuts that, even if I inhale the smell of, makes my throat start to close over and my breaths become laboured.

Allergy testing imho isnt very accurate at all.

There's a difference between a food intolerance and a genuine allergy, and so there is a difference between the tests done for both. Specifically, different antibodies are involved, and tests geared to pick up one won't pick up the other.

OP - I can heartily recommend YorkTest (www.yorktext.ie), but be warned you will pay for it. It's €349 or something, but it's a proper, genuine, scientific-based food intolerance test (and as a medical scientist I can confirm that that's not just marketing), not one of these quack rubbish things about ribs of hair, or muscle tone or what have you.

They test 113 foodstuffs or mixes and the test picked up my known intolerance (diagnosed dairy intolerant at 3yrs) and confirmed one that I was 99% sure I had, but hoped I didn't (yeast) and a couple of more surprising ones (soya and eggs). I also have a few "borderline" foods, that I should limit my intake in.

Ok, strictly speaking I can't vouch for them to much because I haven't actually taken the steps and made the changes I should have, so I don't know how good removing these from my diet will be, but I suspect very, based on symptoms and, as I said, my knowledge that dairy and yeast have a bad affect on me anyway.

If you're not 100% certain you have a food intolerance at all, you can get a mini-test done which costs about €29, which basically gives you a yes or no answer. If you test positive for intolerance, you can upgrade to a full test without having to send in a new sample, and they just charge you the remainder. If you test negative, well, you've saved €300

If you think it might be a true allergy rather than an intolerance, they have a specific allergy test you can get instead.

I really do recommend checking them out. A good, proper test like that is going to cost money. The ones for €60 aren't going to be worth it at all, IMO. But it's your health and well-being that's in consideration here, and a few hundred quid to change you life right around (provided you make the necessary changes) is, I think, worth it.

Edited to add: Oooh! Just saw I Like Eggs' reply - yes, that's pretty much exactly what YORKtest do, but that's significantly cheaper. I'd go for that one definitely

microgirl

Oops! Hadn't realised how old a thread this was. Feel stupid now

kelle

My mother (RIP) was a Kinesiologist. She used muscle testing to check intolerance to different foods. I was slightly overweight and was almost crippled following a back injury, so I got tested by her and gave up the foods I was found to be intolerant to (wheat, sugar, white potato, tomatoes). She said they were causing weakness of muscles which stopped me recovering from the back injury (having 2 small kids didn't help either!). 2 days after starting my exclusion diet my back pain vanished, and I lost all my baby weight in a few weeks. I have great faith in it, and it doesn't involve needles or body samples. I don't know how much is charged nowadays, but I don't think it's as expensive as the prices quoted above - my mother only charged e35.
There's more information here about it.

dairec

I-like-eggs,mmm wrote: »

Hey.... I had a food intolerence test done there back in April- was really good.

He's based in Rialto and he has a book on the basics of food intolerences, if you're interested?

I'm interested. Can you give me his contact details?

Daire

PhilK

I've just had a test done for our 2 and half year old who was suffering from severe exzema. Our Naturopath suggested

www.camnutri.com

who do the same test as York but at nearly half the price.

He turns out to have intolerance of some really basic stuff (milk, wheat, soya). As we're on a low income any advice out there on how to source cheap alternatives would be very welcome.

Iristxo

I think the one that I like eggs mentions can be this one...

http://martinhealy.goldenpages.ie/ms/ms/martin_healy+allergy_testing_allergists+dublin+ms-90013063+p-2.html

Which is somehow connected to the clinic in Fitzwilliam Sq, or so it seems

Euro_Kraut

People need to be careful about this.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest the IgG Antibody testing (used by YorkTest amoung others) cannot actually show food intolerance's.

The UK Advertising Watchdog took YorkTest to take in 2007 for the claims they were making.

The Australian Authority also cast doubt

An inquiry of the House of Lords in England also concluded there was no scientific basis to the tests.

I found some good blogs on this too:

Myth: You Can Diagnose Food Intolerance or Allergy with an IgG Blood Test

&

IgG Tests Are A Waste of Money: House of Lords Committee Hears Evidence, Let's Hope That They Listen

Its probably a good idea to read through the evidence that currently exists before deciding to spend €250+ on a test.

El_Dangeroso

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

People need to be careful about this.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest the IgG Antibody testing (used by YorkTest amoung others) cannot actually show food intolerance's.

The UK Advertising Watchdog took YorkTest to take in 2007 for the claims they were making.

The Australian Authority also cast doubt

An inquiry of the House of Lords in England also concluded there was no scientific basis to the tests.

I found some good blogs on this too:

Myth: You Can Diagnose Food Intolerance or Allergy with an IgG Blood Test

&

IgG Tests Are A Waste of Money: House of Lords Committee Hears Evidence, Let's Hope That They Listen

Its probably a good idea to read through the evidence that currently exists before deciding to spend €250+ on a test.

Completely agreed, a lot of us can have sensitivities that don't show up on these tests at all, never mind the inconvenience of a false-positive result. These kinds of blood tests are notoriously inaccurate. Testing of antibodies in stool is more accurate but still not without problems. It'd be wonderful just to get a blood test and know exactly what foods you should personally avoid, but the science is just not there yet.

ValueSeeker

Vaga Food Allergy Testing in the Old Bawn Clinic in Tallaght. Run by Alan and Phil Kelly. It's predominantly a sports injury clinic.

I had no life for 3 years, constantly in and out of hospitals and they were clueless. Went to this place not expecting anything. She hooked me up to the circuit, diagnosed me as wheat intolerant and whatayuno, 3 weeks later, all my physical symptoms were gone.

I'm going back to her tomorrow as I'm back on wheat and feeling disgusting - I didn't realise feelings of anxiety, depression and brain fog and other mental symptoms can also be symptoms of food intolerance.

Only 70 euro and no needles

SineadPh

Maev Creaven from the Galway Nutrition Centre in Galway tests for food intolerances. www.nutritioncentre.ie There are no needles used.

teacosy

Accurate information on the subject of testing for food intolerances and allergies can be read here;

http://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/AllergyTesting.pdf

oldyouth

I see there are comments for and against these tests but can I ask if anyone has tried this one through Sam McCauley Chemists

http://www.buy4now.ie/sammccauley/aspx/shopping.aspx?loc=C&catid=91

Thanks in advance

Shmatter

I don't know about other intolerances, but I'm lactose intolerant, don't know how it happened as I wasn't as a kid, also managed to develop hay fever the same time. I went to my doctor, he told me about the test he could do, but that just keeping a food diary and looking at the results myself is enough. I'd recommend that if you suspect dairy anyway.

december80

Dapos wrote: »

Ok i got one done on saturday. It's a place called "Down to Earth" on George's St. 40 Euro. Intolerant to a few things, i'll give it a go for a few weeks and see how i feel. For future reference some of the Nature's Way stores do the test but u would have to book a few weeks in advance, 65 euro with a 20 euro deposit. La Sante in Dun Laoghaire do them too for 40 euro (10 Euro deposit). From wat i gather they all seem a similar test, no blood, no needles.

hi just wondering di d you think the test was accurate?

december80

Dapos wrote: »

Ok i got one done on saturday. It's a place called "Down to Earth" on George's St. 40 Euro. Intolerant to a few things, i'll give it a go for a few weeks and see how i feel. For future reference some of the Nature's Way stores do the test but u would have to book a few weeks in advance, 65 euro with a 20 euro deposit. La Sante in Dun Laoghaire do them too for 40 euro (10 Euro deposit). From wat i gather they all seem a similar test, no blood, no needles.

Hi i went to the Down to Earth shop yesterday to get an allergy test.
They said i am allergic to Dairy products and Sugar.
Did many come up that you were allergic to im not sure whether i believe its true as ive been eating this stuff all my life and ive never had any problems. if you could reply to me that would be great.

december80

december80 wrote: »

Hi i went to the Down to Earth shop yesterday to get an allergy test.
They said i am allergic to Dairy products and Sugar.
Did many come up that you were allergic to im not sure whether i believe its true as ive been eating this stuff all my life and ive never had any problems. if you could reply to me that would be great.

I've never gone for one of these tests but I saw a pretty believable documentary about the ones done in health food shops (even reputable places like Holland and Barrett) being false and unreliable. This does make sense seeing as if you go through your GP it should be around 200euro. There must be a reason that the one a doctor would trust is about 5 times the cost of some of the health shop ones. There's not much harm in cutting dairy and sugar for a few weeks and seeing if it makes a difference, but these are important food groups and if they've never given you trouble before, I wouldn't trust the test enough to cut them out of your life.

Soarer

Anyone know anywhere in Cork that does the intolerance tests?
Rang The Melbourne Clinic, and they're not doing it anymore.

Saw this crowd that do a 200+ food test for £285, which I'd stretch for. But when you go to buy it, it tells you to contact this crowd in Dublin, who charge €255 for a 93 food test.
Sounds like a rip-off to me!

teacosy

The UK allergy association and the British Dietetic Association give some sound advice about the accuracy of commercial allergy tests.

http://www.allergyuk.org/fs_testing.aspx

http://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/AllergyTesting.pdf

Transform

very very little of all this testing is going to show you or tell you anything that you would not figure out yourself on a simple food elmination diet.

Cut out all gluten - wow you feel better, drop weight and joints feel less achy!! Did i need a test for that, no. People just love the lab coat effect and the fact that its written on a piece of paper.

i used to get many of my clients tested for food intolerence and stopped when I sent in two blood samples from myself (same time) and they came back with two different results!

Now i just get everyone off gluten, exercise more, cut out processed foods, eat more veg, some fruit and plenty of good fats and protein and whatttay know they drop weight, feel better and degenerative conditions clear up significantly.

Its money you could be spending buying some god healthy food and a big tub of fish oils IMO

arandale

Heard discussed on Mid west Radio a test called Nutron, do anyone of you know anything about it.

Transform

arandale wrote: »

Heard discussed on Mid west Radio a test called Nutron, do anyone of you know anything about it.

emmm food elimination anyone?

firetrap8

I've done the test at bodysmart; they just took a blood sample (very easy and painless) and sent the results to some Food Institute for analysis. result came after a two weeks. I've done the test for 40 food items, there is an option for some 93 foods which is a bit more expensive. some info on this page:

http://www.bodysmart.ie/food-intolerance-test.html

El_Dangeroso

firetrap8 wrote: »

I've done the test at bodysmart; they just took a blood sample (very easy and painless) and sent the results to some Food Institute for analysis. result came after a two weeks. I've done the test for 40 food items, there is an option for some 93 foods which is a bit more expensive. some info on this page:

http://www.bodysmart.ie/food-intolerance-test.html

If anyone wants to send me €135 to send them made up test results with no level of accuracy whatsoever then I'm open for business! I'm now accepting credit cards at Ican'tbelievepeoplestillbelievethiscrap.com.:P

firetrap8

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

If anyone wants to send me €135 to send them made up test results with no level of accuracy whatsoever then I'm open for business! I'm now accepting credit cards at Ican'tbelievepeoplestillbelievethiscrap.com.:P

I don't remember asking you for dosh before doing the test, so mind your own intolerances which obviously aren't related to food! I think you're a very lonely person otherwise I can't see why you're wasting time on subjects that don't interest you.

g'em

firetrap less of the personal attacks. If you have an issue with a post, report it.

firetrap8

g'em wrote: »

firetrap less of the personal attacks. If you have an issue with a post, report it.

Hey dude, when somebody is directly slagging me you're telling that it's my mistake!

death1234567

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

If anyone wants to send me €135 to send them made up test results with no level of accuracy whatsoever then I'm open for business! I'm now accepting credit cards at Ican'tbelievepeoplestillbelievethiscrap.com.:P

Just remember to tell people they are allergic/intolerant to wheat, IIRC 7/10 people are and its in everything so they'll have eaten some recently.

SineadPh wrote: »

Maev Creaven from the Galway Nutrition Centre in Galway tests for food intolerances. www.nutritioncentre.ie There are no needles used.

How does it work?

Might get one of these tests done for the craic, fingers crosses I'm allergic to vegetables and have to substitute them for steak cos I'm protein deficient.

AnneBQ

I had very good results from the Slievemore clinic in Stillorgan, both for myself and my daughter, can't remember how much it cost but it was'nt crazy: its a general medical practice but they do a lot of work on allergies.

good luck Anne

g'em

firetrap8 wrote: »

Hey dude, when somebody is directly slagging me you're telling that it's my mistake!

I'm saying that you don't retort directly, you report it and let the Moderators deal with it. Likewise arguing with us on thread, now let it go and move on.

El_Dangeroso

Oops! I was just joking!:o

Prob shouldn't have quoted you directly so apologies for that.

But on a serious note. None of these tests are scientifically validated, ie, have a better chance of figuring out your intolerances than a fortune teller. The owners have some cheek deceiving people that they can and then charging them 135 euro for the pleasure. Out and out fraud in my book.

arandale

El Dangeroso, i really agree with you. I did the Galway one mentioned, real GOBBLEDGOOK. Reams paperwork i needed a degree to make out.

johnlambe

IgG Food Allergy Testing by ELISA/EIA - What do they really tell us?

This is an article by a clinic that sent multiple samples from the same patient to labs to see the variation in results (all for IgG blood-based tests).
They tested three labs (sending 6 samples taken from the same patient at the same time to each), and got a variance of 59%, 7% and 9%, respectively, in the clinical recommendations of each lab (i.e. the variation between the 6 times the lab tested the same patient).

So with the first lab, when they recommend to avoid or not avoid a certain food, there's a 59% chance that they would give a different result (at least once) if they did the test 6 times.

A 9% variance is considered acceptable.

So this seems to suggest, that if you get a good lab, there's still about a 7%-9% chance that each result will be unreliable. (The probability that the test failed in each case would be a bit less than that: For example, that 7%-9% would include results that would have been the same as the first sample 5 out of 6 times, with the other one probably being the anomaly).

The article suggests possible causes for the variation - contaminants in the foods used for testing, e.g. bacteria or viruses (which your immunoglobulin should react to), or pesticide residues.

Based on that, they probably have some use in giving an indication of what you might have an intolerance for. (€200 doesn't seem such good value in that case).
It may be the case that false negatives are unlikely. So when a test tells you you're not intolerant of something, that could be useful (and maybe more likely to be reliable).


But this does not (as stated in the article) test whether the result is actually correct.
(Of course, there's anecdotal evidence for that).

In the first response to this, a laboratory director talks about what his lab does to improve reliability of their tests. I think it's worth asking any lab you're thinking of getting tests from if they do any of that.

snowstreams

Ive got Ankylosing spondylitis, which affects my back and stomach.
I discovered that there is a diet for AS where you cut out all starches from your diet and my spondylitis goes away. It seems a bit like the paleo diet.
Obviously that diet is very difficult to stay on, so I was hoping there was a way to figure out if could eat some foods that are starchy? Would an allergy test do?
I know when i eat brown bread i always get bad heartburn indigestion so would that mean im wheat intolerant or possibly more likely celiac?
Maybe I should really just talk to a specialist consultant for a proper test?

El_Dangeroso

You'd really be better off discussing that with your doctor, especially if you suspect coeliac (which is associated with AS).

snowstreams

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

You'd really be better off discussing that with your doctor, especially if you suspect coeliac (which is associated with AS).

I did get a blood test for coeliacs disease before, but I never heard back.
I'll have to ask my doctor for the full proper test so.
it would be good if there was an easy to do test for food interolerances because when i cut out starch, I end up eating loads of dairy, eggs and nuts to compensate!

johnlambe

Allergy or Intolerance

This article (from a provider of IgG intolerance tests) explains the difference between allergy and intolerance.

Worried-in-WW

An Elimination Diet is the standard for diagnosing - and treating - food intolerances. The reason why the various blood tests for food intolerance have become popular is that they shortcut the fairly arduous task of eliminating food ingredients one by one and subjectively judging whether you feel better without them.

I use IgG blood tests (I've used York Test and, more recently, Food Detective professional) for this purpose. Combined with the pre-test interview - and I emphasize that it is important to collect this dietary information and confirm whether that the person is aware that their symptoms are food-related - I've found testing very helpful. But it is the Elimination Diet, guided by the test scores and interview, that gives the results, not the test alone.

Even armed with a black-and-white report of your results, it's still not easy to change the food habits of a lifetime. For this reason, I'd advise working with a professional who can advise on dietary change, such as a nutritional therapist (www.ntoi.ie).

If you ask me have I seen variation between the different tests available, I have, but I found them pretty close. They do different numbers of foods and use different test panels - for example, one combines egg white and yolk, the other tests them separately - but the overall picture is still pretty clear since the tests generally test not for just one but several members of each food family (e.g. not just for wheat, but also gluten, rye, oats and durum wheat).

I find testing a big advance over a blind Elimination Diet. Many people I've tested had previously carried out Elimination Diets of sorts - for example series' of magazine-article-driven Elimination Diets - but have either not been thorough enough, or carried out change for long enough, to be sure of a link. However, in the hands of an experienced practitioner, a structured Elimination Diet and interview will give excellent results.

The tests are not really tests of food intolerance, even if that's how they are marketed. What they can do is help identify the most likely culprits in people who have symptoms of food intolerance. The studies that show them to be useful also used them in that way.

There still isn't an international standard for the different companies to compare their tests to, so they use their own panels of people with positive results. I'd guess that the variability comes more from that than from the technology itself, which is the same as that used for many very commonly used diagnostic tests.

But - especially at this time of year - even before going to the expense of a blood test - there is one thing you could eliminate and likely feel a difference in a few weeks: try cutting out sugar (and sweet things).

discombobulate

Could anyone give me a somewhat reliable place or recommendation to go preferably in Dublin 2 to get a test please. Thanks

Worried-in-WW

There are many "food intolerance" or "food allergy" tests available. I would opt for an antibody blood test as the best researched. And those tests don't actually diagnose "food intolerance" but instead show whether there are foods against which your body is reacting (by making antibodies).

And the test result helps you design a specific food elimination diet - 3 months avoiding the strongly reacting foods - followed by controlled re-exposure to learn what the individual foods do to you. And then you can both follow your new diet, while - generally - being able to occasionally take the foods you react to.

You can do blood tests for around 50 items, 112 items and up to 200 items. In the end, it's usually down to a few foods covered in all of the tests, including dairy and gluten and most of the other foods are in the test to show you how many options you still have.

Getting the results in D2 is the easy part - you can get a 50+ item test done in Trinity Pharmacy near Tara St Station, or a 100 item test from the Fitzwilliam Clinic in Fitzwilliam Square.

The key thing is what you do with the results. If you have a straightforward result you may be well able to manage the elimination diet yourself using the information in your report. If not, you will want to work with a nutritionist (list of practitioners in D2 on http://www.ntoi.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52:find-a-practitioner-near-you&catid=38:practitioners-all-regions&Itemid=62). They can help with the questions like: what can I have for breakfast? More importantly, they help you avoid getting your new diet half-right, which is nearly as bad as not at all right. I've done the change. It was well worth the effort, but it wasn't easy. And remember that sugar (natural or other) isn't in any of these tests, nor does it need to be - it aggravates symptoms.

razor8

has anyone used the fitzwilliamfoodtest clinic in Dublin http://www.fitzwilliamfoodtest.com ???


i am a colitis sufferer and was wondering if i got a food intolerence test done would it show up any problems

shakencat

I'm looking for an intolerance test too, I'm reacting really badly after eating some foods, and I'd love to determine exactly what it is that makes me feel unwell

RedMen15

Pat Boyd based in Sligo does food intolerance testing and is excellent. Does regular clinics around the country. Can find her details with a quick google.

johnsmittenhous

RedMen15 wrote: »

Pat Boyd based in Sligo does food intolerance testing and is excellent. Does regular clinics around the country. Can find her details with a quick google.

Hi do you have a number for pat Boyd by chance.