Food intolerance testing

Tigerandahalf

I know this can be a subject that brings up a bit of debate on its merits and scientific backup.
Anyway I had one done recently. Why? Well I have always needed a good bit of sleep, easily run down and was getting a lot of mouth ulcers. I also had wind and stomach churning and after a few beers the wind and the recovery weren't great.
So anyway I got the results back and surprised on some elements and kind of predicted others.
The test involves yourself taking a blood sample using a lancet to nip the top of your finger. You collect the blood with a pipette and into a tube it goes. Send it off to the company and in 10 days the results come back.
The test I did involved 40 plus foods including grains (oats, wheat, barley and rye), fruits and veg, meats, fish and dairy. You are scored on 3 levels - normal, borderline and elevated depending on the antibody response. The more intolerant of a food you are the higher the antibody reading.
Anyway I tested high for barley, wheat and gluten. Not surprised as beer has high barley or wheat content and I have found some breads to be gasy. What surprised me was the high reading for milk and egg. Things I have always loved eating and did not think I had an issue with them. It has made me think about what I eat.
Thankfully I have no allergies. Funny thing about food intolerances is that the effect of eating a food may not apparently show for a couple of days.
Anyone have it done?

menoscemo

You'd be better off posting this thread here.
However, having seen this kind of question over there a few times I think the general consensus is that those food intolerance tests are quackery.

searay

Hi, I am a coeliac which means I'm intolerant to gluten. Only found out at 40. 1% of the Irish population have this condition but as little as 10 to 15% of them are diagnosed. The symptoms you describe match some of the typical symptoms and you should look into it further. Others include irritable bowel type symptoms and it's often misdiagnosed. My telltale signs were frequent mouth ulcers, being run down and a few of the ibs ones.

If not addressed coeliacs suffer much higher instances of a lot of nasty stuff including cancers.
For coeliacs, It's very important to be properly diagnosed as blood tests alone can be misleading and I'd be cautious about home tests.

Coeliacs have to completely eliminate gluten from their diets which is a challenge but it's a very healthy diet. I'm very glad I was diagnosed and hope this helps. Check out coeliac.ie or coeliac.org.uk to find our more about it but talk to a doctor for proper medical advice.

Tigerandahalf

Ya I thought it was worth putting it in this forum given how people are training hard and wanting to fuel their bodies properly. No point putting diesel in a petrol engine.
A quote on the test I did says
"One man's food is another man's poison"
I know Irish people are genetically more prone to being coeliac and given that we are big beer drinkers a lot of people could be doing damage.
I might look into the gluten test further.
I know my own doctor was a bit skeptical about the test but it can't do people any harm.

tunguska

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Ya I thought it was worth putting it in this forum given how people are training hard and wanting to fuel their bodies properly. No point putting diesel in a petrol engine.
A quote on the test I did says
"One man's food is another man's poison"
I know Irish people are genetically more prone to being coeliac and given that we are big beer drinkers a lot of people could be doing damage.
I might look into the gluten test further.
I know my own doctor was a bit skeptical about the test but it can't do people any harm.

Is that the York test?
I think it just comes down to experimentation, dropping some foods for a few weeks that you suspect could be causing you difficulty and seeing how you feel as a result. I know when I stopped eating bread there was a big difference, felt a lot better and way more energy. Plus aswell theres the big ones like sugar, booze, and processed foods which are always gonna cause trouble.

Tigerandahalf

I am not sure but I did my test with Fitzwilliam Food Test in Dublin. Just google it. I paid 135 eur for the test. No need to go to doctor. It may seem expensive but no harm in doing it either especially if you have some of the symptoms listed above. My wife also did the test as she has now realised what foods were causing her stomach cramps and headaches. Many of them had high readings on the test. I am sure there are negative reports on it but as I said no harm in checking.

Krusty_Clown

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I am sure there are negative reports on it but as I said no harm in checking.

There is harm in checking if you are incorrectly diagnosed and base your diet on intolerances that you may not even have. Why not get a second opinion? See if you get consistent results?

Allergy.co.uk wrote:

Are There Reliable Tests For Food Intolerance?

With the exception of lactose intolerance, for which a conventional test exists, no reliable forms of testing exist for the types of food intolerance described above.

However, recent scientific studies are beginning to point to a delayed type food allergy in which the immune system is involved even though allergen-specific IgE is not present. For this reason, the controversial view that certain medically unexplained symptoms might be related to a delayed form of food allergy rather than be due to an unexplained or psychosomatic mechanism may yet prove to have some scientific worth. Studies that have used food exclusion followed by blinded and placebo-controlled food challenge, have suggested that this kind of mechanism may apply in some cases of migraine, arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome.

However, with the exception of dietitian supervised food exclusion and food challenge, no validated test for this type of food allergy has so far emerged. Whilst some practitioners (and especially unconventional practitioners) use IgG (as opposed to IgE) blood tests when investigating such cases, the data is not scientifically robust and most allergy specialists consider IgG blood tests to be unhelpful.

woody1

drop everything for a month, if you feel better stick to it, if not dont..
you can check out the milk and eggs after the month by phasing them back in and seeing how you feel..
eating less wheat, gluten, etc wont do you any harm anyway
i did one, was dubious, dropped stuff, felt better, occasionally slip and feel worse.. still somewhat dubious though..

Tigerandahalf

Yes there is debate about it. When testing for allergies the IgE antibody level is tested. With intolerances the IgG antibody level is tested. That is what I have read.
I might look into the gluten test as I had a high reading for it along with most grains.

PaulieC

Why is this in A/R ?

Tigerandahalf

PaulieC wrote: »

Why is this in A/R ?

As I said if you read all the thread you would see that it is something to consider for people running and putting their immune system under pressure.
Feeling bad, run down after a run may not just be due to the run itself. Given that people are doing heavy training schedules to get improvements it is worth considering.

RacoonQueen

The best way to do it is the elimation method like what Tunguska suggests.

I react to dairy and gluten - milk, cheese and cream are pretty much inedible for me. Heated milk I can cope with strangely and I can eat yoghurt, chocolate and ice cream without instantly feeling ill like I do with milk, cream and cheese but I'd imagine it's still doin't something to me...I'd imagine its something to do with the processing (and added sugar) that makes chocolate etc edible for me. Chocolate would be the only 'dairy product' I'd have generally had a bit of and when I cut down on that I notice improvements in skin, hair etc which I'd say is due to the dairy as I still have sugar in tea etc

I started noticing a reaction to gluten over a year ago and it took a while but I managed to cut it out. I still have an ocassional 'real' burger bun or a mini roll or something but I'll regret it pretty quickly. Once I noticed the difference in taking out gluten I started thinking of it more and realised that I've ALWAYS had symptoms, something just made them a LOT worse about 14 months ago forcing me to take action.
The same goes for dairy, I could never handle cheese, milk or cream they always made me ill, now I realise why I never really 'liked' pasta, cereals or sandwiches growing up but ate them because I had to. I actually really like gluten free pasta and life without bread really isn't that hard. Was never really big into biscuits and while I love baking I never really ate much cake...gluten free/refined sugar baking is fun anyway!

RacoonQueen

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

There is harm in checking if you are incorrectly diagnosed and base your diet on intolerances that you may not even have. Why not get a second opinion? See if you get consistent results?

Only if you're missing out on vital nutrients because of it...which with most common intolerances (dairy and gluten) there is nothing in the main foods there that you can't get elsewhere.

Tigerandahalf

RacoonQueen

I got a high reading for milk and egg but do not think I have any real symptoms so unsure what to do. I have read that the fat in milk is difficult to digest and if you switch to skimmed/fat free milk you may be fine.
How do you ensure you have enough calcium?
I read that many women who are dairy intolerant turn out to have issues with osteoporosis as their bodies are not getting or absorbing calcium.

I may look at excluding some foods and see what happens.
I am already eating spelt bread and it is better than soda bread.

PaulieC

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

As I said if you read all the thread you would see that it is something to consider for people running and putting their immune system under pressure.
Feeling bad, run down after a run may not just be due to the run itself. Given that people are doing heavy training schedules to get improvements it is worth considering.

ah yes, I see the link now. Some people who run also eat :pac:.

Seriously though, you'd probably be better off asking these questions in the Nutrition & Diet forum.

RacoonQueen

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

RacoonQueen

I got a high reading for milk and egg but do not think I have any real symptoms so unsure what to do. I have read that the fat in milk is difficult to digest and if you switch to skimmed/fat free milk you may be fine.
How do you ensure you have enough calcium?
I read that many women who are dairy intolerant turn out to have issues with osteoporosis as their bodies are not getting or absorbing calcium.

I may look at excluding some foods and see what happens.
I am already eating spelt bread and it is better than soda bread.

Sure isn't there a glass and a half in every dairy milk? Don't know to be honest, I try to eat a decent diet (sugar aside) and get blood tests regularly enough. My calcium levels are fine, I don't particularly try to ensure I get any specific nutrient.

Coeliac diesease is an auto immune disorder so if you have it or suspect you may have some sort of intolerance it is really not a good idea to continue taking in gluten / or even wheat where it's a wheat intolerance. They can cause other health problems.

nerraw1111

This is a problem for coeliac triathletes.

What do they people first? That they are a coeliac or a triathlete?

searay

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Yes there is debate about it. When testing for allergies the IgE antibody level is tested. With intolerances the IgG antibody level is tested. That is what I have read.
I might look into the gluten test as I had a high reading for it along with most grains.

On gluten, any doctor can take a blood sample and get an antibodies result from the lab. No need for a special clinic. If you score highly they will refer you for an endoscopy where the damage to your intestines are assessed and confirmation of whether or not you are a coeliac. The endoscopy is the key to diagnosis.

The intestines will repair if you withdraw completely from gluten but sensitivity increases so you can't occasionally have gluten.

Somebody questioned why the topic is in this forum. I posted to hep raise awareness because it impacts on runners in many ways. Not having energy to train, poor vitamin absorption, bone density issues, bowel issues such as cramps while running.

rainbow kirby

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I read that many women who are dairy intolerant turn out to have issues with osteoporosis as their bodies are not getting or absorbing calcium.

Most milk replacement products (soy/nut/coconut milks etc) are also fortified with calcium.

RacoonQueen

searay wrote: »

The intestines will repair if you withdraw completely from gluten but sensitivity increases so you can't occasionally have gluten.

Well they can, they'll just suffer for it and maybe impact their health in the longrun but so many go undiagnosed for so long...
Most people I've spoken to about it weren't diagnosed until they were in 30s, 40, 50's etc

Krusty_Clown

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Only if you're missing out on vital nutrients because of it...which with most common intolerances (dairy and gluten) there is nothing in the main foods there that you can't get elsewhere.

Then why don't we all just stick to a gluten free diet? Or a low carb diet? Low fat diet? Lactose free diet? Paleo diet? Vegan diet? Because most people will be better served by a well balanced diet.

What do you miss out on? Taste, balance, value, effort (having to cook different meals for different family members), and of course the risk of missing vital nutrients. A well balanced diet should ensure you get a good distribution of nutrients/vitamins, whereas a restrictive diet introduces risk.

overpronator

These tests appear to be a waste of money based on overwhelming scientific evidence. The overall basic immunology of what they are trying to do is incorrect for a start, IGg is the wrong subclass of antibody to assay for in the context of hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions and there is absolutely no evidence that IgG antibodies are responsible for delayed allergic symptoms or intolerance to foods. You will get an IgG response as a consequence of exposure to foods but this is merely associative and is not linked in any way, even casually, to allergic responses.

Furthermore, there is no information on quality control, validation or inter lab reproducibility of these assays either. The assays themselves have been widely debunked on pubmed also, here's one reference off the top of my head

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15864086

RacoonQueen

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Then why don't we all just stick to a gluten free diet? Or a low carb diet? Low fat diet? Lactose free diet? Paleo diet? Vegan diet? Because most people will be better served by a well balanced diet.

What do you miss out on? Taste, balance, value, effort (having to cook different meals for different family members), and of course the risk of missing vital nutrients. A well balanced diet should ensure you get a good distribution of nutrients/vitamins, whereas a restrictive diet introduces risk.

Gluten isn't a nutrient. There is nothing in dairy or gluten foods that can't be got elsewhere just by following a well balanced diet. The only concern anyone may have when not having dairy is calcium, though a lot of people generally don't take on much dairy anyway. My family for example, might eat a bit of cheese. No one drinks glasses of milk or eat yoghurt. The only place any of them would get calcium really is through cheese or milk in their tea. No one intentionally takes dairy to get calcium in, do you? does anyone here, or, if you drink milk, eat cheese etc do you have it just because you like it?
Calcium is available in other foods, in adundance in some (like fish).

Chicken fillet, a pile of veg, maybe rice if you want to go crazy - everyone can eat it. Not about fads or about listing out a pile of different diets. If you're reacting to something why would you continue to consume it just to take on the other nutrients? Taking out something you react to doesn't restrict your diet, if anything it will expand it. I eat things now I'd never have eaten before because I ate what was 'normal' and I didn't understand what was making me feel so crap.
If you are reacting to something you'll know about it, you won't eat it with regularity if you can see the affects it has...not if you're training anyway.

Gluten free diet is actually pretty easy to keep too. All you do is drop processed food. There's no gluten in a steak, or eggs, or other meat products...or vegetables...or fruit...or water. That's not cooking different food for different family members surely? Do they not all eat meat + veg?
Nor do you miss out on taste, value or balance. Maybe convenience, but something tells me the Clown Clan don't eat microwave meals anyway.

There is gluten/wheat in powdered sauces, jars of sauces, stock cubes, cakes, biscuits, chocolates, crisps, bread, beer...gluten is in processed foods, ready meals, pizza, deep fried foods, take aways. Anything in any of them that we need to survive?
If you eat fresh food you're not following a gluten free diet, you're just eating fresh food.

You don't have to put a name to it like gluten free or low carb or paleo...it's just food.

If something clearly doesn't work for you, why would you eat it? I don't understand...my sister ( a qualified chef ) recently asked me why I make my own sauces etc ''sure would you not ever eat tikka masala from a jar, it's easier''
''No it tastes like crap and it would give me cramps''
''Oh it does that to me too, but I don't care I don't want to be a health freak''
She also wonders why everything I cook looks and smells so good. :rolleyes:

WTF??!

I don't restrict anything from my diet except *trying* to restrict junk food.

If you don't react to gluten or dairy, by all means go ahead and keep eating it. You do not need a doctor and blood tests and a medciine cabinet to tell you that you have a reaction to wheat or gluten though...

Krusty_Clown

RacoonQueen wrote: »

If you don't react to gluten or dairy, by all means go ahead and keep eating it. You do not need a doctor and blood tests and a medciine cabinet to tell you that you have a reaction to wheat or gluten though...

That's exactly my point. If you don't have any intolerances or allergies, why would you restrict your diet to a specific subset of foods? It makes absolutely no sense. You're arguing that it won't do you any harm. I'm arguing that it won't provide any additional benefit, but ultimately it's the same point. Processed food is a completely separate discussion.

By the way, pizza always gets bad press. Here's the list of ingredients that goes into a homemade pizza. Please point out the bad ones:
Base: Flour, water, yeast, tablespoon olive oil, pinch salt
Pizza sauce: Crushed tomatoes, oregano, garlic
Toppings: vegetables, perhaps some cured meats.

As long as you don't smother it in cheese, it's one of the healthiest and tastiest things you can eat (as long as you don't have some form of alleged gluten reaction).

HelenAnne

RacoonQueen wrote: »

If you don't react to gluten or dairy, by all means go ahead and keep eating it. You do not need a doctor and blood tests and a medciine cabinet to tell you that you have a reaction to wheat or gluten though...

I'd agree with this too. If you have an actual allergy, you'll know all about it -- you'll have an instant reaction, which could be mild like hives, wheezing, sneezing etc or severe, like anaphylaxis, but it will happen when you eat the food or come into contact with the allergen. I don't know as much about intolerances, but I know when a family member had a serious digestive illness, doctors used the exclusion test (mentioned by someone above) to see what was causing it rather than any kind of sensitivity tests.

Like RacoonQueen, I'd know myself what doesn't suit me. I don't have any real intolerances, but ice cream or a latte or something will make me feel quite sick, but I'm fine with yoghurt and hard cheeses, and I can eat bread, but too much white bread makes me feel terrible. I'm sure everyone notices things like that about themselves and adjusts their diet accordingly? I'd never drink or have very heavy food or dessert the night before a race, long run or early morning Pilates class either -- it just doesn't suit me. I don't think any of that is necessarily evidence of intolerances, it's just finding what you feel best eating. (Though as an aside I do have a relatively restrictive diet as my husband is vegan so I eat a lot of vegan food. It seems to suit me ok though; the last time I had bloods done I was disgustingly healthy )

So in short I'd say if food isn't making you feel very bad or sending your body into allergic shock, eat it, if it is, see a doctor to get to the bottom of it. Apart from that try to eat normal food that doesn't leave you feeling sick or weak or whatever when you train. (I say this on absolutely no authority whatsoever eat what you like, I don't mind!)

RacoonQueen

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

That's exactly my point. If you don't have any intolerances or allergies, why would you restrict your diet to a specific subset of foods? It makes absolutely no sense. You're arguing that it won't do you any harm. I'm arguing that it won't provide any additional benefit, but ultimately it's the same point. Processed food is a completely separate discussion.

By the way, pizza always gets bad press. Here's the list of ingredients that goes into a homemade pizza. Please point out the bad ones:
Base: Flour, water, yeast, tablespoon olive oil, pinch salt
Pizza sauce: Crushed tomatoes, oregano, garlic
Toppings: vegetables, perhaps some cured meats.

As long as you don't smother it in cheese, it's one of the healthiest and tastiest things you can eat (as long as you don't have some form of alleged gluten reaction).

Nutritionally cheese is better for you than flour
There's not really anything nutritionally beneficial about flour...you're still making bread. Whether you've an allergy to it or not, its still not the best choice...based on my experience, reading, research etc I consider most 'carbs' like that as junk. Long before I put much effort into nutrition and what not (when I started cooking for myself) I stopped eating 5 potatoes etc with every meal...bread, pasta, rice, potatoes are not really necessary in abundance for a balanced diet.

I went for like 18 years blissfully unaware that I didn't have to have dairy in my diet, completely unaware that it was affecting my health and mood until I took it out....longer with gluten. People have intolernances they don't know about...potentially, a exclusion/restriction programme could benefit anyone here.

Krusty_Clown

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Nutritionally cheese is better for you than flour
There's not really anything nutritionally beneficial about flour...you're still making bread. Whether you've an allergy to it or not, its still not the best choice...based on my experience, reading, research etc I consider most 'carbs' like that as junk. Long before I put much effort into nutrition and what not (when I started cooking for myself) I stopped eating 5 potatoes etc with every meal...bread, pasta, rice, potatoes are not really necessary in abundance for a balanced diet.

I think you're guilty of assuming that anything that doesn't work for you, shouldn't work for anyone. 76.5% of a typical Kenyan marathoner's diet comes from carbohydrates. 5 Potatoes? There's your problem right there! That's not balanced!

How are we the first generation of humans to suddenly develop all of these intolerances? I know life expectancy is on the increase, but it's hardly down to knocking bread and potatoes out of one's diet.

RacoonQueen

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I think you're guilty of assuming that anything that doesn't work for you, shouldn't work for anyone. 76.5% of a typical Kenyan marathoner's diet comes from carbohydrates. 5 Potatoes? There's your problem right there! That's not balanced!

Not really...many people are completely oblivious to food intolerances (and other allergies) that they have. That's where I'm coming from, the amount of people who will describe reactions to certain foods but choose to ignore it is actually quite high.
I can see now how I was reacting to wheat years ago but had no idea that I was. I was completely oblivious, its possible that many others are the same.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

How are we the first generation of humans to suddenly develop all of these intolerances? I know life expectancy is on the increase, but it's hardly down to knocking bread and potatoes out of one's diet.

Awareness. Things have evolved. Science, knowledge...we have more money and wheat and dairy (I'm referring to wheat and dairy because they are probably the most common intolerances) are more readily available, people have more access to them and are consuming them more so reactions are more likely to be noticed.
People have more money to go to the doctor if they don't feel right rather than just saying ''ah sure everyone has a 3pm slump'' they'll go to the doctor and find out if there is a reason why they're tired.
More information is available...''hmmm I get stomach cramps everyday after lunch, I wonder why that is...I'll whack some stuff into google and see what comes up''
Medicine is able to detect things better/quicker than before.

We don't know that 'more' people now have intolerances, the same number / the same % of the population possibly have intolerances as before just more people now know what it is they have.

Tigerandahalf

I find exercise is actually very good at cleaning out my gut so to speak! The body working out a little bit probably aids digestion as blood flow increases.
As I write I am having a creamy pint of Guinness. 1 or 2 are fine otherwise the gut is not too good the following day.

Tigerandahalf

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I know this d after a few beers the wind and the recovery weren't great...

I get this too, after about 10 pints.

The worst thing was, I even tried changing, tequilas, fat frogs...and it didn't improve the intolerance. If anything it seemed worse.

I think it's just practice practice practice...;-)

ergo

heard a pharmacist on the radio last year pushing these intolerance tests

she did mention (quietly) regarding their particular test that 80% of people have intolerance to something - their firm offered money back if your result came back completely "normal"

I think that says it all for me

If you have Irritable Bowel Syndorme symptoms (very common) then google a low FODMAP diet like this
http://www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list/

might improve some of your symptoms and avoid expensive testing

I hate the thought of so many people giving up (for example) dairy completely (unnecessarily in my opinion) as a result of some of these tests