Food Intolerance

Food Intolerance is an adverse reaction to eating certain foods, especially in larger quantities.

The condition occurs when a certain type of food is consumed and our body is unable to process it correctly. Commonly it is misunderstood to be psychological, but actually it is physical in nature and occurs because we lack a particular chemical or enzyme needed to break down and digest specific foodstuffs.

Modern lifestyles make us pro's at dining on the go. Although speedy, fast food does have a down side. Almost half the population experiences some sort of digestive dysfunction. When faced with food intolerances, we often try to tackle it on our own. Frequently we ignore discomforts such as bloating, insomnia, headaches, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Pretending that a problem doesn't exist won't make it go away or bring relief. Seek out treatment to help identify the toxicities that are robbing you of your vital energy!

Food intolerances are often genetic. For example alcohol intolerance occurs in 50% of Asians, they have a deficiency of an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase. Lactose intolerance seldomly occurs in Northern Europeans only affecting 10-15% of the population; meanwhile 70 - 90% of Asian, African, Native American and Mediterranean populations cannot happily digest dairy products. Other hidden culprits are chemical additives and preservatives found in many prepared foods. Many people experience adverse reactions to sulphites, benzoates, salicylates, monosodium glutamate, caffeine, aspartame and tartrazine.

Modern lifestyles make us pro's at dining on the go. Although speedy, fast food does have a down side.

Yorktest.Com

Is Food Causing Your Headaches?

The first study looking for a link between migraines and food intolerance showed that 80% of chronic migraine suffers reported significant improvement in their symptoms upon eliminating foods to which a foodSCAN test found them intolerant.

More than 60% who reintroduced the suspect foods into their diets reported the return of their migraine symptoms. It was monitored by the 'Migraine Action Association' and 'Migraine In Primary Care Advisors' and published in the medical journal Headache Care in 2005.

YORKTEST Laboratories in York, UK offer the only scientifically proven food intolerance testing service in Europe, principally the unique 113 foodSCAN test. You simply take a finger prick blood sample and send it to our laboratory when your lgG blood antibody reacts to 113 types of food. It costs € 359 and is available via telephone +44 1904 410 410 or www.yorktest.com. Results within 10 working days, full support materials and a 45-minute telephone consultation with a qualified nutritional therapist are included in the price. Your can start with the food intolerance indicator for € 29 to check if intolerances are present. This test will give a positive or negative result.

If a positive result is achieved you can automatically upgrade the same blood sample to the 113 foodSCAN for € 349. FoodSCAN tests use the Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay or ELISA method. This technique provides a rapid, accurate and reproducible way of determining food intolerance.

Recently Allergy UK commissioned an independent survey to measure the effectiveness of food intolerance using the YORKTEST 113 foodSCAN. The results were published in the Journal of Nutrition and Food Science in January 2007 and reported that over 3 out of 4 sufferers got better with 68% achieving significant results within 3 weeks.

For confidential friendly advice and to purchase a test call +44 1904 410 410 or email info@yorktest.com

www.yorktest.com
YORKTEST, York Science Park, York
YO10 5DQ, UK

Case Study: Miranda Wells

It can't be fun waking up and having to face the day with a painful Migraine, but that's what life was like for Miranda Wells. For 18 years the fitness instructor had almost come to terms with the fact that everyday her life would start with a vibrant throbbing migraine.

"Some days I would find it very hard just to get out of bed" says Miranda, who had been to numerous doctors only to be told it was a 'hereditary condition'. There was a time when I was addicted to Diet Coke and paracetamol, but I realized I couldn't go on taking them over such a long period" - And she was right. Migraine affects approximately 8% of the UK population and in its most severe cases can keep the sufferer in bed for days at a time.

"I was sent to neuro-surgeons and cranial specialists and they really had no idea why I was suffering. It was never suggested it could be something I ate, but when a friend suggested I took a food intolerance test I had nothing to lose". Miranda too a YORKTEST 113 test in August 2006 and was found to be intolerant to gluten, cow's milk, mussels, oysters and scallops.

"Within two or three days the migraines had gone, but so had the lethargy. I felt as if I had all my old energy back which was very important in my job and I would recommend the test to anyone in a similar position to me".

Although she still gets the odd migraine when she whiffs perfume, she is now totally free of the pain that dogged her almost 18 years. She's enjoying a pain free life now and just happy to be working at getting people feeling as healthy as she feels and if they ever complain of migraines? She can help them in that department too.