Digestive Wellness (Food Sensitivity Testing)

There is a difference between a food allergy, intolerance and sensitivity.

A food allergy is caused by an acute reaction of your immune system to a food, drink, or an irritant substance such as animal dander, due to the production of IgE antibodies.

It produces almost immediate and severe inflammatory symptoms, such as rashes, itching, wheezing, diarrhoea, vomiting and swelling of the mouth and airways, which become more intense with each exposure to the allergic food.

Allergy UK estimate that about 6% of the population are affected at present.

A test for suspect substances can be carried out by your doctor using a skin prick test.

A classic example is a peanut allergy.

A food intolerance is a non-immunologic reaction to food. An example of this is lactose intolerance, which is caused by the lack of production of the enzyme, lactase.

A food sensitivity is caused by problems with your digestive system, such as low levels of digestive enzymes, stress, poor nutrition, leaky gut, dysbiosis, and candida overgrowth.

This results the production of IgG antibodies, which trigger chronic symptoms up to 72 hours after ingestion, so it’s difficult to identify the problem food. Symptoms include bloating and flatulence, diarrhoea, constipation, fatigue, joint pain, weight gain, mood swings, rashes and headaches.

As these symptoms (for example, low energy) tend to develop over a long time, they are often regarded as just being part of normal life, especially if they occur often and without a specific reason.

IgG food sensitivities can also contribute to conditions such as IBS, ME, fibromyalgia, autism and ADHD and inflammatory bowel disease.

The good news is that the Food Sensitivity Test will identify the foods that cause the release of these IgG antibodies.

Testing

It is a pinprick test and it only takes 1 hour and tests 59 common foods. As well as establishing which foods you are intolerant to, you will also receive recommendations on how to repair your leaky gut, improve your digestion and replace your intolerant foods with palatable and nutritious alternatives.