Food intolerance test
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: NSW, Australia
Posts: 191
Food intolerance test
After suffering from IBS for almost all my life I have decided to go ahead with a food intolerance test. Every time I keep postponing it.
Any recommendations? I hope a reference from a GP is not required? I am in Vic.
Thanks.
Any recommendations? I hope a reference from a GP is not required? I am in Vic.
Thanks.
#2
Aussie Finn Mixture!
Joined: May 2005
Location: Leschenault WA (after few locations around WA and Around Europe!)
Posts: 1,151
Re: Food intolerance test
Don't know about the tests but as a life long IBS sufferer found that 3out of 6 of grandparents and parents were diagnosed as celiac by mid fifties so 5 years ago (in my early 30s) decided to try gluten free diet. After decades of hospital trips suspected anything from appendix to ectopic pregnancy due to severity of pain, I can happily say I have had NO symptoms, mild or severe, for five years!
#3
Re: Food intolerance test
I had one done by Allergy Services, 02 49825842 (no affiliation whatsoever and coincidentally I just found the report when tidying yesterday!) My chiropractor recommended it and gave me a referral and at first I poo-pooed the idea thinking it was a whole load of nonsense (and reviews from the medical profession suggested as much but reviews from people who had done it suggested it was a life saver for them). Then I thought it was only going to cost a couple of hundred, what did I have to lose except my money. I got back some surprising results and went cold turkey on all the indicated items for about 3 months before gradually reintroducing them occasionally. I fall into the "life saver" category I'm afraid! Initially the weight just fell off and I lost the first 25kg very easily. Also, my sleep apnoea disappeared overnight (literally) and I didn't have to live on Zantac to be avoid stomach cramps. Usual suspects for me - wheat and dairy but a dozen other things like cocoa, avocado, beef, potatoes etc
I had had a coeliac blood test done earlier but no one told me that you should be gluten challenged when doing the blood test and I wasn't.
From being a total sceptic I am now a grateful believer!
I had had a coeliac blood test done earlier but no one told me that you should be gluten challenged when doing the blood test and I wasn't.
From being a total sceptic I am now a grateful believer!
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 214
Re: Food intolerance test
There are a lot of quacks out there who will happily take many hundreds of your dollars and use scientifically unsound tests and then recommend that people avoid lots of foods for totally illogical reasons. There are some tests for food allergies, where tiny quantities are introduced into the skin (skin prick tests) or blood tests. Food intolerances are a different kettle of fish - gluten as in Coeliac Disease is picked up by biopsy of the small intestine during an endoscopy - but mainly it's by eliminating suspect foods and keeping a diary of symptoms, then gradually re-introducing foods and seeing what happens in the body. It can be a long and complicated business, best to see an expert in the area, eg a dietitian who specialises in food allergies and intolerances. You don't need a referral to see them, but you would need to see a doctor to ask about endoscopies, ie gastroscopy and colonoscopy, to exclude other causes of your symptoms. There is a specialist food intolerances handbook available to the public from RPAH http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/all.../handbook.html.
Have you looked at some information on IBS? Try http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/b...bowel_syndrome and http://www.med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/fodmap/ and http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-...ow-fodmap-diet.
quoll - what type of tests are done by the company you used? I can't find a website for them.
Have you looked at some information on IBS? Try http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/b...bowel_syndrome and http://www.med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/fodmap/ and http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-...ow-fodmap-diet.
quoll - what type of tests are done by the company you used? I can't find a website for them.
#5
Re: Food intolerance test
There are a lot of quacks out there who will happily take many hundreds of your dollars and use scientifically unsound tests and then recommend that people avoid lots of foods for totally illogical reasons. There are some tests for food allergies, where tiny quantities are introduced into the skin (skin prick tests) or blood tests. Food intolerances are a different kettle of fish - gluten as in Coeliac Disease is picked up by biopsy of the small intestine during an endoscopy - but mainly it's by eliminating suspect foods and keeping a diary of symptoms, then gradually re-introducing foods and seeing what happens in the body. It can be a long and complicated business, best to see an expert in the area, eg a dietitian who specialises in food allergies and intolerances. You don't need a referral to see them, but you would need to see a doctor to ask about endoscopies, ie gastroscopy and colonoscopy, to exclude other causes of your symptoms. There is a specialist food intolerances handbook available to the public from RPAH http://www.sswahs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/all.../handbook.html.
Have you looked at some information on IBS? Try http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/b...bowel_syndrome and http://www.med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/fodmap/ and http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-...ow-fodmap-diet.
quoll - what type of tests are done by the company you used? I can't find a website for them.
Have you looked at some information on IBS? Try http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/b...bowel_syndrome and http://www.med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/fodmap/ and http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-...ow-fodmap-diet.
quoll - what type of tests are done by the company you used? I can't find a website for them.
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 214
Re: Food intolerance test
No idea - IgG perhaps? It was a blood test just like the gluten intolerance test I had had done before. Who knows if it is quackery? I guess the proof of the pudding was that for me it worked and it was obvious to those close to me as well. I know it may well not work for everyone and certainly an elimination diet may be cheaper (I had a friend who lived on pears for weeks on his diet and ended up with pears and brown rice for the longest time poor chap!).
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/...ay/#more-18957
Perhaps a fair and accurate conclusion would be IgG testing = scam.
The IgE tests are for food and other allergies, a different thing, as it involves the immune system. As far as I know, there is no blood test for gluten intolerance, or any other food intolerance. There is a blood test to detect if you have the gene for Coeliac Disease, but that does not mean that you have CD, which can only be confirmed by having small intestine biopsies done during an endoscopy, after being challenged by eating gluten-containing foods beforehand.
The different types of food intolerances can be due to naturally occurring chemicals in some foods, or to substances added in by the manufacturing process, eg preservatives. Some people even react to medications or toiletries. Finding out about food intolerances is a bit of a detective job and needs expertise if you can't/haven't got time to work it out yourself.
quoll, it's great that you found relief from your approach. I met someone who spent about $700 on these "diagnostic" tests and ended up on a very restrictive diet long-term, ie she was told to totally eliminate a whole load of foods from her diet forever, with no scientific basis, and putting her health at risk by missing out on various nutrients, with big effect on her social life as well.
#7
Re: Food intolerance test
Yup, before I paid the dosh I read reviews where the medical profession said it was bunkum and the people who had done the tests said it had saved their lives. I took the view that, if nothing else, it would be interesting! The outcome, I am guessing, for most would be a recommendation to follow a paleo lifestyle. On balance I think I'd rather have a blood test than a biopsy in the first instance. As I said I can't recall what kind of Ig test it was it's just that one of the Igs sprang to mind.
#8
Re: Food intolerance test
You can go to GP who can get blood tests for you for coeliac disease (reaction to gluten)
http://www.coeliac.org.au/diagnosis/
http://www.coeliac.org.au/diagnosis/