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Are you reacting to the foods you eat?You might not think about food intolerance testing in relationship to detoxification, however, it can play a fundamental role in reducing inflammation and improving gut function, both of which support healthy detoxification.
IgG food intolerance testing is available through functional pathology laboratories and can help to solve the riddle of which foods we react to. This is particularly important if you have been shown to have leaky gut.
It is estimated that approximately 45% of the population suffer from food intolerances. Symptoms can be vague and may not appear immediately which makes it difficult to identify the foods you are reacting to. Sufferers often complain of seeming to be in a ‘fog’, feeling bloated and being tired all the time. Although not life threatening, food intolerance should never be underestimated, as its impact on sufferers can be significant, sometimes affecting their ability to live normal healthy lives.
Food intolerance generally develops as a result of poor gut function or ‘Leaky Gut’. We have a very delicate and complex ecosystem inside our digestive tract which consists of trillions of bacterial cells, which are collectively known as the gut microbiome. Poor diet, medications, alcohol and stress can cause significant imbalance in the microbiome which leads to low-grade inflammation, which damages the delicate membranes of your digestive tract. When these membranes are damaged you start to absorb particles of food into the blood stream that are not completely broken down. The immune system identifies these particles as foreign invaders and launches an attack to neutralise the threat. After repeated exposure to these foods the immune system becomes programmed to react. Unfortunately a vicious cycle can be established as the immune system activation perpetuates low-grade inflammation in the gut which continues the ‘Leaky Gut’ process.
Unlike the immediate reactive symptoms of food allergy, food intolerance symptoms often appear hours or even days later. In fact, many food intolerance sufferers have commented after removing their problem foods, that they realise they had been experiencing symptoms as a result of intolerance for their entire lives.
The symptoms of food intolerance are quite varied and can be particularly complex if you are reacting to several foods at the same time, which is not uncommon. If you have any of the following symptoms you could be suffering from food intolerance.
A common confusion generally exists whenever the words food allergy or food intolerance enter a sentence. A classical food allergy (such as peanut or shellfish allergy) is usually characterised by an immediate and often severe reaction of the immune system to exposure to a specific food. The symptoms of food allergy include sneezing, rashes, skin irritation, swelling, runny nose, fatigue, diarrhoea and vomiting. Normally symptoms occur within a few minutes of eating or coming in to contact with the offending food, although they can be delayed by up to two hours. The symptoms of food intolerance on the other hand are much slower, sometimes taking days to develop. This makes it nearly impossible to identify reactive foods simply by keeping a diet dairy. Testing for food intolerances is by far the most accurate choice.
We write you a pathology request form which you take to your local collection centre, where they will draw a blood sample to send to the lab. It helps if you have been consuming a broad range of foods (including any you think you may be reacting to) for a couple of days prior to the test.
Generally it takes three weeks to get results
If you are interested in having a food intolerance test done, speak to us in clinic. Avoiding reactive foods helps to speed gut healing which in turn improves your detoxification processes.
