The world of food and its impact on the human body is not an easy one to navigate. There are allergies and there are intolerances. There are things that affect you straight away and there are things that take a while. There are drastic responses in the body and there are mild symptoms that can be easily overlooked. There are natural substances that can upset you and there are artificial ones that can too. There are bacteria that can make you poorly and there are irritants that can make you uncomfortable. So how, you ask, can you tell the IgE’s from the non-IgE’s? The toxins from the irritants? The allergies from the intolerances?

Getting to the Bottom of Food Allergies and Intolerances

As everybody and every body is unique, it may seem hard to find out exactly the root cause of allergies and intolerances. They vary from person to person, with their causes as broad as their symptoms. This may seem a little dismaying at first, but there are ways that you can get to the bottom of your foodie problems and find out what makes your body tick and what makes your body sick without having to jump through one hundred hurdles first.

With food allergies and intolerances on the rise across the world, almost half of everyone in the UK has a food sensitivity of some sort. This can be triggered by both natural and artificial ingredients. So, what may seem innocent could well be the cause of discomfort. Now more than ever, it’s really important to understand what we are putting into our bodies and how we should be nourishing ourselves both as a nutritional rule of thumb and as individuals. Here’s how.

The Importance of Scientific Blood Tests in Diagnosing Food Intolerances and Allergies

There are lots of misleading tests available today claiming to be able to diagnose food allergies (immune system responses) and intolerances (digestive system responses). Often costly, these pseudo-scientific tests lack credible evidence and can lead to all sorts of additional problems and disappointment later down the line.

A process based on science, blood tests measure the way your body reacts to different substances and ingredients and use this information to diagnose specific sensitivities. Suitable for all generations of suffers, they can help you to pinpoint exactly what is going on in your body, be it either for food intolerances or allergies.

Food Intolerance Blood Tests

In the case of food intolerances, our blood tests analyse 200 key ingredients found in foods, including lactose and gluten. They work by looking at IgG antibodies in your blood, which are proteins that help to protect the body. What this means is that, if you have recently eaten a food that you are intolerant to, our blood tests can help to identify this and advise which ingredients you should consider removing from your diet. As part of our food intolerance blood tests, all four subtypes of food-specific IgG are measured and analysed by our expert team of accredited laboratory technicians.

Food Allergy Blood Tests

Essentially, there are two types of allergy responses in the body: responses that happen immediately and responses that happen after a delay, anywhere from 2 hours to 2 days later. Although their symptoms vary, these are both allergies. The former is identified as IgE and the latter is identified as non-IgE, and they basically involve different parts of the immune system. If you have an IgE-mediated allergy, blood tests can help you to pinpoint exactly which ingredients are causing a reaction in your body. Providing clear results for reactions to 23 foods, as well as 19 environmental allergens, our allergy blood tests test all the most common offenders and are perfect if you are having painful or uncomfortable reactions, but aren’t sure why.

Blood Tests and Food Elimination Diets

When it comes to some types of non-IgE-mediated food allergies, that is to say allergies that involve other parts of the immune system, a combination of blood testing and medically supervised food elimination dieting is recommended. As symptoms are much more delayed, it can be harder to diagnose these types of allergies. By combining blood tests and tailored diets, you can begin a controlled process of elimination and monitor your body’s reactions to identify food triggers which may need to be avoided in the future. This will help you to diagnose the root cause of your allergy and get back on track to recovery.   If you’d like to find out more, get in touch today.