Screening for food allergies and food intolerances. Main types of tests for food intolerance
Not everyone knows that the cause of diseases such as obesity, psoriasis, acne, migraines, chronic fatigue, asthma, and attention problems can be hidden food allergies. To identify it, you need to do a prime test in Moscow. It also helps to identify a set of foods that your body cannot tolerate.
What is Prime test?
At the Unimed-S medical center on Yugo-Zapadnaya you can do a prime test, which is a test for delayed-type food allergies (hidden food intolerance). The test, developed in California, USA, reveals hidden allergies caused by inappropriate diet.
How does the prime test work?
To pass the prime test (South-Western Administrative District), you just need to sign up for diagnostics at our clinic and donate blood. In special laboratory conditions of the Unimed-S medical center, this material is studied by tracking the reaction of lymphocytes to a particular food marker. Total use up to 150 markers with extracts of various products. If white blood cells are destroyed within an hour, the product is considered to cause a delayed allergic reaction. Based on the results of the analysis, all products are assigned a score on a scale from 0 to 4x. The number shows the sensitivity of the reaction - from neutral to dangerous. The value “0” indicates that the product can be consumed; value “1” - the product is excluded from consumption for 1 month (damage and sticking of platelets); value “2” - the product is excluded from consumption for 2 months (destruction of less than 25% of leukocytes); value “3” - the product is excluded from consumption for 3-4 months (destruction of more than 50% of leukocytes); value “4” - the product is excluded from use for at least six months and is introduced only after a repeat test (destruction of more than 90% of leukocytes).
Who needs the result of this test and why?
A food test is prescribed to many patients suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, causeless weakness, problems of the immune and endocrine systems and other diseases. A diagnostic prime test for a child will help to correct his diet for the rest of his life and teach him to eat only foods that are healthy for the body. Many people decide to sign up for a prime test just for prevention. The test has no side effects, so it is recommended for everyone. It is important to mention that an increasing number of clinical studies are revealing links between many disorders in the body and the consumption of certain foods.
The opportunity to do a prime test will be especially useful for those who want to lose excess weight, strengthen the immune system, get rid of chronic diseases, regulate metabolism, and normalize intestinal microflora. And also for pregnant and breastfeeding women, women preparing to become mothers, children suffering not only from allergies, but also other chronic pathologies.
It is worth noting that this diagnostic procedure is completely safe and no more traumatic than an ordinary clinical blood test. For this reason, such an examination can be performed at absolutely any age, in any state of health, as well as for pregnant and lactating mothers.
The danger of a hidden allergy is that, unlike forms that appear immediately, it can only be detected using laboratory tests. Do not wait for obvious rash, redness or other symptoms. The disease will progress slowly and unnoticed, undermining your immune system, and only after a long period of time will it manifest itself as serious complications. Therefore, you should not delay signing up for the prime test in Moscow. This study will not take much time, but may be important in improving your health.
Having identified foods that your body does not accept, even in adulthood, you should stop eating them. This will significantly improve your well-being. Thus, it is never too late to take a test for the interaction of food agents with the body.
We recommend doing a prime test in the area of Leninsky Prospekt at the Unimed-S medical center. We guarantee the accuracy of its results due to the fact that only professional specialists will conduct food allergy tests using the latest equipment and reagents.
“Oh, I won’t have fish, I’m allergic to it.” “We can’t have chocolate, we’re allergic to it.” “We had to give the cats away, my wife/child/me is allergic to them.” Familiar situations, isn't it? It seems that there are only allergy sufferers around who can’t do anything at all.
Meanwhile, true allergy - in the classical sense and with classical manifestations - is much less common than its so-called psychosomatic version, when the trigger for the development of allergic symptoms is not the immune system, but the nervous system.
In 2004, Dr. Szeinbach et al studied 246 patients who were regularly taking antihistamines (mostly prescribed by doctors) because of a persistently runny nose and believed they had allergic rhinitis. It turned out that only 35 percent actually had an allergy, and the remaining 65 percent had a different cause for their runny nose.
The situation is even worse with food allergies. In January 2010, the results of a study by Dr. Carina Venter and her colleagues from the University of Portsmouth were published. Every fifth person surveyed reported having a food allergy, but according to laboratory tests, it was found in only a tenth of “allergy sufferers.”
What did the rest have? Food intolerance. This is a whole complex of various symptoms caused by eating foods to which the body does not respond adequately and naturally.
There may be several reasons for this pathology:
insufficiency of digestive enzymes and various gastrointestinal diseases;
toxic properties of either the product itself, additives, dyes, preservatives;
consumption of foods that cause the release of histamine (natural histamine liberators: egg whites, crayfish, crabs, strawberries, tomatoes, chocolate, fish, ham, pineapples, peanuts, cocoa, etc.);
consumption of foods containing a lot of histamine and similar active substances: red wine, salami, ketchup, eggplant, bananas, sauerkraut, hard cheeses, yeast, beer;
taking medications that can inhibit enzymes that break down histamine and other inflammatory molecules: acetylcysteine, ambroxol, aminophylline, amitriptyline, chloroquine, clavulanic acid, dihydralazine, isoniazid, metamizole, metoclopramide, pancuronium, propafenone, verapamil
psychogenic food intolerance.
Any analysis for your money
In any case, food intolerance is not caused by any of the four types of hypersensitivity immune reactions. Despite this, some medical offices present food intolerance as the true cause of allergic manifestations, and diagnose it using immunoglobulin G tests, tests with neutrophils, red blood cells, lymphocytes/leukocytes and other scientific baits.
To imagine the scale of the disaster, just enter “test for food intolerance” into any search engine. The first pages of results will be densely packed with advertisements for clinics and laboratories offering such tests.
If you fall for these ads, you may get caught up in “treating” something you don’t actually have. Spend a lot of money on diagnostics, medications, special “purified” foods, specific desensitization and other expensive things. And this will not make it any easier, because the true cause, which lies outside the competence of allergology, will never be eliminated.
However, if a person really has a psychosomatic, and not a true allergy, he can be “cured” by anything - from homeopathy to chakra cleansing. After all, suggestion, and even supported by trans-subjective psychotherapy, will cope with psychosomatics in the vast majority of cases. And this adds more and more grist to the mill of alternativeists and assorted medical businessmen.
Legends and myths food intolerance
Let's look at the most common statements found in such advertising.
1. “It is necessary to distinguish between food allergy (FA) and food intolerance (FO)”
Is it true. They really need to be differentiated.
2. "** PA is caused by reactions with * *immunoglobulin E, and PN – reactions with** immunoglobulin G (** IgG4) "
Lie. A significant portion of PA is caused by type III reactions and is mediated by IgG.
3. “PA is caused by reactions with IgE or IgG, and food intolerance is caused by reactions with IgG, but others (with activated lymphocytes or neutrophils, etc.), and thus only an IgG test will help identify all this pathology at once.”
Lie. The causes of PN are not the mechanisms that cause the synthesis of any type of specific immunoglobulin, and this cause is not specifically activated lymphocytes, neutrophils, or anything else invented by charlatans.
4. “PN occurs very often (up to 75% of the population), but does not cause obvious or typical symptoms, so it can poison life secretly until these tests help.”
Lie. Both PA and PN are uncommon; the incidence of PA is 4-8% in children and 1-2% in adults. The incidence of PN is 5-20% if PN is assessed objectively and confirmed by the clinic and diet, and is not detected using tests for food intolerance. PA and PN generally do not exist without symptoms; no problems mean no pathology.
5. “Symptoms of PN can be anything at all: snoring, depression, arthritis, mental retardation, headache, not to mention all the symptoms of allergies.”
Is it true only for headache and allergy-like symptoms (due to histamine and other inflammatory mediators). The rest - l oh. The listed symptoms have their own specific causes.
"6. The most common products can cause serious diseases in the case of PN or latent PA: milk can cause autism, shrimp - arthritis, buckwheat and corn - constant infections, as well as angina pectoris, and so on."
Lie. No sane studies have shown a connection between the products and the listed horrors. Typically, the purpose of foods is to be digested and provide energy as well as vitamins. Shrimp with hidden killer tendencies have not yet been found.
"7. Detection IgG or IgG** 4 reflects the presence of an immune response to food antigens (allergens) during PA or PN, and means that pathology has been detected."**
Lie. Neither in PA nor in PN, neither IgG nor IgG4 reflect any immune response. The formation of IgG class immunoglobulins in response to food is a natural process of a healthy body, part of a normal reaction to food. Their detection means that the person has eaten this product.
8. "IgG** / **IgG** 4 for specific foods are increased during PA/PN and decrease when a person recovers thanks to the diet."**
Lie. IgG/IgG4 do not correlate in any way with either the presence or absence of PN or PA.
9. "IgG/IgG4 - a reliable and reproducible test"
Lie. During the production of diagnostic tests, an unknown set of antigens are released, which are often fragments of environmental microbes and are always found in food, both externally and internally. The results are not reproducible between laboratories, nor within the same laboratory, nor between antibodies to the same type of product from different manufacturers
10. "Conducting tests for PA/PN using IgG** / **IgG** 4 is recommended by leading British or American scientists, confirmed by leading “Kremlin” doctors, and also recommended by leading dog breeders."**
Lie. The Allergy and Clinical Immunology Societies of Africa, Australia, Europe and America have made official statements regarding this type of testing, saying that this test does not provide reliable (provable) results and its use is not recommended
11. “Avoiding the foods identified by this test will reduce all the symptoms that could ever bother the patient, including even dry boogers and a hoarse throat.”
Lie. Blind test: If you identify a whole bunch of foods using this method, but hide the results, then use a food diary and diet to eliminate the triggering foods, and then compare the real results with the test results, there will be no significant correlation. It is only in a study design where the patient is told what he is reacting to, eliminates foods, and reports changes that a difference is visible (the classic placebo effect).
12. “Other methods cannot detect PN/PA.”
Lie. Some PAs are detected by IgE tests, some by skin tests. PN is detected by a thorough examination of the gastrointestinal tract and keeping a food diary
13. “The most unexpected foods can cause PN/PA in anyone.”
Lie. In PA, the list of allergenic foods is not particularly diverse; in PN, a fairly typical set of approximately identical foods and additives causes a reaction. Exceptions are rare.
14. “The diet prescribed through these tests helps you lose weight.”
Is it true. Any streamlining of nutrition, any qualitative or quantitative restrictions, especially tasty and high-calorie foods, help to lose weight.
15. "There are analogue tests that are no worse than IgG** / **IgG** 4, and maybe better: with neutrophils, leukocytes or lymphocytes and even erythrocytes."**
Lie. All analogue tests are called charlatan even by the manufacturers and sellers of IgG tests themselves, and all points 1-14 above apply to them.
Rapid changes in the composition and quality of foods and the style of nutrition itself lead to the development of a large number of different digestive disorders in people. They are expressed both in simple dyspepsia and in severe damage to the gastrointestinal tract.
Food allergies are detected in children from a very early age. An allergy is a reaction of the immune system to a product that it considers hostile to the body. Another form of eating disorder is food intolerance.
What is food intolerance?
Food intolerance (FO) is a condition in which the digestive system is unable to properly process certain foods. PN is caused by a deficiency of enzymes in the body, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, some psychological problems, or the products themselves and their components.
The influence of enzymatic disorders on the body's activity is very great. It is because of them that weight gain, skin diseases, and digestive problems are often observed. The most obvious sign of PN is dyspepsia after eating certain foods, which is sometimes mistaken for poisoning.
In most cases, the body's response caused by PN is not observed immediately after eating. It is much more difficult to diagnose than allergies. Often, after consuming food that is harmful to the body, it takes more than one day for symptoms to appear.
The difference between intolerance and allergy
PN can be defined as the body's inability to digest certain types of foods. In case of allergies, any amount of a dangerous product immediately triggers a response from the immune system.
Food allergies are expressed by skin manifestations (so-called diathesis in children), swelling of the mucous membranes, nasal congestion, and later nausea and diarrhea. To accurately identify the disease, a comprehensive one is carried out.
The characteristic features of PN are:
- Slowness of reaction to the consumed product. The main difficulty in understanding the causes and identifying foods to which one is intolerant is that small doses do not cause a reaction. The response may appear a considerable time after ingestion and after repeated use.
- The start of the reaction occurs gradually and increases slowly.
- The list of products can constantly expand.
- To detect intolerance, you need to consume a large dose of the product at once.
- PN often occurs on the simplest types of food that are present in the daily diet.
Doctors believe that intolerance is more dangerous than allergy, since its symptoms are less obvious and delayed, and are more difficult to correct. In particular, intolerance to dairy products causes. This enzyme is responsible for the breakdown of milk sugars.
What both conditions have in common is that the reaction does not occur to spoiled food containing toxins and harmful microorganisms, but to completely fresh food. Another common point is that the conditions are chronic and cannot be cured. It is necessary to exclude substances that provoke conditions from the diet.
Video about food allergies from Dr. Komarovsky:
Signs of pathology
In case of a food allergy, exposure to even a small dose of a dangerous substance instantly mobilizes the immune system to a variety of reactions. They are obvious and can be controlled by taking antihistamines. A blood test for food allergens helps determine the type of food that is hazardous to health.
Signs of food intolerance include:
- nausea;
- flatulence;
- diarrhea alternating with constipation;
- fatigue;
- headaches.
A less obvious symptom is constant weight gain and the inability to stop it. Fatigue and drowsiness after eating specific foods, dark circles under the eyes, suspected allergies and the inability to identify the allergen are observed. If you have such symptoms, you should take an intolerance test.
Enzyme deficiency causes the development of inflammatory bowel syndrome; eczema, migraine, and arthritis may subsequently develop. Undigested food disrupts the composition of urine, leads to kidney disease, impaired urine output, and promotes weight gain. Metabolism is disrupted.
Most often, PN is observed for the following types of products:
- red meat;
- cereals;
- alcohol:
- citrus;
- eggs and chickens;
- chocolate, coffee.
However, in most cases, PN is observed in foods that contain numerous dyes, preservatives, and additives.
Main types
Digestion of food consists of two main processes - its breakdown by enzymes and absorption into the blood. With PN, there is a disorder of one or both processes.
The main types are:
- psychogenic PN – inability to digest food due to the influence of stress on the digestive organs;
- enzymopathy - a lack of certain digestive enzymes necessary for digestion (these are celiac disease, phenylketonuria and other diseases);
- irritable bowel syndrome – the release of toxins into the blood due to a diseased intestine;
- reaction to biological substances in products - salicylic acid esters, caffeine and others;
- intolerance to chemical additives in food.
A person may have different types of PN at the same time. Undigested food poisons the body - the intestines, liver, kidneys, and the bloodstream carries toxins to all cells.
Diagnostic methods
Some analyzes and tests help identify foods and substances that cause PN.
The most commonly used blood tests for food intolerance are:
- Hemotest or hemocode. To determine the patient’s attitude to different types of foods (up to 130 samples), extracts of nutritional substances are injected into the blood taken for analysis. Based on the reaction, cells form lists of healthy and harmful types of meat, vegetables, and grains. These lists serve to determine the diet in the future.
- FED. The reaction to 100 products and chemical additives is tested. As a result, 4 lists are issued in which all types of food are divided according to their usefulness and harmfulness to the body.
- ELISA– enzyme immunoassay. Proposed by English experts. It involves drawing blood (a few drops) and identifying in the laboratory the patient’s response (IgG) to a specific type of product. This method (Yorktest) is considered the most reliable and reproducible (95%). The recommendation is issued depending on the amount of antibodies produced to this substance.
- INVITRO. Blood testing for the presence of allergic reactions, that is, IgG immunoglobulin, as well as other reactions that are not IgG-specific. A series of studies is recommended to identify the exact types of intolerance.
The urgency of the problem leads to the constant emergence of new methods for identifying PN and increasing their reliability.
How and where can I get tested?
Testing for food intolerance requires compliance with certain preparation rules.
These include:
- absence of infectious and other somatic diseases;
- refusal to take medications in consultation with a doctor;
- performed on an empty stomach in the morning, without eating for 10-12 hours, only drinking plain water is allowed;
- before the analysis you need a gentle diet for 3 days;
- are not carried out during menstruation in women;
- Brushing your teeth using toothpastes is prohibited.
To conduct the test, venous blood is collected. The result is given, depending on the methods, in a few hours or days (up to a week). Testing is carried out on a large group of vegetables, fruits, and cereals, which are the most traditional for our country.
Typically, a referral for testing is issued by a nutritionist. Testing can be carried out in specialized laboratories and clinics. How much a food intolerance test costs in a particular institution can be found on its website. The cost increases depending on the number of extracts involved in testing. The price of a blood test for food intolerance varies in the range of 15-25 thousand rubles.
However, most clinics and laboratories warn about the possibility of additional tests to confirm and specify the result.
General rules of behavior after receiving the analysis result
The results of the research are lists that indicate recommended and prohibited cereals, vegetables, types of meat, and dairy products. You can eat healthy ones without fear, try to avoid prohibited ones.
During the cleansing period, the body is freed from accumulated toxins. It is useful to drink clean water, eat fruits and vegetables from the recommended list. This usually takes from 2 to 4 weeks. The doctor decides when the strict period should end. Usually at this time the condition improves, there are no signs of dyspepsia, and metabolism normalizes.
During the recovery phase, prohibited species are introduced one at a time and the reaction is monitored. The absence of disorders makes the product approved for use once every 1-2 weeks.
Video about intolerance and its difference from allergies:
Criticism of the method
It should be noted that the view of food intolerance as the cause of a large number of different conditions and diseases is not shared by all doctors. Moreover, both the idea itself and the methods for diagnosing PN are criticized.
Many sources call the number of people suffering from allergies – 20%, and PN is almost 80%. Many doctors believe that there is overdiagnosis of both conditions. In fact, clinical trials confirm true allergies in only 2-3%. Meanwhile, many are sure that they have allergies and regularly take antihistamines.
Gastroenterologists are alarmed by attempts to explain the digestive problems of PN. This often leads to untimely diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. If you experience reactions to food, you should do an allergy test. Increasing the level of immunoglobulin E will help accurately diagnose the disease.
It's a completely different matter with tests for PN. These methods raise serious doubts among experts.
Very often, food intolerance directly depends not on the characteristics of the body, but on diseases of the stomach, intestines or pancreas. In this case, the cause is confused with the effect. While the patient is looking for where to get tested for PN, the disease progresses.
The main complaints about the hemotest and other methods are the unreliability of the results and their non-reproducibility. In other words, when the test is repeated, the results are different.
However, tests for PN still give a positive result. It consists, according to the test subjects themselves, in the fact that they thought about their diet and reduced the amount of calories they consumed to the recommended minimum.
In addition, the advice based on the results of tests for PN is really correct - do not eat fried, salty, fatty foods, eat fruits and vegetables, watch your caloric intake. These recommendations are useful and improve the condition of the body. No method of organizing nutrition will cause harm if followed with caution and concern for health.
|
|
Developed in California, USA, the Food Intolerance Test is a comprehensive method for identifying foods and chemicals that pose a health risk. The food intolerance test is a blood test that determines the extent to which 150 food extracts and chemicals affect immune system cells. Some substances that seem completely harmless are hostile to our immune system. Unfortunately, these often turn out to be your favorite foods. Such foods cause a cytotoxic reaction that affects some white blood cells. |
Substances released during cell breakdown begin to circulate in the bloodstream, attacking tissues and causing a chain reaction. Such processes are called chronic food allergies, or food intolerances.
WHO DOES THE TEST?
At the German Family Clinic, testing is carried out only by doctors who have undergone special additional training in Europe and have received certificates:- certified laboratory doctor Irina Sergeevna Petrova performs laboratory analysis,
- certified physician consultants Elena Nikolaevna Shestakova and Sofia Yakovlevna Snigireva create a diet taking into account the results of laboratory testing.
How to prepare for testing?!
Blood is drawn in the morning before meals. After dinner, 8-10 hours should pass (you can drink water during this period).
- In the morning before the analysis, do not use toothpaste (brush your teeth only with water and a toothbrush cleaned of toothpaste residues), since certain chemical substances are also being analyzed.
- With the doctor's permission, at least 48 hours. Before drawing blood, do not take medications or use creams containing steroids.
- The day before, try not to smoke or be near people who smoke.
- If you have a cold, flu or other inflammatory diseases, postpone the test until you have recovered.
Reactions:
The test identifies foods that have a negative effect on your body. The threat caused by substances harmful to you is determined by monitoring the reaction of white and red blood cells and platelets to elements of the test substance. The behavior of the cells is observed under a microscope: if no changes have occurred in the cells, then you tolerate the test product well and it does not cause any harm to the body.
The reaction comes in 4 degrees: the first degree is the lowest, while the fourth indicates that the body tolerates the food product especially poorly. Once a reaction has been established, the product causing the adverse reaction should be avoided for a certain period of time. The degree of the reaction determines how long you will have to give up the negatively affecting food product.
1st degree
The food damages platelets. This food product should be avoided for a month.
2nd degree
The food damaged about 25% of white blood cells. This food product should be avoided for about two months.
3rd degree
The food damaged about 50% of white blood cells. This food should be avoided for three or four months.
4th degree
The food damaged more than 90% of white blood cells and some red blood cells. This food product will have to be avoided for about six months.
Symptoms of food intolerance:
 |
You suffer from various diseases, your health deteriorates because attacks from “secret enemies” weaken your immune system. All the body’s energy is aimed at neutralizing the “foreign” product, which leads to a weakening of the immune system, a slowdown in metabolism, and a decrease in resistance to various infections. |
General signs
Fatigue, swelling, bags under the eyes, drowsiness after eating, bad breath, excessive sweating. Nervous system
Migraine, anxiety, depression, irritability, memory loss, inability to concentrate, dizziness, fever.
Respiratory organs
Difficulty breathing, asthma, cough, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis.
Cardiovascular system
Changes in blood pressure, increased heart rate, impaired contraction of the heart muscle, increased blood clotting.
Digestive organs
Intestinal bloating, nausea, abdominal pain and stomach cramps, gastritis, colitis, intestinal disturbances (loose stools, constipation), belching, anal itching, hemorrhoids.
Urinary and reproductive systems
Cystitis, inflammation of the urinary and genital organs, premenstrual syndrome.
Muscles and bones
Muscle cramps, spasms, tremors, muscle weakness, joint pain, arthritis, muscle tendon inflammation.
Skin (epidermis)
Local and widespread rashes, eczema, dermatitis, various other skin lesions, psoriasis.
Aesthetic flaws
Cellulite, overweight, obesity.
After passing the food intolerance test, your doctor will help you adjust by choosing alternative foods and prescribe a rotation diet to get you back to your normal diet as quickly as possible. Consultations are conducted by doctors of our clinic Sofia Yakovlevna Snigireva and Elena Nikolaevna Shestakova
List of tested foods
Mushrooms: mushrooms, yeast (combination), fungi.
Cereals: barley, wheat, rye, oats, rice, millet, corn, sugar cane.
Vegetables and fruits:
Palms: coconuts.
Bromeliads: pineapples.
Liliaceae: asparagus, onion, garlic.
Banana: bananas.
Black pepper, nuts, chestnuts, buckwheat.
Quinoaceae: sugar beet, beetroot, spinach.
Cruciferous vegetables: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower.
Sloes: strawberries, apples, pears, plums, almonds, peaches, apricots, cherries.
Legumes: carob beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, soybeans, green peas, dark beans, small beans, white beans, broad beans.
Rutaceae: lemons, oranges, tangerines, grapefruits.
Grape: grapes.
Sterculiaceae: cocoa (chocolate).
Umbelliferous: carrots, celery, parsley, dill.
Olives: olives (olive oil).
Nightshades: potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, tobacco, sweet peppers, capsicums.
Lamiaceae: rosemary, oregano, basil, celery.
Coffee, kiwi, honey, tea, figs
Pumpkin: zucchini, zucchini, melon, watermelon.
Compositae: lettuce, artichoke, sunflower seeds.
Crustaceans: crayfish, lobsters, crabs.
Fish and seafood: salmon, trout, cod, flounder, tuna, swordfish, oysters, crabs, squid, lobster, sea bass, shrimp, pike perch, herring, pike, eel, mackerel, halibut, ocean perch, sardines, mullet, catfish, carp, sturgeon.
Poultry and products: chicken, chicken eggs, turkey, duck, goose.
Mammalian meat and products: pork, veal, cow's milk, cow's cheese, lamb, rabbit, goat's milk.
Chemicals: formaldehyde, aspirin, sweetener, monosodium glutamate, food coloring, petroleum derivatives.
A negative response from the body to the consumption of any food or drink, associated with problems with their digestion.
Most patients are not sufficiently informed about food intolerance, which is even b O greater danger than allergies. Intolerance to milk and dairy products is often observed; cereals (wheat, rye, barley); peas, mushrooms, strawberries, etc. According to the latest data, many people have intolerance to some foods, but they are not aware of its existence, because the reaction appears only after a few days.
If your general condition worsens after consuming a product, this is not direct evidence of an allergic reaction or poisoning. Perhaps the reason is food intolerance.
Often patients mistakenly attribute food intolerance to food intolerance, but these are different conditions. Allergies are manifested by characteristic symptoms (rash, swelling, reactions from the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system), manifestations of food intolerance are more varied (pustules on the skin, fullness, weakness, even urolithiasis, a feeling of fatigue are possible). In some cases, food intolerance is asymptomatic. The only sign is feeling unwell. Therefore, identifying food intolerance can be quite difficult.
Diagnostics (test for food intolerance)
To diagnose food allergies, the IMMUNOENZYM DETECTION METHOD is used - a blood test for antigens of foods that enter into an immune reaction. As a result, lists of permitted and prohibited products are compiled for the patient. After the final diagnosis, permitted foods should become the basis of the diet. Products from the prohibited list, on the recommendation of a doctor, must be excluded for a period of 6 weeks to 6 months (the duration depends on the strength of the reaction, which is shown by the level of immunoglobulin G). After some period of time, intolerance to certain foods may go away - this is the main difference between intolerance and allergy.
If, as a result of excluding products from the “black list,” there is an improvement in well-being, condition of nails, hair, skin, weight loss, and normalization of intestinal function, the test was performed correctly. A control food intolerance test is performed six months later to identify foods that will forever remain on the prohibited list.
The test allows you to check from 20 to 300 products, the quantity is determined based on the patient’s daily diet.
Testing for food intolerance requires preliminary preparation. It is forbidden to eat for 5 hours before the procedure, do not drink alcohol and certain medications during the day, for example, antihistamines, hormonal and antibacterial drugs. To clarify personal recommendations, you must first consult with a specialist.
Why EMC?
- All EMC dermatologists-allergists have significant experience in diagnosing and correcting food intolerance in both adults and children.
- All diagnostic capabilities are collected in one building. Diagnosis is carried out quickly, at any time convenient for the patient. The results are prepared as soon as possible.
- The capabilities of the multidisciplinary medical center allow us to treat any concomitant pathologies together with therapists, gastroentorologists, endocrinologists, cosmetologists and other specialists.
Complications of food intolerance
When a patient constantly eats foods that the body cannot digest, inflammatory processes begin to develop. Over time, they become chronic, and arthritis, migraines, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue, depression, acne, constipation and other diseases appear. The load on the kidneys increases, which causes disturbances in the removal of fluid from the body. As a result, the patient begins to gain weight. The number of foods that are not absorbed by the body increases over time; the body can poorly digest even those foods with which there were no problems before. As a result, the patient becomes ill after almost every meal. Therefore, weight loss without compromising your health can be achieved by eliminating “intolerable” foods.
Symptoms of food intolerance
Symptoms of food intolerance can be very diverse in their manifestations, but none of them can be considered specific to this particular pathology. Symptoms may also not be obvious and manifest themselves in the form of disruptions in the digestive system. Regardless of the situation, only a doctor can correctly diagnose the condition.
Some of the manifestations of food intolerance
Intestinal problems(bloating, constipation, diarrhea). Digestive disorders are direct evidence that the body does not tolerate any foods.
Heartburn. Irritation of the esophageal mucosa occurs due to the body’s inability to properly absorb problematic foods.
Uncontrollable appetite. The expression “everything is good in moderation” does not apply to foods that cause food intolerance. For most people, one sip of milk is enough to trigger the production of antibodies that create a characteristic immune response. The body produces more of them than needed, which causes uncontrolled appetite.
Headaches. Headaches may occur due to the body's inability to digest foods containing gluten, lactose, or sugar.
Fatigue. Fatigue is caused by inflammatory processes that are associated with the consumption of problematic foods.
Joint pain. Joint pain can be associated with intolerance to dairy products, soy and gluten, and are a consequence of inflammatory processes occurring in the body.
Acne, rashes and other skin problems. Rash, eczema, itching, red spots or dark circles under the eyes can also be an immune response to problematic foods.
Other possible symptoms: skin itching, swelling of the mucous membranes, decreased blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, discomfort in the mouth.
Some interesting medical facts:
Every 4th person cannot tolerate milk.
Every 250th person cannot eat rye, wheat, barley and products that contain them.
Often people cannot tolerate nuts and mushrooms, as well as soy and corn.
