Food intolerances put to the test

With no medically accepted diagnosis and tests that often give contradictory results, how can the condition be tackled?

FOOD INTOLERANCES are sometimes seen as imagined conditions that vulnerable people self-test for and end up with results that leave them more confused than when they started. And the fact that there is a vast range of food intolerance tests which often give contradictory results doesn’t help.

“It’s a growing controversy in my opinion,” says Elsa Jones, nutritional therapist. “The problem is that there is no medically accepted diagnosis for food intolerances, which means doctors can’t diagnose food intolerances and they get dismissed.”

Yet many people suffer for years from bloating, stomach cramps and diarrhoea or constipation without finding a solution.

Jones says that through her work as a nutritional therapist, she meets lots of clients who have digestive problems – stomach bloating and cramps, diarrhoea and/or constipation – and are diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome without being given a treatment plan.

And when it comes to choosing what food intolerance test to use, Jones says, “It’s a tricky one. I’ve heard the success stories and I’ve also heard the views of the sceptics.”

And so Jones decided to include food intolerances in the current television series, How Healthy Are You?For the programme, she recruited two young women who suffer from digestive problems and put them through different food intolerance tests to see what conclusions they could draw.

Sarah Meegan (30) is a primary school teacher who has suffered from digestive problems for years. Right through her 20s, she had bloating, stomach cramps and diarrhoea after meals. Jones put her through an elimination diet, which is the standard nutritional therapy approach to food intolerances.

“Basically, we eliminated the most common allergenic foods and put her on a digestive-friendly diet,” explains Jones. “Then we re-introduced the foods one by one to identify what foods triggered her symptoms.”

As it turned out, Meegan had a reaction to oranges, dairy products and foods with gluten. “I discovered that although I’m not coeliac, I am sensitive to gluten so now I don’t eat bread or bagels,” she says.

“I’ve cut out milk, cheese and reduced the amount of red meat I eat. I also found that brazil and cashew nuts gave me diarrhoea, which was difficult as they were part of the substitute diet I was put on.”

So, what can she eat now? “I live on rice cakes, sweet potatoes and brown rice. Also, I can have all the fish, potatoes, vegetables, salads, chicken and duck. I realise now that I used to eat sandwiches constantly.”

Overall, Meegan feels healthier. “I’m no longer tired in the afternoons. I have more energy. I’ve lost weight and I’ve normal bowel movements,” she explains.

Jackie O’Dowd (33) works in event management and, like Meegan, she has suffered from digestive problems – cramps, wind after eating and constipation – for a number of years.

She had a range of medical tests – including gastroscopy and colonoscopy – and finally had both her appendix and gall bladder removed last year. But she continued to suffer from digestive problems.

For the programme, O’Dowd opted to take three popular food intolerance tests – the York test, the Vega test and kinesiology.

For the York test, O’Dowd sent a finger prick blood sample to the York test laboratories in England and received results which showed if she had a reaction to a wide range of different foods.

For the Vega test, O’Dowd’s reaction to preparations of common allergenic foods was measured by electromagnetic impulses sent to a Vega machine.

The kinesiology test is somewhat similar in that it measured her muscle weakness/strength when certain foods were placed next to her. A high level of muscle weakness is interpreted as a high intolerance to a certain food.

“The York test found that I was intolerant to egg white, shellfish and yeast. The Vega test found I was allergic to cow’s milk, coffee and chocolate, while the kinesiology showed I was allergic to wheat, cow’s milk, coffee and chocolate,” says O’Dowd.

“I was more convinced by the York test because it involved a blood test. I would be more sceptical of the other ones,” she says.

O’Dowd says she now thinks that everybody is intolerant to some foods. “I think you can become intolerant to certain foods and then you can clear them out of your system and then not be intolerant to them at a later stage. It’s trial and error.”

Following the tests, O’Dowd has switched from cow’s milk to soya or rice milk. She also selects breads that are wheat free.

“Overall, I don’t have as much bloating or cramps but it’s tricky. It’s about being alert to the normal things I eat and seeing what makes a difference.”

Jones says the results of the three tests O’Dowd took were a little confusing, although there was some overlap in the foods the different tests showed she was intolerant to.

Jones says “the jury is still out” on food intolerance tests, but she does recommend that people with digestive problems try the elimination diet under the supervision of a qualified nutritional therapist.

“If the person is prepared to do the hard graft of cutting out many of the foods they are regularly consuming and introducing them back into their diet one by one to see what triggers their symptoms, it will give them a clearer picture.

“Nutritional therapists would also look at issues such as low stomach acid, lack of digestive enzymes, imbalanced gut flora and stress.”

How Healthy Are You?

on TV3 tomorrow at 7.30pm includes interviews with Jackie O’Dowd and Sarah Meegan about how they tackled their food intolerances