Food Intolerance, Liver Cleansing and Digestive Disorder Treatment in London - Dirk Budka
 
 
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Food Allergies & Intolerances

Supermarket aisle. Ready meals play a major role in rising incidents of food allergies and intolerances



IN THIS CHAPTER:

Introduction
What is a food allergy?
Why the increase in allergies?
How to test true allergies?
... And testing for IgG antibodies?
More about food intolerances... and strange test methods including 'quack' devices
Pollen-associated food cross allergies
Histamine intolerance


INTRODUCTION


The short version of this chapter: Most food intolerances cannot be tested. You have to test for the trigger of an intolerance instead: absorption tests, intestinal transit time tests, bacterial/microbial tests.

Allergies and intolerances are on the rise. A reaction to food is a very complicated process of one's immune system. Many ailments/diseases are now suspected to have an intolerance or allergy background. One of the most common comments I hear in my clinics: "I tried to eliminate wheat and dairy from my diet"
Wheat and dairy... the culprits for every health problem!
I don't know why and when it started that people believe, our staple diet for the last 1000 or more years is the trigger for symptom/disease x, y or z... but in most cases there is no reason to suspect wheat as the culprit. "But bread makes me bloated". OK... what about the yeast in the bread, the gliadin protein, the gluten, etc? Are there no other foods/ingredients that makes you bloated? And... are there not days, where a food which bloated you yesterday, does NOT bloat you today? If it would be that simple (just avoid wheat and dairy), all your suffering would be gone and many allergists, gastroenterologists, good dieticians and nutritionists would have to look out for new jobs.

Real allergies to one food is very possible and can trigger a dangerous, life-threatening reaction ... Intolerances are most likely the reason for a mal-function within the immune-system, often triggered by microbial dybiosis.
The allergy tests find the antibody against a certain food and you have to avoid this food for the rest of your life. Simple. But they do not find out why your immune system reacts to this food.

Intolerance tests for certain foods cannot work for several reasons:
- there are no antibodies which show you the clear reaction towards a (suspected) food;
- many of these available tests (not on offer in conventional but only in alernative/complementary medicine) are very questionable and some are even designed to exploit the patient.
- Because intolerances can shift/change/multiply, a test towards a certain food cannot offer a long-term help. One has to test for the reason of a (suspected) reaction to foods (and that's the difference to an allergy test). This can only be done by:
Absorption tests
Test of intestinal transit time
Bacterial/microbial tests

(Read more about this on the page "BIOGENIC AMINES AND HISTAMINE INTOLERANCE")


WHAT IS A FOOD ALLERGY?


Even the definition of this word is controversial. Let us start with adverse reactions to food.
There are
1.
predictable reactions like toxins (e.g. histamines), pharmacological (e.g. alcohol, caffeine) biological contamination (e.g. salmonella)
2.
so called abnormal reactions. One is an aversion and the other is the intolerance. (a. metabolic defect like lactase deficiency, b. allergy and c. unknown cause.)
Here is ONE definition for allergies: “An allergy is an inappropriate and harmful response of the body’s defence mechanisms to substances that are normally harmless”. Some medical practitioners use the term IMMUNE SENSITIVITY instead of Allergy.
Some alternative practitioners stayed with the old definition (1906) “…any change in the way the body responds to the environment.”
Different approaches to the meaning of words (Allergy/Intolerances/Hyper-Intolerances/Sensibilities) led also to different approaches to find appropriate testing methods. The sufferer will become more and more confused when reading about IGE-MEDIATED ALLERGY or NON-IGE IMMUNE SENSITIVITY, IGA (IMMUNOGLOBULIN A), IGG or IGG4 (IMMUNOGLOGULIN G).
What we DO know is that the incidence of food allergy is rising alarmingly. Up to 2% of the adult population have a true food allergy, and about 5% of young children.

WHY THE INCREASE IN ALLERGIES?


Five environmental factors:
1. HOUSING – the humidity and temperature of our homes and work/social environments have risen to levels that encourage high numbers of house dust mites (faecal droppings which contain allergens. Also: the increase in the use of soft furniture, the growing pet population AND the fact that people spend more and more time indoors.
2. DIET – half a century ago most food was fresh. Nowadays much of it is processed and contains additives (and fewer natural minerals, vitamins and antioxidants).
3. FAMILY SIZE – children from smaller families seem to be more likely to develop an allergy. This is thought to be because they are exposed to fewer viral infections (frequent infections in early life promote a switch to the non-allergic state).
4. ANTIBIOTICS – the increasing use of antibiotics in early life (and their inclusion in foodstuffs via animal feed) may alter the balance of the friendly germs found on the skin and in the bowel.
5. MICROBES - the ability of bacteria and other microbes to adapt very quickly to new "environments".

HOW TO TEST TRUE ALLERGIES?


A so called true allergy is an immediate reaction (IgE mediated) which involves antibodies that cause tissue mast cells to release histamines. The result: Inflammation and swelling of the tissue.
Provoking foods (Antibody reaction/IgE-mediated)
Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Shellfish, Fish, Eggs, Soy, Wheat, Cow’s Milk, Fruit, Vegetables.
The IgE blood test looks at the total amount of antibodies. The most commonly used is the RAST-test (radio-allergosorbent test). For the SPT (skin prick test) a small drop of liquid containing an allergen is placed on the arm. With a small prick in the skin, a miniscule amount of the allergen to get into the skin. The test is positive if a red bump develops soon afterwards.
Both tests are not 100% accurate.
(There are some good news for the allergy sufferer: The EU labelling laws will change again. Labels must carry warnings for: Products containing gluten, sesame seeds, shellfish, fish, peanuts, mustard, milk, eggs, cellery, and soy. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland there are already warnings for histamines on food labels).

In non-IgE immune reactions to food such as celiac disease and eosinophilic gastroenteritis the endoscopy and biopsy has a very useful role. One purpose of a gut biopsy is to look for characteristic types of damage to the lining of the gut.
H2 breathing tests (done in our lab at the Hale Clinic) are not only useful for absorption or tests for glucose, lactose, sorbitol etc., but also for gluten/celiac disease.

...AND TESTING FOR IgG ANTIBODIES?


Some practitioners offer tests for these antibodies which are formed to any food molecules that get into the bloodstream after a meal. Finding IgG antibodies to food molecules is not indicative of ANY disease at all. A study of IgG testing for IBS confirms this view and some new studies in Germany even suggest that IgGs have a preventative function in fighting allergies! Anyway… the IgG test shows what you eat most… and that is no news for you. Most allergologist and microbiologist dismiss this test method.