My Food Intolerance Test Results
I never needed him to tell me that eating McDonald’s every week was bad for me, even if I didn’t want to hear it, I expected it. But I definitely didn’t expect him to say that my body was intolerant to four of my favourite foods; milk, cheese, hazelnuts and sugar cane. My first thought was “oh my God!! I can’t have Nutella! Or pizza! Or macaroni cheese! It’s almost Easter…! HELP! I CAN’T EAT AGAIN!”
I was calmed by Kyle, food tolerance expert and nutritionist from FIT Scotland who performed the test, who explained that it was simply an intolerance I had to these foods as opposed to an allergy, which is really important to note, as an allergy is very serious and can leave the person who is allergic in a condition where they need to be hospitalised because of the reaction they take. It triggers the immune system and affects multiple organs in the body. An intolerance is how your body reacts to certain substances, so although it’s not necessarily good for your body and can cause symptoms that are uncomfortable, you may be able to eat small amounts of the offending food without trouble.
Let me choose six symptoms; Bloating, headaches, tiredness, water retention, skin problems and anxiety.
I bet you’ve experienced at least one of them, and I bet it’s pretty regular. It’s possible that a food or substance that you are consuming can be making you ill, and by getting a food intolerance test you can stop these nasty symptoms recurring. Over 100 substances such as wheat, dairy products, fruits, alcohol and vitamins are tested. Kyle is really experienced and has a lot of knowledge in health, wellbeing, nutrition and sports.
What happens during the test?
My Food Intolerance consultation started with an analysis of my diet just now and what kinds of food I would eat in a typical day. As hard as it is, try not to lie and say that you’re such a millennial you eat avocado and kale like it’s going out of fashion, if you eat bread three times a day, admit to it! It can really help your results. I explained that I am very busy and a lot of the time it’s a grab-and-go lunch or dinner, a takeaway or something easy like a salad, sandwich or wrap, but I usually crave carbs and need them to keep me going. I also go out for dinner a lot and explained what I would eat such as bruschetta and pasta. I knew that I was eating too much wheat and as that is particularly hard for the body to break down I was told to monitor it and although I’m not intolerance to it, I should definitely limit my intake. It’s important to be honest and tell Kyle what you eat in a typical day because then he can asses causes of symptoms more accurately and see if there is a pattern when the test is performed.
Does it hurt?
The test is pain free! No needles, no fuss – thankfully, as I am terrified of needles! Kyle uses an electro dermal screening machine (sounds fancy right?) but its basically just a metal pen that is attached to a machine that makes a really loud screech as Kyle pushes the pen into an acupuncture point on your middle finger, and I’m not gonna lie, it kind of sounds like your finger is screaming. It changes in tone and pitch if there is a resistance and he will double check and then explain what the substance is you are intolerant to. Firstly, food samples are tested and then Kyle moves on to test vitamin and mineral samples.
Through the test Kyle was also able to tell that my iron levels were low and I had been told the week before through a blood test (boak, I’m awful at them) that I had a folate deficiency, and Kyle explained how the two (iron and folate) work together in the body and so he could see why there was an iron deficiency too. It was great to get some answers!
So what now?
After finding out what I am intolerant to I now have to eliminate these foods completely from my diet for 30 days to give my body a chance to repair, and then, because I am not allergic, I can re-introduce them again gradually (e.g. have cow’s milk in my tea in the morning but not again throughout the day). It’s small changes to see what causes the main symptoms. It’s going to be a huge change and certainly a challenge eliminating dairy and sugar from my diet completely, considering I feel like that makes up the majority of my diet, but I am interested to see results.
Although in saying that, I’m going to enjoy Easter and my birthday first (obv lol!) and in the meantime I’ll be mindful of how much of these things I am consuming before starting my 30 days at the beginning of May. I will definitely keep you up to date with how I’ve been getting on and will track my process, noting the changes I have made along the way.
It’s definitely worth getting the test done, have a look on www.fitscotland.com for more details on symptoms and how a Food Intolerance Test can benefit you.
Amber Zoe x
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