Garlic gives me headache's

[Doctor.Bob]

Originally posted by Slick
Not that I know of, the NHS don't do them. You'll be able to get them done at other places cheaper but they probably won't be as thorough.

The NHS do allergy skin tests - but there are very few allergy specialists in the UK unfortunately.

[Jimmy Little]

Originally posted by Doctor.Bob
The NHS do allergy skin tests - but there are very few allergy specialists in the UK unfortunately.

are you a real doc?

[Slick]

Originally posted by Doctor.Bob
The NHS do allergy skin tests - but there are very few allergy specialists in the UK unfortunately.

Well when I asked my doctor about it he said they don't do allergy food tests. I'm not sure what a skin test would involve but I doubt it'd be as accurate or reliable as a blood test.

[Doctor.Bob]

Originally posted by Slick
Well when I asked my doctor about it he said they don't do allergy food tests. I'm not sure what a skin test would involve but I doubt it'd be as accurate or reliable as a blood test.

There are no blood tests for food allergy I think (except for gluten sensitivity in coeliac disease).

[Slick]

Originally posted by Doctor.Bob
There are no blood tests for food allergy I think (except for gluten sensitivity in coeliac disease).

Are you sure you're a doctor? The test I did was a blood test and it tested me against 113 different foods and could tell me how allergic I was to each.

[Doctor.Bob]

Originally posted by Bobby Sixkiller
are you a real doc?

Originally posted by Slick
Are you sure you're a doctor? The test I did was a blood test and it tested me against 113 different foods and could tell me how allergic I was to each.

Yep - I'm a real doc.

I'm a Member of the Royal College of Physicians & Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

You wasted your money on that test. You cannot do a blood test for food allergy except the one I mentioned above.

Ask yourself why that test is done by the NHS?


I know you won't accept this but that test is a total waste of money.

[Doctor.Bob]

True food allergy is rare yet around 20 per cent of the population believe they have a food allergy. This is a reaction produced when a normally harmless food reacts with your body - your body has 'remembered' previous exposure and produced a particular antibody known as IgE (NB the York Test looks at IgG - this has nothing to do with allergies). An allergic reaction only ever happens on second and subsequent exposure.

Common triggers include eggs, milk, peanuts and seafood. Reactions typically occur within minutes of eating and include swelling and itching around the mouth and tongue, a more generalised itching, wheezing, diarrhoea and vomiting.

Reactions tend to get more severe with subsequent exposures and in severe cases, one bite of food containing a tiny trace can be fatal. Allergic people have to carry around injectable adrenaline in case of emergency.

Research shows that only 1 per cent of people who think they have a particular allergy will respond to medical tests for allergies. What the other 99 per cent are experiencing is more likely to be a food sensitivity or intolerance - a particularly strong reaction, like an exaggerated normal response, to a substance.

Intolerance is what happens when your digestive system doesn't produce enough of a particular enzyme or chemical needed to break down a particular food and aid digestion. Your body cannot digest the substance and you develop symptoms such as excess wind, bloating, stomach ache, diarrhoea.

My experience is that many people who think they have a food allergy actually have an intolerance. Symptoms are typically non-specific and may occur in response to a range of foods. Often it's hard to definitely link a food with the onset of symptoms as a few hours may have elapsed. And frequently people describe a variation in their ability to tolerate a substance - some days it causes symptoms, sometimes not.

If you suspect a food intolerance it makes sense to exclude it from your diet. But this means total exclusion. So if you exclude milk, cut out all dairy foods. Problems also arise if you exclude several things at the same time, as it's hard to know which substance, if any, has been responsible for the symptoms. I recommend total exclusion for six weeks of one food at a time. Then introduce a small amount of the food. If the symptoms stop completely during the exclusion and are definitely worse on reintroduction, it suggests a food intolerance and I would recommend a dietician or a gastroenterologist's involvement to confirm the diagnosis, and also for nutritional advice if the food intolerance is confirmed. This is because permanently excluding a food may have long term consequences for your health.

[Jimmy Little]

Originally posted by Doctor.Bob
True food allergy is rare yet around 20 per cent of the population believe they have a food allergy. This is a reaction produced when a normally harmless food reacts with your body - your body has 'remembered' previous exposure and produced a particular antibody known as IgE (NB the York Test looks at IgG - this has nothing to do with allergies). An allergic reaction only ever happens on second and subsequent exposure.

Common triggers include eggs, milk, peanuts and seafood. Reactions typically occur within minutes of eating and include swelling and itching around the mouth and tongue, a more generalised itching, wheezing, diarrhoea and vomiting.

Reactions tend to get more severe with subsequent exposures and in severe cases, one bite of food containing a tiny trace can be fatal. Allergic people have to carry around injectable adrenaline in case of emergency.

Research shows that only 1 per cent of people who think they have a particular allergy will respond to medical tests for allergies. What the other 99 per cent are experiencing is more likely to be a food sensitivity or intolerance - a particularly strong reaction, like an exaggerated normal response, to a substance.

Intolerance is what happens when your digestive system doesn't produce enough of a particular enzyme or chemical needed to break down a particular food and aid digestion. Your body cannot digest the substance and you develop symptoms such as excess wind, bloating, stomach ache, diarrhoea.

My experience is that many people who think they have a food allergy actually have an intolerance. Symptoms are typically non-specific and may occur in response to a range of foods. Often it's hard to definitely link a food with the onset of symptoms as a few hours may have elapsed. And frequently people describe a variation in their ability to tolerate a substance - some days it causes symptoms, sometimes not.

If you suspect a food intolerance it makes sense to exclude it from your diet. But this means total exclusion. So if you exclude milk, cut out all dairy foods. Problems also arise if you exclude several things at the same time, as it's hard to know which substance, if any, has been responsible for the symptoms. I recommend total exclusion for six weeks of one food at a time. Then introduce a small amount of the food. If the symptoms stop completely during the exclusion and are definitely worse on reintroduction, it suggests a food intolerance and I would recommend a dietician or a gastroenterologist's involvement to confirm the diagnosis, and also for nutritional advice if the food intolerance is confirmed. This is because permanently excluding a food may have long term consequences for your health.

Thanks Bob!

can i ask you what your views are of the product 'Qcorn' (if you have any) the meat sub for veggies! - i have lost 6 stone on the slimming world diet and i eat this stuff a lot but i swear it makes me feel a little breathless, not that it's a problem unless i have to much, i do like to eat it as on the diet it have a 0 point value so it makes sence to eat it every now and then!

thanks Jim

[Bazzlad]

No allegies. Does that make me the best?

[Doctor.Bob]

Originally posted by Bobby Sixkiller
Thanks Bob!

can i ask you what your views are of the product 'Qcorn' (if you have any) the meat sub for veggies! - i have lost 6 stone on the slimming world diet and i eat this stuff a lot but i swear it makes me feel a little breathless, not that it's a problem unless i have to much, i do like to eat it as on the diet it have a 0 point value so it makes sence to eat it every now and then!

thanks Jim

I'm not an expert tbh - I'm an anaesthetist (I know about allergies because patients can be allergic to the drugs we use & we have to sort out blood tests & investigations for them)>

Sorry I can't help there.

[homerhassall]

Makes you stink like a frogs armpit...Leave it well alone the girls will thank you for it!!

[Slick]

Originally posted by Doctor.Bob
You wasted your money on that test. You cannot do a blood test for food allergy except the one I mentioned above.

Try reading this, it's recomended by many allergy sites etc and it does work. I've seen an improvement and I've got a friend who had bad skin rashes etc and after doing the test and identifying he was allergic to oranges and stopped eating them his skin has completely cleared up, coincidence? I think not.

[Doctor.Bob]

Originally posted by Slick
Try reading this, it's recomended by many allergy sites etc and it does work. I've seen an improvement and I've got a friend who had bad skin rashes etc and after doing the test and identifying he was allergic to oranges and stopped eating them his skin has completely cleared up, coincidence? I think not.

Sorry Slick - All they are describing is how to do an Elisa - Have a look here, it is from a patient information pamphlet published by the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology. The document outlines the differences between a true food allergy and food intolerance.

IgG does not mediate allergic reactions of any sort - so an assay for IgG antibodies to food proteins does not diagnose allergy.

Many people will have IgG Antibodies to food proteins - so many (if not all) of the people undergoing the test will be positive - & presumably feel they have had their money's worth.

Mother nature is a tight old lady - & when she comes up with good bits of protein she doesn't want to waste them. So the amino acid sequences of many parts of our protiens will be the same as those found in plenty of organisms, including vegetables and bacteria.

Infectious diseases produce IgM reactions initially & later on the body produces IgG. The cells that produce the IgG become dormant (but still produce their IgG in very small amounts) - but if that infection comes back they are stimulated & can start fighting the infection straight away. This is one of the ways we become immune to disease.

So consider - if there is similarity between a bacterial protein & a potato protein, then the antibacterial IgG will also be active against the potato protein but won't cause allergy because IgG cross linking doesn't release histamine (the mediator of allergic reactions). The IgG will still be detected in the blood - & hay presto a positive result!!!

I would wager if you sent a sample of blood again you would be 'allergic' to different foods - i.e. the assay will find different IgGs in your blood, a reflection of the fact that we are fighting many, different infections all the time.

(Ig stands for immunoglobulin btw - there are a number of types - IgA, IgG, IgM, IgG)


I would imagine your headaches & vomiting is more to do with the amount you drink or were drinking? (e.g. here ) And, yes, I do think it is coincidence (or the therapeutic/placebo effect of spending £260) that your friend's skin cleared up - allergies do not cause chronic shin disorders.

[Slick]

Originally posted by Doctor.Bob
I would imagine your headaches & vomiting is more to do with the amount you drink or were drinking? (e.g. here )

I'm not stupid and know the difference between a hangover and being ill, I normally only drink fortnightly (if that) but have been more often the past week as all my mates are off to uni next week.

FYI I've been diagnosed with chron's disease and some days it was much worse than others so I started recording which foods had been eaten and before I had done the test I had allready identified that milk made me much worse and I don't believe it's a coincidence that was one of the 2 things the test came back with. You also said food allergy doesn't cause skin disorders? This person is in his 40s and had them all his life, after cutting out oranges they completely cleared up in 6 months. Also you said you can't get migranes from food intolerances, I know from personal experience this isn't true.

[Doctor.Bob]

Originally posted by Slick
Also you said you can't get migranes from food intolerances, I know from personal experience this isn't true.

My first post in this thread:

Originally posted by Doctor.Bob
It isn't uncommon for migraines to be triggered by food.

Oops.


Slick - I glad that you & your friend are feeling better. However my opinion is unchanged - I beleive the test is bogus and does not diagnose food allergy or food intolerance.

We do not know the cause of crohns disease - all of the symptoms you describe herein could be caused by crohns. Perhaps your omission of certain foods from your diet has improved your crohns disease?

Please don't take this as a personal critisiscim of yourself.

I am posting my opinion merely for the benefit of others who may want to undergo the test.

Here's my last word on the matter:

'If you beleive your diet is causing ill health your first port of call should be your GP. If you are not confident of your GP's opinion you should find another GP or ask to be referred to a specialist. '

[Sinizter]

Originally posted by Flanderz
Maybe you are part Vampire ....

That might explain it.

personally, I like garlic and I dont have any problems with using it while cooking.