Allergies and Intolerances

First of all, what is the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance?

With a food allergy, the immune system is involved and the response is usually immediate and dramatic. Typical symptoms include: coughing, sneezing, vomiting, migraines, watering eyes, rashes, swelling tissue, hives. In severe cases, there can be anaphylactic shock which requires emergency intervention. With symptoms involving the digestive system, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, the response can be delayed for hours or even days.

 

A food intolerance tends to have a slow onset (hours, days or even weeks). It happens when a person is unable to break down and digest a particular food, often because of a lack of appropriate enzymes. The food therefore passes through the digestive tract unprocessed, or lingers in the gut fermenting and producing excess ‘gas’. Sometimes protein fragments can rupture the lining of the intestines, allowing foreign particles into the bloodstream. Although food intolerances may involve the immune system, they are aren't life threatening, although over time can prevent the absorption of nutrients, causing serious illness and tissue damage.

How can kinesiology help?

Using muscle-testing, we can find out whether a particular food is stressful for a person by placing the item on their body and pressing on a muscle. If the person is stressed by the food, the muscle will unlock (go weak) whereas if there is no stress involved, the muscle will remain locked (strong). We can also test to see if it is an allergy or an intolerance and see how it might be affecting the person emotionally as well as physically. (In some cases, a particular food can switch a person into sabotaging themselves - in other words, when they eat it, they tend to make unhealthy choices in life. A good example would be chocolate.)

Once we have found which foods are stressful for a person, it is often possible to clear the stress using kinesiology techniques. This means that, rather than having to avoid a particular food for the rest of his/her life, the person is able to eat it (in moderation) without a negative reaction. Often, taking digestive enzymes will enable a person to digest a food which they would normally be unable to tolerate, so we can use kinesiology to test whether digestive enzymes will help and what sort are needed.

To find out which foods a person has a problem with, I generally use a food-testing kit, but it is also possible to to test for allergies and intolerances with the actual food(s). Ideally, the food should be in the form in which it would be eaten - for instance, a potato would need to be cooked - so as to get the most reliable results. It can also be useful to test foods in combination with others, such as milk with cereal or butter with bread, as that is how they would normally be eaten. I am also able to test for other things that might be a problem, such as pollen, cat hair, dust mites and even rubber gloves.

If you would like to find out more or make an appointment to be tested for allergies or intolerances, please contact me on 01594 531017. Only one appointment is needed for the testing, but to clear the allergy or intolerance would require further sessions.


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