Is Food Your Friend? If your digestion is great and you don't suffer unpleasant symptoms which could be caused by unidentified trigger foods, read no further. This article is not for you.

If you suffer from uncomfortable digestive symptoms, low mood, fatigue or dermatological issues which you suspect may be due to food intolerance, read on. This article is for you!

Your symptoms may not be life threatening, but they are certainly detrimental to quality of life and can be distressing, uncomfortable and debilitating.

Food sensitivities do not produce immunological responses in the body, as food allergies do. As such they are not potentially life threatening. Instead they produce an antibody response: a reaction to a food without an immunologically based trigger.

The chronic problems caused by food sensitivities are avoidable if trigger foods are identified by a suitable pathology blood test. The world leading Fox Food Sensitivity Test tests for 286 food antigens from 13 different food groups, including types of milk, nuts, spices, beverages and novel foods such as wakame. This is the Gold Standard in food sensitivity testing, used by leading dieticians and healthcare consultants around the world.

How does the test work?  Your blood sample will be tested for antibodies (a marker of possible food sensitivity) to a range of triggers (foods) that a health professional may consider you need to temporarily or permanently avoid eating. Your consultant/healthcare professional can comment on the results that are important for you and will tell you how these food sensitivities can be avoided and managed. Before starting a diet based on FOX results, it is mandatory to evaluate the results with a physician or a dietician (to avoid deficiencies).

How do I proceed? After placing your order you will receive a blood collection kit plus detailed instructions to read and follow. Follow the instructions carefully and return your sample direct to the lab using the prepaid envelope. You will receive your detailed test report by email from Allergy Best Buys within two weeks of posting your sample to the lab.

What will my results tell me? Your results will show you what your triggers are and whether your reaction to each one is low, intermediate or highly elevated. It also suggests how trigger foods can be substituted. This provides excellent information to assist your healthcare professional in advising you on safely avoiding your triggers while avoiding deficiencies, and so helps you to a healthier future.

While many patients have test results which indicate several problem foods, this is not always the case, as the following case study illustrates. 

Case Study: Patient Alison experienced extremely uncomfortable digestive symptoms, accompanied by irritability and headaches. The symptoms would come on after eating a range of different foods and she had been unable to identify the cause, but suspected a potential food intolerance. 

Unusually, Alison's test report showed up only two trigger foods, with a highly elevated response to both. They were egg yolk and egg white. As well as obvious egg-containing foods, Alison was advised of a long list of egg-containing ingredients, for instance lecithin and globulin, which were likely to be affecting her. These ingredients affected a long list of foods, stated in the report, such as marshmallows, breaded and battered foods, salad dressings and meatballs.

Alison was surprised at the wide range of foods implicated by her egg intolerance, and decided to discuss with her dietician the suggestions for egg substitutions included within her test report.

If you would like to consider blood analysis to reveal your potential food sensitivities take a look at the Fox, World Leading Food Sensitivity Test.

If you would like to identify your allergy triggers (as distinct from food sensitivities), take a look at the Alex 2 World Leading Allergy Test.