Allergy & Intolerance Testing
"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food."
More than 24 centuries ago, it was Hippocrates who first identified that 'We are what we eat'.
Little did he know that this philosophy would never ring more true than in today's society, where our diets and lifestyles have become inextricably interwoven with the state of our health.
And as medical experts start, like Hippocrates, to take a more holistic view of illness and its causes, more and more attention is being turned toward the adverse effect of our modern diet.
What is the problem
The food we eat has changed a great deal since Hippocrates' time. There are more exotic foods in our diet, new additives and new and advanced methods of containing and preserving foods.
But how does the food we eat affect our bodies Why are some diseases on the increase and affecting both our children and ourselves We all know our bodies are our most precious assets, yet how much do we know about what we are eating and how it affects us as individuals
A large number of us have a hidden sensitivity or intolerance, or even an allergy to different foods. This can cause many potential problems. The most common symptoms (which may often take a long time to build up) include:
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How Can We Help
YORK TEST Laboratories has been in existence since 1982. In that time we have supplied various analysis services to a wide variety of medical and complementary practitioners, schools, hospitals, as well as people from all walks of life. Across Europe more than 40,000 patients have been helped in that time. Over 96% have been found to have some degree of allergic reaction.
We have devised a number of tests which allow us to identify food allergies and intolerances, and we can recommend dietary adjustments to suit the results. Within this website you will find everything you need to know about our services, identifying and coping with allergies and intolerances. Also included are the results of our recent patient survey.
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What Are Food Allergies and Food Intolerances
Adverse reactions to foods have been recognized for thousands of years; "What is food to one man may be fierce poison to another". (Lucretius, circa 75 BC)
The term 'allergy' is derived from two Greek words which mean "altered reactivity". That is, an allergy is an adverse reaction to a normally harmless substance which may be a food or other environmental agent such as dusts, pollens or chemicals.
The difference between Allergy and Intolerance
Severe reactions: Classical Food Allergies
These affect just 1.5% of the population, They can be serious and may even be life threatening. Symptoms often take the form of swelling of lips or throat, sudden and violent skin rashes, vomiting or sudden asthmatic breathing or anaphylaxis. If such allergies are suspected, you must consult your Gp. For details of classical allergy testing please click here
Less severe reactions: often called Food Intolerances
These are much more common and affect around 45% of people and are implicated with chronic illness. There are a number of possible causes of food intolerance including enzyme deficiency, reactions to chemicals in foods, and the most difficult to resolve - delayed food allergies mediated by the IgG antibody.
Traditionally, elimination and challenge has been the first approach to identifying delayed food allergies, however this method is costly, time consuming and extremely difficult to manage, often ending in failure and frustration.
- Delayed food allergies often lead to chronic illness, and these reactions can occur from two hours to many days after ingestion of the offending foods, therefore making them difficult to identify.
- Common chronic illnesses and conditions such as asthma, eczema, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis and general continuous poor health have been associated as symptoms of food intolerance.
- Continuous consumption of the food to which you have an intolerance weakens your immune system. A weak immune system enables illnesses to develop and take hold. Many patients commonly report that they suffer from more than one illness at the time of taking the test.
- Unlike classical allergies, usually more than one food is involved. We find that on average, sufferers react to four or five different and apparently innocuous foods.
- Because of the delay between eating the food and the onset of symptoms, it is extremely difficult to identify the cause of the reaction without laboratory testing.
We ship out to the UK, EU and all over the world. In the UK, we dont charge postage on all Solgar products and Lifemel Honey, and reduced shipping on all orders over £35. We have a special offer of 'Buy 5, get 1 free' (excludes Solgar products and Lifemel Honey) and some of our special offers are even better than this with 'Buy 3 get 1 free', 'Buy 2, get 1 free' and even 'BOGOF' (Buy 1, get 1 free) on selected products. View our special offers page for full details.
