Do you have a food allergy or intolerance?

Edward Grocott has written this great book called Food Allergy and Intolerance. In one of the chapters he examines the subject of food allergies and intolerance. He explains that you need to ask yourself 12 simple questions. The publisher has kindly let me reprint it here in full for you.

DO YOU HAVE AN ALLERGY OR INTOLERANCE? By Edward Grocott
If you have encountered health problems with food, you need to deal with it. This may sound obvious but often people try to get by without understanding their problem and its effects. This is wrong. If you suffer repeated health side-effects from perfectly edible food you have a serious medical problem and one that requires action. Your life could depend on it. The first step to controlling and living with your problem is to know exactly what it is you are dealing with.

Health problems linked to food are split into two groups; food intolerance and food allergies. Simply put, food intolerance is pretty much what it sounds like. A sufferer is intolerant of a certain food, and has problems digesting it for a number of reasons. This could result in simple but very inconvenient side-effects such as severe diarrhoea or bloating. But it could also lead to far more serious health problems or mass complications. Either way, it is imperative for your help you understand what is happening to your body.

Quite different from food intolerance, food allergies are an immune response to certain foods - an immune response that can, in extreme circumstances, be faithful to a process called anaphylactic shock. Alerted people suffer from an abnormal, oversensitive immune system that can react with lethal consequences if exposed to certain foods.

This book may help you to understand if you have an allergy and ways to cope with it. However, it cannot be stressed highly enough that if you have health problems linked to food, you should contact your doctor - especially if you suspect you may be allergic.

The first question you must ask is do you (or someone you know) suffer food intolerance or a food allergy?
A QUESTIONNAIRE TO SEE IF YOU ARE FOOD INTOLERANT OR SUFFER FROM AN ALLERGY.
This is not a hard and fast rule, but the following questionnaire can help you confirm if you have an intolerance or allergy. Always backup diagnosis with a visit to the doctor. Answer YES or NO to the following questions.

Have you, for as long as you can remember, suffered minor health problems -- headaches, skin rashes, constant colds, viruses, pains, boating, problem sleeping or stomach upsets?

Have you always suffered problems, however mild, with your skin?

Have you tried to lose weight and never succeeded and if you have lost weight have you put it on again?

Do you get recurring problems like joint and muscle pains, restless legs, fatigue headaches, tics, rashes, depression, anxiety, and tinnitus?

Do you suffer recurrent bouts of unexpected and uncharacteristic exhaustion?

Do you still feel tired after a full night's sleep?

Do you never feel quite yourself?

Does your life seem to alternate between alertness and lethargy?

How changes to your diet affected your health?

Do you frequently have stomach problems -- wind, indigestion, constipation and/or diarrhoea?

Have you had bouts of anxiety, nervousness or depression for no apparent reason?

Have seemingly minor but persistent health problems gone undiagnosed?

The more questions you have answered YES to, the greater the chance that you are suffering as a result of food intolerance or allergy.

If, on the other hand, you have answered NO to them all then it is unlikely that food is your problem.

ALLERGY OR INTOLERANCE?
It is important to understand which you are dealing with as both have different implications and treatments. In the majority of cases the test to establish which you have is very simple. Firstly, food intolerance, in the main, revolves around two core, and highly common complaints - problems with milk and problems with wheat. For example, if you have ever drunk a glass of milk and suffered diarrhoea or bloating very shortly afterwards you are displaying the classic symptoms of lactose, or milk, intolerance.

Or if you have ever eaten pasta and suffered similar symptoms, you are likewise displaying the textbook example of gluten intolerance or coeliac disease as the intolerance is otherwise known.
If, however, you have health problems after eating anything from apples to coconuts to fish and nuts, It could be that you have a food allergy.

In eating one of the above foods leads to either a shortness of breath, choking, vomiting or hives you should consult a doctor as soon as possible because it is almost certain you have a serious and, in extreme cases, potentially lethal allergy.

That might sound overly dramatic, but it cannot be stressed enough: if you have seen any of your symptoms described above, you need to understand and control the condition. At this stage, though, you should congratulate yourself; you have passed the first hurdle to overcoming your food health problem. By answering a simple question "do you suffer symptoms with milk and wheat or quite different symptoms with different foods?" you have, in the majority of cases, established whether you have food intolerance or an allergy.