Food intolerance refers to the inability of the body to accept certain foods. Ingestion of certain foods results in allergic reactions which generally do not appear when the allergic food is not consumed. However, it is very difficult to identify that the allergic reactions is due to food intolerance at the initial attack. The process of screening to identify an intolerant food can be eased with careful observation. The following is a step-by-step guide to ease your process of identifying food intolerance without having to visit a physician.

• There are a certain group of foods to which most of them develop allergic reactions. They include peanuts, eggs, fish, dairy products, wheat, oils and a lot more.

• Stay away from all of the foods that are hit listed in the allergic food list.

• If you do not develop any of the allergic symptoms within a period of one month of quitting all the foods, then the food to which you are allergic is within the list.

• Now start introducing one food at a time.

• Once you have introduced a particular food, wait for about three days to check if any allergic reactions develop. If you have positive results, then the introduced food is the culprit. However, even after identifying one food, it is recommended to proceed with the entire list. It is just because of the possibility of having multiple food allergies.

• If you do not find any reaction with the above list try including a combination of foods. Sometimes, it is possible that you have combination allergies.

• If you are not allergic to any of the foods or a combination of the foods in the allergic food list, then you have to take more strict approach.

• Allergic reactions generally develop within a period of two to three days of having the allergic food. Hence, to ease the identification of the allergen, maintain a food diary by listing all the foods you have. If you develop an allergic reaction, go through your food diary and make a note of all the foods you have in the past three to four days and avoid them. Your symptoms start to improve definitely. Now the task is to pinpoint the allergen.

• As above, start introducing the foods slowly and if you again find any allergic reaction, then that particular food is the allergen and avoid it to prevent future bursts of food intolerance reactions.

Precaution to be taken

• One essential precaution to be taken while introducing the foods is to allow the body to recover completely in case of any allergic reaction develops before introducing a new food.

• It is essential to avoid all the foods that have even minor traces of the allergic food.

• Make sure to check the food labels before you purchase any ready to eat food.

As can be seen from the above discussion the self testing procedure for identifying food intolerance is highly accurate when compared to the traditional allergy tests. Another advantage is it does not cost you even a penny. If you can afford and wish to have more accurate results, you can use Ig G antibody identification kits. If you are allergic to a particular food your body releases these antibodies and they can be identified by blood test.

Jonathan Pitts

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