Your Score
EXPLAINING THE SECTION SCORES
You scores in each of the three different sections do not wholly alter the process of identifying food intolerance, nor which Plan you should follow. However, they do help you to distinguish between the different effects food intolerances are having in your body, as well as potentially highlighting other causes of your symptoms. This also simplifies completing the questionnaire next time, since you may only have to repeat the one relevant section rather than the entire questionnaire.
Section One is clearly mostly related to digestive issues, whereas Sections Two and Three refer to things going on elsewhere in the body. If your total score is 36 or more, and your score for Sections Two and Three (added together) is twice that of Section One, then you could have a leaky gut but without the associated digestive symptoms. In this instance it would be worthwhile testing your intestinal permeability (see urine test). However, please note that it is not worth taking this test if other markers within the digestive system are going to be measured and treated first.
If your score in Section One is half or less that of the combined totals of Sections Two and Three, then take the Intestinal Permeability test.
A Question of Severity
The questionnaires do not take severity into account, so if you have a severe symptom or set of symptoms, then even if you have not scored highly in the questionnaire please ask your doctor to investigate the matter.
Similarly, even if you have only some of the above symptoms (particularly those that score 2 points in The Food Intolerance Questionnaire) but their effect is severe, this is also worth further investigation. It may certainly be worthwhile analysing your diet to see how many of the Usual Suspects you eat on a regular basis, or eat a lot of. You may also want to think about taking a pulse test, and also one of the other food intolerance lab tests described in detail later in this book.
On-line Questionnaires
If you’d like a print-out of any of the questionnaires in this book, please visit www.thefoodintolerancebible.com.
How Does Food Intolerance Cause My Symptoms?
This is a major source of confusion and controversy. It is still not completely understood how food intolerance causes symptoms, though that’s not to say that the methods of identification are inaccurate. It’s just that the range of different reactions to foods makes it impossible to use a single method of testing to categorize food intolerance neatly into one box.
IMMUNE REACTIVITY
Your food intolerance reactions are mostly mediated by your immune system, as a result of the delicate interactions between food, your digestive tract, white blood cells and food-specific antibodies called immunoglobulins, as mentioned in the Introduction. There are five types of immunoglobulin: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG and IgM. The molecules of food to which the body makes antibodies are referred to as antigens. Given that you eat three to four times a day, effectively exposing your body to foreign substances in the process, the food you eat easily represents the single biggest antigenic challenge confronting the human immune system – so perhaps it should not be surprising that your body would make antibodies to foods as often as to any other ‘foreign’ matter it encounters.
HYPERSENSITIVITY
Hypersensitivity reactions have been categorized in various ways, although even this does not always help us when it comes to determining the most appropriate tests that should be done. Nor does this change that fact that you need to avoid the culprit food(s) and address other aspects of your health as necessary. Categorizing reactions is of much more use to scientists and practitioners involved in the field. However, showing you the different categories will help you to understand why symptoms such as yours may have been misunderstood or misdiagnosed in the past. It will also help you to understand why some tests can be wholly inappropriate for you and your symptoms.
These are the classifications for hypersensitivity reactions:
Type I – Immediate IgE reactions
Type II – Cytotoxic antibody-mediated reactions
Type III – Delayed-onset, mainly IgG-mediated reactions
Type IV – Cell-mediated and T Cell-mediated reactions which may also involve IgG reactions
Now let’s take a look at each one in more detail.
Type I – Immediate IgE reactions
These reactions occur within two hours. Food molecules (antigens) bind to IgE antibodies that have already been made in the body, and trigger the release of molecules such as histamine and leukotrienes. It is these substances that cause symptoms – and in this case they are the classic allergy symptoms, such as swollen lips or tongue. Since this represents a potentially life-threatening situation, and is not the type of allergy that is the focus of this book, you need to see your doctor about this.
IgE Food Allergy Checklist
1. Gasping for air (throat swells up); coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing
2. Swelling of the lips, face or eyes; flushing
3. Severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or severe abdominal cramps/pain
4. Weakness or inability to stand/walk
5. Collapse or near-collapse
6. Sudden drop in blood pressure
7. Loss of consciousness
The
