What is Food Intolerance?

There is always talk of food intolerance when the body cannot tolerate a certain substance that is ingested through food. In Germany, it is currently assumed that around 23% of people suffer from intolerance, allergy or intolerance. So these are by far not uncommon and can affect anyone. The words allergy, intolerance and intolerance are often viewed as synonyms, which is actually not entirely correct. Strictly speaking, one speaks of an intolerance whenever the body reacts to actually harmless food with defense. Symptoms here do not occur immediately after eating, but rather over a longer period of time and range from nausea, stomach pain and cramps to flatulence. In contrast, if the body reacts immediately during or after eating, this speaks for a tangible allergy. In this case, very small amounts of the respective allergen can be sufficient to cause strong physical reactions. In contrast, intolerance stems from the lack of enzymes that are required for the digestion of the respective food. Here, too, symptoms usually only appear significantly after the food has been consumed.

What self-tests are there to test food intolerance?

Anyone looking for providers of medical self-tests online is spoiled for choice because the range is wide. Below we present four of the most popular online food intolerance testing providers.

Allergic reactions to food components

Allergic reactions are not just the symptoms that appear immediately after eating a food. Even days later, unexpected consequences can still occur. We differentiate between two types of allergic reactions:

• Early reactions – IgE mediated

The early reactions are mediated by the immune system and occur a few minutes to a few hours after the trigger has been consumed. If the immune system recognizes an allergen, two of its cell types release the antibody immunoglobulin E, or IgE for short. Such an early reaction is proven in two steps, starting with the so-called EPX test. Within this intolerance test, a stool sample is examined for the protein EPX, which is also released by the immune cells in the event of an early allergic reaction. If high EPX values are found here, the IgE concentration is usually also determined.

• Late reactions – IgG mediated

Late allergic reactions are mediated by the antibody immunoglobulin G, or IgG for short, and only appear several hours to a few days later. To determine late reactions, a certain type of IgG is detected in the blood. However, it is controversial among physicians whether IgG tests make sense at all, since they often provide little meaningful and inaccurate values.

Why do a home self-test for food intolerances?

Many people are rather suspicious of self-tests that are ordered online. You are wondering whether intolerance testing can be reliable in this way and what advantages it has over the classic doctor’s visit. The samples, which are taken as part of a self-test, are examined by tested laboratories that comply with EU standards. Of course, always provided that you order from a European manufacturer. Nevertheless, experience shows that the results of the blood tests can also differ significantly from medically determined values.

You can test yourself at home for the following food intolerances:

Discover more on Beste-Hilfe.net

Has this article aroused your interest in finding out more about allergies, intolerance and self-tests, or wanting to test food intolerance? Then you should definitely visit the homepage of Beste-Hilfe.net! Here you will find non-binding information about various forms of tests and many other content and articles related to this topic. The following link takes you directly to the start page of Beste-Hilfe.