Has anyone had a food sensativity test at Holland and Barrett before?

Question

Hi, I am wondering if anyone out there has had one of these food sensativity test before at Holland and Barrett or somewhere similar and whether they found it useful or not? Also could you tell me more about what they actually involve! Thanks x

Answer 1

I had one. There are a whole load of little test tube things and they place a sort of wire onto your skin that is connected to each of the tubes in turn. The tubes contain stuff that people can be sensitive to, like yeast or egg, or tomato, all kinds of things. You give off or don't give off a reaction to each one, and they can then tell you you reacted to whatever substance it was. My test suggested I was mildly intolerant to dairy. As a result I cut out dairy (had goat's or soya milk products instead). At the time I was trying to lose weight and was doing exercise as well, but I think that maybe dropping the dairy was a part of my weight loss.

Answer 2

I have an allergy specialist that i go to to monitor my allergies. They put a small clip on your finger and one on your toe, which are attached to a machine with holes to put the test tubes into. Each is filled with a minute particle of something the person may be allergic to. You are tested for everything, so they are very good to go to if you know you have some sort of allergy. The dial moves from 1 to 10, the more the hand on the dial moves, the more allergic you are to something. A wave is sent through the body to figure it out, but it doesnt hurt at all. My allergy specialist is private, and is about £80 for a consultation then about £200ish for the tests. It's worth it though. I live in North London, not sure where you are from, but let me know if you'd like the number.

Answer 3

My husband, my son and myself all had one done at a Chinese herbal shop called Dr China - think its a chain of shops. We got the results this morning. Had them done as my husband has psoriasis, my son has eczema and I have a low immune system. Not really had a proper chance to read it all yet as it is quite in depth, but is shows if you are deficient or have high levels of anything in your body and then advises you which foods to eat freely, which to eat moderately and which to avoid altogether. The test just involved cutting a lock of hair which was then sent away for analysis - very simple and painless, we had to use my husbands chest hair though as he has a shaved head!! All this only cost £30.00 so have a look at the Chinese herbal shops as well as Holland and Barrett as I think theirs is at least double this price.

Answer 4

I actually had one of these ages ago, and I seem to think it involved lots of miniscule test tubes being filled with something (would it be blood or saliva?) and then this woman did an analysis and told me various things I might be allergic to. To be quite honest it was expensive (about £30 or £40) and I can't say it did me a lot of good nothing was conclusive, if you get my drift. Ask your GP, he/she may be able to recommend an alternative through the NHS.

Answer 5

Im not sure they are that helpful, there is a lot of difference between an allergy and a sensitivity. You would probably end up eating hardly anything if you cut out everthing they told you you were sensitive to!