Allergy Testing

Food Allergy and Phenolics

You are not allergic to foods; you’re allergic to PHENOLICS

Food is made up of naturally occurring chemicals. These chemicals act as natural flavourings, colourings, and preservatives in food. Depending on the chemicals that nature decided to use, we end up with different foods. These chemicals are called aromatic or phenolic compounds. This is because their structure contains a phenol ring.  Patients whose symptoms due to the phenolic compounds, are not allergic to them, but intolerant or sensitive. They are able to tolerate a limited amount of the phenolic, but if the intake exceeds this then symptoms occur.

The following is a comparison between three different foods and their phenolic compounds, where it can be seen that the orange has more similar compounds to the tomato than to the lemon.

Orange: Acetaldehyde, Acetone, Apiol, Benzoic Acid, Cinnamaldehyde, Eugenol, Hesperetin,
Lemon: Apiol, Benzoic Acid, Cinnamic acid, Coumarin, Eugenol, Hesperetin, Vanillymine,
Tomato: Acetaldehyde, Acetone, Apiol, Benzoic Acid, Cinnamaldehyde, Cinnamic Acid, Coumarin, Therefore a person reacting to oranges may more than likely also be sensitive to tomato rather than lemon.

Examples of sensitivity and related conditions:

Benzoic Acid –   Present in acid fruits and also used as a preservative (E210 –219)
                           Sensitivity is a common precipitating factor in asthma.

Cinnamic Acid – Most commonly found in fruits and in fruit juices
                           Sensitivity associated with eczema, acne, bed-wetting.

Tyramine -         Present in chocolate, cheese, red wine, citrus fruits, yeast                            extracts.
                           One of the most common triggers for migraine headaches

The Clinic offers Aromatic and Phenolic testing as an alternative to standard allergy testing or where allergy tests are negative and sensitivity is still suspected.

When to test for Coeliac Disease:

1. Gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g. diarrhoea, bloating, abdominal pain)
2. Ulcerative Colitis
3. Failure to thrive
4. Type 1 diabetes
5. Family members have Coeliac Disease
6. Iron deficient Anaemia
7. B12 and Folic Acid deficiency
8. Unexplained Liver function test abnormalities
9. Osteoporosis
10. Malabsorption Syndrome

The Clinic offers 2 tests for Coeliac Disease:

The first is for antibodies IgA and IgM.

The second consists of antibodies with the genetic marker HLA DQ2/DQ8

MUSCLE AND JOINT INFLAMMATION

Are The Foods You Eat To Blame?

Inflammation, while the body’s main means of defending itself from the external threats posed by bacteria and viruses, can cause and sustain numerous disease states, which include Coronary Heart Disease, Diabetes (type II) and Arthritic Inflammatory Disease.

Inflammation interferes with the environment of the nutritional fuelling process of the muscle cell.

The muscle cell is ultimately responsible for the conversion of fuel, in the form of glucose or lipids (fats), burned with or without oxygen, into energy.  Free radical activity produced by the inflammatory process reduces available oxygen by damaging the transporter red cells, thus ensuring that the muscle cells are forced to function anaerobically, significantly decreasing the energy available glucose and lipid molecules.

There is considerable evidence in the scientific literature that implicates commonly consumed foods with inflammatory process.  Inflammation occurs as a result of an immune response to materials perceived as “foreign” to the body gaining access to the blood stream.

Research has demonstrated that food particles in the lumen are able to interact with the epithelium and mucosal mast cells, producing trans-epithelial signalling that induce neutrophils (white cells) to cross the epithelium and enter the gut.  The neutrophils break open the tight junction, allowing food particles direct access to the blood stream.  This situation can be exacerbated by stress that leads to the stimulation of adrenal hormone releasing factors (CRF), which, in turn, increases gut permeability – clearly demonstrating a link between the nervous and immune systems.

Continuous consumption of the particular offending foodstuff will create a vicious cycle, ultimately leading to tissue damage with further implications for neutrophil recruitment and sensitisation.

The Wimbledon Clinic now offers an extensive blood test to evaluate the reaction of your white cells (neutrophils) to an extensive range of foodstuffs, and grades the reactions on a scale of 1-4.  By subsequently avoiding the foods that cause reaction over a given period of time, the body environment is allowed to re-establish a normal and disease-free functional state.

Candida and Other Yeast Infection testing.

The Clinic uses several test procedures to evaluate the acid/alkaline state of the patient:

1. Analysis of the Saliva – pH, rH2, r, to give an energy evaluation expressed in microwatts.
2. Decoder Analysis indicating acid/alkaline status of the body tissue.
3. Laboratory test for Candida Antibodies.

Treatment programmes to correct pH imbalance and yeast overgrowth may include:

1. 24 hour special salt  D-Tox  followed by Ozone Therapy
2. Herbal, Homoeopathic, Nutritional, programme.
3. Customised diet programme by Prognos

Meridian balancing by Prognos

Food, and environmental allergies have been implicated in a wide range of medical conditions from mildly uncomfortable symptoms such as indigestion to severe illnesses like celiac disease and arthritis. Using the biological approach, we offer comprehensive allergy profiling of over 140 food and environmental substances. This method does not involve skin pricks nor are there side effects and it is therefore ideal for infants and children, as well as adults.

Allergy testing can help to identify unsuspected allergies and the likely causes of both immediate and delayed allergic reactions. Once allergies have been identified, we then design a tailored treatment programme to help desensitise the patient or to minimise and, where possible, eliminate exposure. For further information please contact us.