ALLERGY: FOOD AND DRINK
The topic of food sensitivity – of allergy or intolerance to food and drink – is probably the most difficult area of this book. Not only is the subject the most controversial and the one which arouses most hostility from sceptics, but it is also the most demanding area to manage if you are trying to discover what upsets you. Futhermore, food sensitivity is one of the most difficult types of allergy or sensitivity to live with. Avoiding certain foods can affect your family life profoundly, particularly if children are involved. It impinges on your social life and your worklife, and engages you frequently on complicated endeavours of organisation and planning.
Working out a diet that suits you can often be a quite straightforward process if you go about it in an orderly fashion. The vast majority of people find that they can solve their problems by avoiding just one or a tiny number of foods – even if it takes them some time to work out which ones.
However, a small handful of people have much more severe problems, discovering that they are sensitive to a wide range of foods. Often such people do not suspect wide-ranging sensitivity before embarking, and only discover it in the process of eliminating and testing foods.
It is best to do any exclusion dieting under medical supervision, because the process of identifying food allergy and intolerance can occasionally be complicated, because some (rare) individuals can become quite ill in the process of sorting out their diet, and because specialist advice on nutritional balance is often necessary. This is especially important if you are working out a diet for a baby or child.
Some doctors, however, are unsympathetic or even hostile to the idea of reactions to food. Many GPs will not consider giving you any help in the process, let alone refer you to someone else who can help. If you meet this reaction from your doctor, remember that it is worth persisting in asking for a referral to a specialist. Your doctor may eventually agree, if only because he or she believes it will exclude food allergy or intolerance as a possible cause of your symptoms. You have also the right to change your doctor without giving a reason and, if you meet with real hostility, it may be necessary to do this. For how to find doctors who specialise in the field.
If, despite all your efforts, you cannot get satisfactory help from a doctor, you may decide to carry through a limited exclusion diet by yourself. If you do so, go gently. You should only exclude foods selectively, rather than go for a comprehensive exclusion diet (see below for full advice), and take your time, rather than to try to identify problem foods quickly. Never go on a fast or a one- or two-food-diet without supervision.
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