Best Bear news release
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Could my infertility be caused by me eating certain foods?
Is my child’s sleeplessness possibly caused by him eating foods he is sensitive to?
Could my childs hyperactivity/ ADHD be caused by him eating certain foods?
If my child ate a food and came up in a rash is he allergic to it?
My child seems to ‘crave’ certain foods and has tantrums if I don’t give them to him, what does this mean?
Will my child grow out of his eczema and asthma or should I do something about it now?
These are questions I get asked almost every day in practice, the debate about foods and their effect on health is huge. It becomes even more controversial when foods that are classed as ‘good for you’ such as milk or yoghurts or bread, pasta or even fruits and vegetables are indicated as the possible cause of your child’s problems.
Unfortunately it is these exact foods that cause many children (and adults) health problems and the route of this cause is food intolerances.
Unlike allergies to food (such as peanuts and shellfish) which are hard to ignore due to their fast and severe reaction, intolerances unfortunately take a back seat where medical diagnosis and treatment are concerned.
Allergies and intolerances however have many things in common. They are both characterised by a reaction by the immune system, just 2 differing branches: one by immunoglobulin E and one by immunoglobulin G (allergy and intolerance respectively), they both cause symptoms which can range from unpleasant to life threatening and they are both easily rectified by elimination of the ‘trigger foods’ from the diet.
Because of the slower reaction time shown by food intolerances (up to 2 days) this makes it harder to detect and pinpoint food intolerances.
My experience as a nurse and nutritional therapist has indicated to me that food intolerance’s are much more common in children than in adults. One possible explanation for this is that babies and small children have naturally occurring holes in their digestive system wall. These holes serve a very important purpose: they let through the large protein molecules present in the mothers breast milk, that help to mature a babies immune system.
Unfortunately these holes can allow food particles to cross from the digestive tract to the blood stream where they are picked up as an ‘invader’, and an immune response triggered. The immunoglobulins’ responsible for attacking the ‘invader’ or food particle are the IgG antibodies.
Symptoms suffered by a child can range from bloating, irritability, restlessness, diarrhoea and stomach upsets to sleep disorders, ADHD, frequent infections, snotty noses, anxiety, hyperactivity, eczema, asthma, depression and glue ear. Adults can suffer from all the above as well as infertility, IBS, arthritis, migraine and many more
Unfortunately because of the lack of tests for medical diagnosis for this immune response within the NHS these extremely common childhood reactions to foods are often missed. Parents are often told that the child will have to live with the symptoms or that ‘they will grow out of it’ or, even worse, prescribed medication to cover the symptoms which often have side effects themselves.
The good news is that there is actually a test available for this privately, it involves a few drops of blood taken from the finger or toe, this is sent off to a medical laboratory and the IgG antibodies to certain foods present within the blood can be tested for. These tests can range from £40 to £200 depending on how many foods you want to test for. This is the only medically sound way of testing for food intolerances.
There is also an indicator test which is free and can determine whether your child’s symptoms are as a result of food intolerances or not before deciding to embark on the full test (which indicates the specific foods).
Please contact me for details of these tests or for a free short telephone consult to determine if this may be a solution for your child’s (or your) problems.
Hannah Love
Yummy Baby Group
Hannah@yummybabygroup.co.uk
www.yummybabygroup.co.uk
07872 030206 |