Possibly one of the most frustrating things that you can suffer from is food intolerances. Unlike food allergies, which can be recognized by the strong and almost immediate reactions, food intolerances are a hit and miss proposition that can make the sufferer crazy. You can spend months avoiding specific foods and still not figure out the cause of your symptoms. In this case a food intolerance test is the logical way to go to find out what is causing your problems.

The first legend that needs to be dispelled is that people who are intolerant to certain foods are allergic to those food items. Food allergies are not the same as having an intolerance to those foods. The symptoms of food allergies are usually strong and come on quite suddenly, whereas food intolerances usually cause symptoms that are less severe, and can take up to 72 hours to appear. By taking a food intolerance test you will quickly discover which are the offending foods.

When you have a food allergy, you have an allergic reaction to a particular food, and your immune system fights back much the same as it does if you have an allergy to pollen. Food intolerance is different in that the immune system is not involved in the body's reaction.

Your body does not think that it is being invaded by a foreign body. Nevertheless, your organs, usually your stomach and intestine which is where food is digested and eliminated, will react to certain ingredients in the food in question merely because it is intolerant to that particular food.

Food intolerance usually happens when your body no longer produces the necessary chemicals and enzymes that aid the digestion of that food in particular. This is common for many people as they grow up, which is why such a large number of people become lactose intolerant, since the production of the enzyme used for lactose digestion decreases after the age of 2. We generally begin to develop symptoms much later, and these tend to be unpleasant.

When trying to determine foods that your body is intolerant to you have a few different options. One way is to eliminate everything in your diet except the few foods such as; brown rice, lamb and water that most don't have issues with. Eat only these foods for approximately three weeks. Then after the three weeks you can start to reintroduce one new food every few days. If you keep a food diary throughout this process you will be able to document which food you had problems with and which your body processed normally. In 6 to 9 months of continuing this process you will have a pretty good idea what foods affect you negatively.

The other way to discover which foods you are intolerant to is to take an ELISA IgG blood test for food intolerances. This only needs a few drops of blood and over 200 foods can be tested. Once you start avoiding the foods you are intolerant to you will typically find that your energy levels increase, digestion improves, you get better sleep. Many people also find an added benefit of fairly rapid weight loss!

Possibly one of the most frustrating things that you can suffer from is food intolerances. Unlike food allergies, which can be recognized by the reactions, food intolerances are a hit and miss proposition. In this case a food intolerance test is the logical way to go to find out what is causing your problems. Just because you cannot tolerate a food, it may not mean that you have an allergy to it. Once you know the foods that you can not tolerate and begin eliminating them from your diet, your digestion will improve as will your energy and sleep. Another unexpected benefit that everyone loves is rapid weight loss.