Linda Hodge
M.Sc.(med), Dip. Nutr & Diet
Accredited Practicing Dietitian
Do you suffer from any of the following? Unexplained muscular or joint aches and pains, frequent headaches or migraines, short term memory loss (not age related), difficulty in concentrating, brain fog, mood swings (not hormone related), feeling tired all the time for no good reason, itchy rash or hives, eczema, excessive flatulence and bloating, frequent or constant diarrhoea, diarrhoea alternating with constipation, indigestion, nasal congestion (not seasonal) or difficult to control asthma? Perhaps you have discussed it with your doctor but, after examination and numerous tests which all appear to be normal, your doctor tells you that there is nothing wrong with you and that you are just stressed and in need of a holiday. Good idea! So you try the holiday and you feel a little better but as soon as you get home you feel just as bad.
Now what? Perhaps you try some "alternative" therapist who is a little more sympathetic and open to these vague, but extremely irritating, symptoms that you suffer. The therapist charges you an arm and a leg, loads you up with bottles of pills and potions which all taste disgusting and make you feel even worse.
If this sounds familiar, you may be suffering from food chemical intolerance. Food chemical intolerance is really quite common. In fact, most people find that if they eat too much of a certain food, particularly very strong flavoured food, it will cause symptoms. For example, some people find that very spicy food causes bowel upset. Wine can make a person with asthma wheeze and some migraine sufferers may have to avoid chocolate. Sometimes the relationship with food is not so obvious. This is because the food chemicals which cause symptoms are not always artificial (and therefore labelled) and often they are found in such a wide variety of common foods that it becomes extremely difficult to identify the cause.
Blood tests will identify true food allergies such as peanut allergy or milk allergy. Unfortunately, there are no blood tests which will correctly identify food chemical intolerance. The reason is that the mechanism in the body which causes the symptoms still has not been identified. So, don't waste your money on charlatans who claim they can look at your blood or have you hold a food in one hand and an electrode in the other and tell you which foods are making you feel tired or giving you a headache. The only way to identify food chemical intolerance is through elimination of the suspected food chemicals from your diet and then reintroduction of the chemicals, separately, back into your diet to see which ones cause the symptoms.
I am an Accredited Practicing Dietitian, have trained with the Allergy Clinic at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and have completed a Masters Degree with a thesis on food chemical intolerance from the Faculty of Medicine at Sydney University. Over the last 20 years I have helped thousands of patients to live more comfortably. Whilst I cannot guarantee that your particular problem is caused by food chemicals, I can certainly help you answer the question once and for all.
My fees are very reasonable and if you are in a health fund you will get a rebate for my services. I am also registered with Medicare so that those who have a GP Care plan will receive a rebate from Medicare.
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