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Health See other Health Articles Title: Why 'intolerance' to dairy foods may be all in the mind Commercial testing for food intolerances is ‘feeding on fear’ and could endanger health, a major inquiry by Which? found in 2008. It found ‘highly inconsistent’ results from tests costing up to £275 that experts condemned as having no diagnostic value. Which? researchers went undercover and paid for four kinds of tests claimed to diagnose food intolerances. The study throws the spotlight on a multi-million-pound industry that is poorly regulated. These were blood samples tested for certain types of antibodies, tests on strands of hair, changes in a person’s electromagnetic field and kinesiology, which involves resistance to pressure applied to legs or arms. Altogether 183 ‘intolerances’ were found among researchers who had just one medically confirmed allergy and one food intolerance between them. The Which? investigators said the tests being used to identify food intolerance may put the health of users at risk by wrongly advising them to avoid essential food groups. Celebrities who claim to suffer from intolerances include Rachel Weisz, who avoids wheat. Rod Stewart’s former wife, Rachel Hunter (pictured above) says her problems with lactose were identified when she carried out an allergy test. The mere thought of a latte or cappuccino brings some people out in a cold sweat and they like nothing more than to bore others with the virtues of soy milk. But researchers say lactose intolerance may be all in the mind. Many people who claim to be intolerant to the milk sugar lactose are simply stressed, anxious or depressed. While their symptoms are real, the cause is in their mind, rather than in their coffee cup. The discovery by Italian researchers has important implications for health, because many people who believe they are lactose intolerant cut out dairy products from their diet. This could leave them severely short of calcium, raising the odds of brittle bones and falls and fracture in old age. The study is the latest to question whether many of the millions of people who claim to have food intolerances are actually fussy eaters. More... 'I can breathe deep for the first time ever': Lung transplant from boxer who tragically died in the ring saves woman's life The best before myth: The spaghetti with a use by date of 2013 that could actually be eaten in 2023! Previous research concluded that nine in ten Britons who believe they have a food allergy or intolerance are actually perfectly healthy. Twenty per cent of men and women – some 10million British adults – claim to be unable to eat foods from milk to mustard, but fewer than 2 per cent actually have a problem. It is thought many people decide they have an intolerance after hearing a celebrity’s experience of a certain food. Those who have talked of their problems with lactose include Rod Stewart’s ex-wife Rachel Hunter. In the latest study, Guido Basilisco, of the University of Milan, tested more than 100 people who had stomach pain, bloating and diarrhoea and believed they were lactose intolerant, to see if they really did have problems breaking down the sugar and absorbing it into their blood. He also asked them about their mental and physical health, including whether they were depressed or anxious or suffered from general aches and pains. This revealed their stomach troubles to have little to do digestion of lactose. But mental state did seem to be to blame, the Digestive Disease Week conference in the U.S. heard yesterday. Dr Basilisco said there was no doubt that some people’s genes make it difficult for them to digest lactose and this causes stomach problems when they drink large amounts of milk. But many of the people who claimed to suffer problems from a cup of coffee or a hot chocolate were perfectly capable of digesting lactose. He believes that rather than being intolerant, their symptoms have a psychological basis. Just as stress can cause headaches, it can also cause tummy trouble. Dr Basilisco said people should not to be too quick to cut dairy products out of their diets and doctors should think twice about subjecting patients who claim to be lactose intolerant to lots of physical tests. He added: ‘Excluding dairy products should be discouraged and doctors should pay more attention to the psychological problems of their patients.’ The problem of imaginary food allergies and intolerance is not confined to adults, with researchers previously warning that new mothers are too quick to decide their children have food allergies or intolerances. More than half of the babies studied by British experts had at least one food cut out of their diet by the age of one. Yet, tests showed the true rate of allergies and intolerances was lower than 4 per cent. The Portsmouth University researchers said the issue was being ‘blown out of all proportion’ by anxious mothers. Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/healt...s-mind.html#ixzz1M2G7UqpG Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
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Dr Basilico is talking rubbish. Intolerance is physical not emotional. Lactose intolerance is caused by the lack of the enzyme lactase which humans have evolved away from. It is the gradual evolutionary changes in our DNA that cause dietry problems. For example we have a useless appendix because we no longer eat rough grass type food which needs cellulose to be digested. So if you now ate grass you would get sick. It is the same with milk and wheat products. We eat less of these so we are digestively evolving away from them. The worst part of all this is that humans are evolving towards highly processed food and will become intolerant to raw food like fruit and vegetables. It is already happening with serious results like obesity and the rise in colon cancer. We should be eating a "Stone Age" diet or something near it. Plenty of fruit, vegetables and less fatty meat. We should leave skins on potatoes, apples and other fruit and vegetables and just wash them before cooking. - Alistair Hillier Manser, Sandbanks UK, Rating 40
Considering the fallout from Japan's nuclear plants it would be wise to avoid all dairy products right now, lactose intolerant or not.
God is always good!
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