An entire generation of Britons could be placing their health at risk by wrongly self-diagnosing themselves with a food allergy or food intolerance, so a UK leading expert warns.
Dr Carina Venter, allergy specialist at the University of Portsmouth, says that people are diagnosing their own condition, without seeking medical and getting the root cause of their symptoms treated. Hence, millions of people are needlessly eliminating whole food groups from their diet .
Nearly 20 per cent of us consider we have a food intolerance, whereas, there are actually just between 1 to 2 per cent who have a real food intolerance.
The health implications of restricting our diet like this can be a lot worse than food allergies or intolerances themselves. It just takes a few years of eliminating food groups to have a real long term impact.
This kind of approach does not help socially either as it leaves you unable to eat out at restaurants or others houses when you are not totally certain of what is on your
plate.
She gives an example of a woman who, 25 years ago, suffered a severe tightening of her throat after eating a lemon, orange, melon and lettuce salad. She had cut them all out of her diet without seeking proper medical advice.
