Food intolerance testing via hair/blood sample - any experience?

[appledumpling]

Hi, I'm looking at getting a food intolerance test done and have found a company called Bionetics who do testing via a hair sample and the Cambridge test which is done via a blood sample.

It all looks good but the Bionetics is £50 whereas the Cambridge test is likely to be about £200 if not more.

Is it worth paying the extra for the Cambridge test? Does anyone know?

Many thanks.

[appledumpling]

Thanks Christy. I was already avoiding vega testing etc. I actually spoke to someone last night who used the Cambridge test, cut out the things they suggested were causing a problem and had a dramatic improvement in their health so I'm going to go for it. They were able to reintroduce most of the problem foods after a period of time.

I also spoke to my Mum and it turns out my Gran had severe allergies in her youth (back in the days when it wasn't the "in thing") and was advised to cut out the very things that I think are causing me a problem.

My GP is totally unsympathetic unfortunately hence I've been looking elsewehere.

[christywhisty]

This months Which has an article on allergy testing. Here is shortened version

But they did test both Cambridge and Biontics. They will send you a long list of supposed allergies. Which actually sent some companies 2 samples of the same person under different names and got different results for the same person.

TO be honest you need to avoid any tests offered in Health shops, anything like kinesiology or vega testing.
The advice from Which is to

"Keep a record of your symptoms anda food diary, then speak to your gp. Allergies can be diagnosed by skin prick or RAST testing at your local hospital. Intolorances , other than lactose, are more complicated to diagnose and you may need to carefully cut foods from your diet. Get advice from a registered dietitian before you do this."