http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-food-intolerance-tests-20120411,0,3665500.story
Food allergies and intolerances are huge news these days. But what is the difference between the two?
Food allergies cause a systemic immune response to a food (think antibodies); while intolerances cause a more mild response to a food. Testing these days is unfortunately not very accurate. According to this article, if a food allergy is suspected, a person can eliminate different foods until the symptoms disappear... and then add them back one at a time and gauge how the body reacts to it.
They also report that the most usual food intolerances are to sugars--such as lactose or fructose due to a lack of the enzymes needed in the gut to digest it. I'd hate to have a fructose intolerance since fructose is in EVERYTHING (including all but one type of applesauce I found at the store)!
The full article gives a lot more details, but I thought this would be an interesting item to share!
