health
What is a food intolerance, and how do you know if you have one?
Social media is awash with content about food intolerances and the symptoms to look out for. But figuring out whether you actually have one, and what’s triggering it, is surprisingly difficult. One avenue people are gravitating towards is at-home testing. Madeleine Finlay sits down with health and lifestyle journalist Rebecca Seal to unpick the science behind these tests. Rebecca explains how they purport to work, how accurate they actually are, and how we can all investigate what we might be intolerant to, without breaking the bank. Rebecca’s book Irritated: The Allergy Epidemic and What We Can Do About It, is out now.
TL;DR
- Content about food intolerances is widespread on social media.
- Identifying actual intolerances and triggers is difficult.
- At-home testing is a popular but potentially unreliable method.
- Rebecca Seal, author of 'Irritated: The Allergy Epidemic and What We Can Do About It,' examines the science and accuracy of these tests.
- The article suggests investigating intolerances without overspending.