WHAT CAUSES FOOD INTOLERANCE? IS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM INVOLVED?
At the beginning of this book, we defined food intolerance as ‘any adverse reaction to food, other than false food allergy, in which the involvement of the immune system is unproven because skin-prick tests and other tests for allergy are negative. This does not exclude the possibility of immune reactions being involved in some way, but they are unlikely to be the major factor producing the symptoms.’ Because food intolerance has long been thought of as an ‘allergy’, most research into its causes has centred on the immune system. It is only in the last ten years or so that other possible reasons for intolerance have been investigated.
Despite extensive research, the evidence for immune-system involvement is fairly limited. The general consensus of opinion now is that immune reactions may have some role in food intolerance in some people, but they are only part of the story – something else must be going wrong as well.
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