‘Allergy’ means an abnormal, excessive reaction of the body’s defence systems to a substance absorbed from the environment. Allergy now affects 65—70 per cent of the population and is on the increase; the number of people going to their GPs for treatment for asthma and hay fever doubled in the 1990s. Asthma is responsible for up to 2000 deaths a year, and one in seven primary school children carries an inhaler. Mo

Most articles I have ever read about allergy, start with a clarification of definition. The biochemistry of an allergic reaction is very complicated, but the end result of each reaction is the release of excess inflammatory mediators. These inflammatory mediators, such as histamine, leukotrienes and bradykinins, are released into the blood and can cause inflammation anywhere in the body. Once tissue and nerve endings are inflamed, many other substances can cause a secondary irritation. These secondary reactions, I classify as intolerances.

Over the last twenty years or more there have been huge changes in food technology. The advent of genetic modification, the addition of an ever increasing number of chemical additives, irradiation, processing, and soil depletion, has modified foods so much that they have lost a lot of their original therapeutic benefits. These changes combined with the mountain of nutritional information that is in circulation today, virtually makes it impossible to determine exactly which foods are best suited to the individual.

In my earlier years in practice as a Naturopath, the main area of concern for me as a practitioner was that once my client stopped taking their medication and supplements, they would rebound and their symptoms slowly return. This situation required more than just a correct diagnosis, prescription of supplements, and dietetic advice.

In 1990 I decided to change my approach to dietetics. I decided that the best way to be sure of removing all the allergies was to give the client a list of foods that they can eat.

The main areas I tried to cover in my testing are allergy, false allergy and chemical sensitivity. Collectively I call this Bio-Compatibility. This collective approach meant that not only foods needed to be tested but also bathroom, kitchen and laundry products as well.