The therapists practising new techniques would not stay in business if they had no successes of course, and you may well meet people who claim to have been cured by such methods. This proves very little, however. Given that the most common sources of food intolerance are wheat and milk, such therapists can achieve a reasonable success rate by diagnosing sensitivity to these two foods in all their patients. If eggs, oranges, chocolate, tea and coffee are added to the list, they may well achieve success with 50 per cent or more, and some patients will benefit from the placebo effect alone. But there will be other patients who are not helped at all, or who are only partially better when they could be fully well if they had identified all their culprit foods. And even those who are better are not getting a very good deal – they are almost certainly avoiding some foods unnecessarily.

Quite apart from the inconvenience and social disruption that this causes, such people may not be eating an adequate diet. Indeed, anyone who cuts out certain foods without medical advice runs this risk, which is why we urge you to consult your doctor before embarking on an elimination diet, and to check with the doctor subsequently to ensure that the diet you are eating is adequate.

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