Speaker 1: 0:00

I've been avoiding dairy for several months and I've still got symptoms. What should I do? Hey, and welcome to another episode of Beyond Bathroom Blues. Today I'm going to answer a couple of questions that guys have sent in, because you may have the same queries as well. So this question is from Peter in Brisbane, australia. So he's had IBS for about five years and says he's tried just about everything, probably like you as well and a friend of his suggested that he tries kinesiology test and to identify his triggers so he can avoid them and ultimately, hopefully, avoid symptoms as well.

Speaker 1: 0:41

Well, I hate to burst your bubble, peter, but kinesiology testing has no scientific evidence to support its use in diagnosing or treating food intolerances and, despite what some applied kinesiology websites claim, these tests definitely shouldn't be used for allergy testing, because there's many of these websites where they claim to diagnose and treat food allergies as well as food intolerances. So this will just delay the person from getting an accurate diagnosis and this could potentially lead to harm. So the idea behind kinesiology testing is that certain foods cause an energy imbalance in the body which is supposedly detected by test and muscle strength, while the person either holds a container of their suspected food or the practitioner holds it on or near the person's body, like against their neck or their tummy, and some kinesiology courses claim to teach practitioners how to accurately supposedly accurately test muscles to detect biochemical or energetic imbalances in the body, but the reality is there's no scientific basis for this. Muscle testing doesn't provide a reliable or objective information about food intolerances, allergies or any other health condition, so relying on it could mean avoiding foods unnecessarily and then suffering the consequences of this or worse, missing the proper diagnosis and then not getting the right treatment for the actual condition that the person has. And kinesiology testing is typically used within alternative health circles, so this is practitioners in alternative and complementary medicine, such as naturopaths, holistic nutritionists, homeopaths and energy healers those kinds of people.

Speaker 1: 2:28

However, mainstream medical doctors, dietitians like myself, allergists don't use kinesiology testing because of this lack of scientific evidence support on its validity, and there's various studies that have tested kinesiology muscle test and see if it works, and the results basically show that it's no better than random guessing. For example, in one study, researchers tested people with confirmed wasp venom allergy using health kinesiology muscle testing, and the practitioners were asked to identify which containers had the allergen and which had the harmless placebos. And the key thing here is that the test was blinded, meaning neither the practitioner nor the person knew which containers were which. And if the kinesiology worked, then the practitioners should have been able to correctly identify which were the allergens. They got it right about 40% of the time, which is worse than flipping a coin. And in another study, this time the researchers. They tested whether the practitioners could reliably identify people's reactions to different dental materials and they found that when the results were retested under the blinded conditions where again neither the practitioner nor the person knew which material was being tested they didn't match up, confirming that kinesiology is unreliable and based on the best available evidence.

Speaker 1: 4:00

Why do you think mainstream doctors and other healthcare professionals, like dieticians, don't use or recommend applied kinesiology? Also, if you think about it for a moment, how reasonable or reliable does it sound? Kinesiology testing, so holding the suspected food in a small pot on or near your body and seeing if your muscles react? So the food is inside a sealed glass or plastic container, so not even touching the skin, which if you have got an allergy, could cause a reaction and could be serious consequences to that. And kinesiology testing? So we're actually saying that your muscles are able to actually detect what's inside the container, through the plastic or the glass, and then somehow know if it's a problem and it can't tolerate it, and then it will react accordingly. So if this was true, then we'd all be having muscle reactions just by walking down a supermarket aisle, wouldn't we? And then also there's the power of expectation. So the placebo and the nocebo effects, these are very real. So if someone truly believes that food is causing them harm or they'll get you know they'll get symptoms from a particular food, then they may experience symptoms just because they believe they will. And this is another reason why kinesiology muscle testing isn't reliable, because it can be influenced by the person's beliefs and expectations rather than true physiological reactions to the thing.

Speaker 1: 5:26

So, peter, and anyone else out there struggling with IBS, your best bet is to work with a qualified dietitian who can help you identify triggers using clinically proven methods, and not waste your time and money and energy on unproven tests that aren't backed by solid science. And then question number two is from Wayne in Edmonton, canada. I've been there when I was in the army. He says I've been avoiding dairy for several months and I've still got symptoms. What should I do? Well, first of all, do you have a confirmed diagnosis of IBS by a proper medical doctor? And if the answer is yes, just going off that one question, it's difficult for me to answer because I'd like to know more about various things like why are you avoiding dairy in the first place?

Speaker 1: 6:15

You know who told you to avoid it and why dairy and not just lactose dairy products? These contain various components and nutrients, not just lactose. Um, so do you have an allergy? Do you have any type of allergy? What's your medical history? Are you taking any medications or supplements? What types of symptoms are you having, how often? And what's your diet like? Plus things like you know your day-to-day life, like your stress levels, your sleep, those kinds of things. So there's lots of different things to consider before giving you personalised advice.

Speaker 1: 6:48

But you say you've been avoiding dairy and still not getting symptoms. So based on that, then, I would say dairy probably isn't an issue for you, or at least it's not the only issue. Otherwise your symptoms would have improved. Right, and actually even people with lactose intolerance can tolerate some lactose, which is the sugar naturally found in milk and dairy products, and people with lactose intolerance can generally tolerate about 250 mils, which is about eight and a half US fluid ounces and this tolerance can gradually be improved as well. So you wouldn't necessarily need to totally avoid lactose.

Speaker 1: 7:28

And if you're just avoiding dairy because you've heard that other people avoid in dairy and this is what you need to do when you've got IBS then there are some things to consider. So dairy is a whole food group that provides a range of nutrients such as protein, phosphorus, potassium, iodine, b vitamins and it's an important source of calcium. So, when it comes to dairy, are you using alternatives or are you avoiding both dairy and non-dairy options altogether? Because if you are, then you might be missing out on key nutrients like calcium. And, by the way, if you can tolerate 250 mils of milk or the eight and a half US fluid ounces, then that's great, because not just for the lactose intolerance, but also that's if you have got lactose intolerance and if you have got an issue with lactose but also for the nutrition, because a single glass, a 250 ml glass, of semi-skimmed milk, provides 100% of the UK's, even though you're in Canada. So it provides 100% of the UK's daily vitamin B12 requirement, but in the US and I think Canada as well it covers around 63% of the daily recommendations and, as you can see there, different countries have slightly different guidelines for nutrient intakes. So even if it is about 63% towards your daily recommended intake, that's still a decent chunk towards your requirements. And if you're avoiding dairy completely, it's important that you make sure that you're still getting enough calcium and other key nutrients from other sources and other key nutrients from other sources. If you're using dairy alternatives, check that they are fortified with vitamins and minerals to provide a similar nutrient content as regular dairy options. Does that make sense?

Speaker 1: 9:10

But beyond dairy, if you're still struggling with IBS symptoms, it might be time to take a broader look at your diet and lifestyle, because there's obviously other factors involved with your symptoms, like is foods causing symptoms?

Speaker 1: 9:23

Is it lifestyle?

Speaker 1: 9:25

Is it stress?

Speaker 1: 9:26

Is it a mix of diet and lifestyle?

Speaker 1: 9:28

So it would be a good idea to look at other aspects other than just dairy when trying to manage your symptoms. And, because IBS is so individual, I'd really recommend working with a dietitian to identify your specific triggers and find a long term plan that works for you personally, and it's better than relying on just random trial and error, and getting the right guidance can make a big difference and save you time, money and frustration and which could all that frustration and stress of trying to work out yourself that can contribute towards symptoms, all that frustration and stress of trying to work it out yourself that can contribute towards symptoms and also save you from potential harm, because you could get it wrong and then cause yourself extra issues and then also, using someone who isn't actually qualified to truly help you, that can be risky as well. So thanks for your question, wayne, and if you've got a question of your own, feel free to send it in and I'll put an email link in this episode's description. So that's it for today. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.