One study that is often quoted by ‘opponents’ of food intolerance was carried out by Dr David Pearson of Manchester University and Dr Keith Rix of Leeds University. They studied 27 patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome who believed themselves to have food allergy or intolerance. The study only found evidence of food reactions in 15 per cent of the patients, compared with 70 per cent in another major study. The main reason for this discrepancy was probably their method of testing which only used very small amounts of the test foods.
Dr Rix, who is a psychiatrist, examined half the patients. He identified a variety of mild psychiatric problems, principally neurotic depression and anxiety neurosis, in 86 per cent of them. The conclusion the doctors reached, given the apparently poor response to food testing, was that the psychological problems were affecting the bowel, rather than the other way round, in the majority of patients.
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