Up until this evening, I thought I was in pretty health – I’m young, get plenty of exercise, eat a good diet, am about the right weight, and normally feel ‘well’. That was up until I filled out an online questionnaire on the website of Holford’s Food for the Brain Foundation. This online questionnaire apparently “analyses your symptoms, diet and lifestyle factors to work out the probability that you have a biochemical or nutritional imbalance that may be contributing to your mental health.”
To give this some context, I should say that (while I’m not qualified to make a diagnosis, and some friends might wish to disagree) my mental health is generally good. I do occasionally have trouble sleeping – I’m writing this post at 2am :( – and have mild dyspraxia (the questionnaire also asked allergies and coffee intake – I told it that I have occasional hayfever and drink coffee every day). However, you don’t want to know what my common sense tells me about my health: what Food for the Brain tells me is much more interesting.
Apparently, I’m actually at a high risk of loads of terrible health problems. So that all of you can feel my pain, I’m going to list the different illnesses that this Food for the Brain questionnaire tells me I’m at risk of:
Blood Sugar Imbalance 40%
Allergies 42%
Underactive Thyroid 36%
Need for B Vitamins 38%
Need for Essential Fats 42%
Heavy Metal Toxicity 38%
Pyroluria 30%
High Histamine 35%
Low Serotonin 36%
Adrenal Excess 36%
Adrenal Exhaustion 29%
Low Acetylcholine 33%
Detox Overload 33%
Stimulant Dependence 45%
High Homocysteine 36%
Some of these would be seriously nasty if I really were suffering from them (heavy metal toxicity generally ain’t a barrel of laughs). I’m also at a relatively high risks of diseases I’ve never heard of (surprisingly the pubmed search engine, which indexes the peer-reviewed medical literature, has no mentions of ‘detox overload’, and I can only guess what this might mean). Wow, I could be an exciting medical case history – suffering from a range of relatively rare conditions, including some which aren’t even described in the medical literature yet!
Now, I could go to my GP with this long list of potential problems. However, aside from the risk of me being revealed as a freak of nature and taken into custody for lab tests, it is also possible that Holford’s Foundation may have been giving out dodgy information. I filled out a long questionnaire – I make it a couple of hundred questions. I noted what could be viewed as three health problems (the aforementioned insomnia, dyspraxia and drinking coffee), and aside from that said my health is fine. I don’t know the algorithms that the Foundation’s website used to come to these conclusions – however, suggesting such a long list of potential problems from so few symptoms (accompanied by generally good health) suggests that this is not a reliable diagnostic tool. You know, I’m probably not dying after all ;)
One other thing – I’d be interested to see how different answers to this questionnaire can generate reports of risks, illnesses etc. Post your results in the comments sections below – if anyone gets it to tell you that there’s a high probability you’re missing a limb (no cheating, now!) there’s a pint in it for you.
Right, a couple of things. Firstly, you may want to give an e-mail address that’s not your main one if you complete the questionnaire – to be sure that Food For The Brain doesn’t have your main e-mail address.
Secondly, some interesting responses to the questionnaire the others have got on these forums:
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=2429751
http://badscience.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1889&start=30
Oddly, my results are ‘worse’ than anyone else’s so far. Clearly, I’m a sick man ;)
My wife is ready to spit blood at some of these findings as she can see no grounds for them at all.
Your results
0% 100%
Blood Sugar Imbalance 29%
Allergies 24%
Underactive Thyroid 56%
Need for B Vitamins 36%
Need for Essential Fats 18%
Heavy Metal Toxicity 12%
Pyroluria 42%
High Histamine 10%
Low Serotonin 19%
Adrenal Excess 23%
Adrenal Exhaustion 42%
Low Acetylcholine 50%
Detox Overload 33%
Stimulant Dependence 9%
High Homocysteine 45%
Your Analysis
Underactive Thyroid
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that UNDERACTIVE THYROID may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Thyroid Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Need for B Vitamins
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that NEED FOR B VITAMINS may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Homocysteine Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Pyroluria
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that PYROLURIA may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Kryptopyrrole Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Adrenal Exhaustion
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that ADRENAL EXHAUSTION may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Neurotransmitter Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Low Acetylcholine
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that LOW ACETYLCHOLINE may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Neurotransmitter Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Detox Overload
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that DETOX OVERLOAD may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Liver Detoxification Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
High Homocysteine
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that HIGH HOMOCYSTEINE may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Homocysteine Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Among the many things that annoy her – a homocysteine test is used to investigate people who might be at high risk for heart attack or stroke. E.g., family history of coronary heart disease (CHD) but no other known risk factors.
The role of homocysteine is controversial because the role, if any, that it plays in the progression of CHD has not been established and there was a big study last year that spanked it. Just in case it is being used to establish my B12 or folate levels – courtesy of my wife, I’m one of a negligible number of people who eats somewhere between 11-14 portions of fruit and veg per day, plus various pulses, fish, lean meat etc.
I won’t go into the reasons but I spend so much time in an enforced alcohol-abstinence country where I am out of traffic etc. that the detox overload assessment is frankly baffling. No drugs, no alcohol, little traffic, no proximity to industrial areas and I have a Detox Overload of 33%?
As for the underactive thyroid, if any of the questions had asked if I am a frequent-flyer and time-zone crosser, it may have made sense of some of my answers.
You can’t give the consumer direct access to tests that they can’t interpret without being skilled in assessing their own lifestyle and medical history.
Curiously enough, I have exactly the same conditions, but in different percentages.
Same list of things answered honestly.
21, 15, 31, 21, 24, 21, 15, 20, 24, 10, 17, 4, 6, 15, 26 %
underactive thyroid only = SPOT ON – am under review by my GP who spotted a goitre and have biochemical hypothryroidism and anti-thyroid antibodies, so I’m suprised by the result (for the opposite reasons to you). Dont worry, still a skeptic about the whole thing as I cant see the evidence base.
thanks – interesting info.
anonymous- as you say, I can’t see the evidence-base for making this type of diagnosis from the questionnaire. I’d guess that – if enough people fill in the questionnaire – it’s very likely to get some things right for some people. It’d be interesting to see how the questionnaire’s answers compare to guessing – I’d suspect that for most things they wouldn’t be significantly better.
Actually I came out as not having any problems (the highest reading was 29% low acetylcholine, haven’t a clue what that means) which was as it should be, as I am perfectly healthy, but some of the questions were difficult to answer, e.g. how would I know if I had a high metabolism? And I was tempted to answer “occasionally” to the question “do you have large ears and long fingers” because of the wonderful mental images it conjured up.
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Go see a good acupuncurist, you’ll be so surprise to find the same deficities. They will prescibe chinese herb instead of synthetic medications. Life changing!
Wow – I guess I’m in more trouble than most of you. THis actually isn’t unexpected however, after being a raging alcoholic for the past several years.
Your results
0% 100%
Blood Sugar Imbalance 70%
Allergies 45%
Underactive Thyroid 58%
Need for B Vitamins 38%
Need for Essential Fats 24%
Heavy Metal Toxicity 54%
Pyroluria 21%
High Histamine 39%
Low Serotonin 52%
Adrenal Excess 41%
Adrenal Exhaustion 71%
Low Acetylcholine 54%
Detox Overload 39%
Stimulant Dependence 42%
High Homocysteine 57%
Your AnalysisBlood Sugar Imbalance
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that BLOOD SUGAR IMBALANCE may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Glycosylated Haemoglobin blood test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Allergies
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that ALLERGIES may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Food Intolerance Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Underactive Thyroid
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that UNDERACTIVE THYROID may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Thyroid Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Need for B Vitamins
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that NEED FOR B VITAMINS may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Homocysteine Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Heavy Metal Toxicity
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that HEAVY METAL TOXICITY may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Hair Mineral Analysis. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
High Histamine
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that HIGH HISTAMINE may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Histamine Blood Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Low Serotonin
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that LOW SEROTONIN may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Neurotransmitter Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Adrenal Excess
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that ADRENAL EXCESS may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Neurotransmitter Test . This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Adrenal Exhaustion
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that ADRENAL EXHAUSTION may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Neurotransmitter Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Low Acetylcholine
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that LOW ACETYLCHOLINE may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Neurotransmitter Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Detox Overload
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that DETOX OVERLOAD may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Liver Detoxification Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
Stimulant Dependence
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that STIMULANT DEPENDENCE may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a period of abstinence from sugar, stimulants and other potential addictive substances, backed up by appropriate nutritional and psychological support. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
High Homocysteine
You have a relatively large number of symptoms indicating that HIGH HOMOCYSTEINE may be contributing to your health problem. The best way to check for this is to have a Homocysteine Test. This can be arranged through your doctor, psychiatrist or a clinical nutritionist.
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