Working out what your child’s body is reacting to
Bloating after dinner, mystery rashes, behaviour that swings within an hour of certain meals: something is going on, and the internet’s answer (cut gluten, then dairy, then everything) creates chaos faster than clarity. ReMed identifies food intolerances in children the structured way: a detailed history and food-symptom diary, targeted functional testing only where clinically indicated, then a supervised, time-limited dietary trial with planned reintroduction, following the Moore Method. Suspected allergy is different and goes to your GP first. Consults run at Bundoora or by telehealth.
Intolerance is not allergy
Before any naturopathic work begins, 1 line has to be drawn clearly. Reactions involving hives, facial swelling, vomiting straight after eating or any breathing difficulty belong with your GP and an allergist, urgently, and anaphylaxis means 000. That is allergy territory: medical, immediate, not ours. Intolerances are the slower, grumbling reactions: the bloated belly, the loose stools, the eczema flare 2 days later, the wild afternoon after a party. They are miserable rather than dangerous, they are dose-dependent, and they are where structured naturopathic investigation does its best work.
Structured identification, step by step
The internet elimination diet has a predictable life cycle: it starts with 1 food, grows to 5, makes dinner a battlefield and never produces an answer anyone trusts. Our process is built to end. The food and symptom diary comes first, because patterns across a few real weeks narrow the suspects better than any guess. The 60-minute history then adds context: gut health, family history, eczema and airway threads, growth and eating habits. Testing earns its place only where it would change the plan. Then a supervised trial removes the shortlist for a defined window, reintroduction confirms what is real, and the final exclusion list stays as short as the evidence allows.
Testing pathways we commonly use
Chosen selectively, explained before any money is spent, and run from home by sample kit.
A process with an end point
Understand
A 60-minute initial consultation covering your child's full history, not a 10-minute snapshot.
Investigate
Targeted functional testing where clinically indicated, so decisions follow data, not guesswork.
Support
A personalised plan, reviewed and adjusted as your child responds, coordinated with your child's doctors.
Initial consultations run 60 minutes and start from $242: fees and rebates are public, and you can choose your practitioner once the diary has a week in it.
What support can include
Depending on what the diary, history and any testing show, support can include a properly designed dietary trial with set review dates, like-for-like food swaps so school lunches stay normal, gut-focused work where digestive symptoms persist, repletion of any measured nutrient gaps, and a staged reintroduction plan that gives your family a confident long-term answer. Where symptoms suggest something beyond intolerance, we say so and loop in your GP, with your consent, at any point.
Food intolerance questions, answered straight
Allergy involves the immune system and can be dangerous: hives, swelling, vomiting, anaphylaxis. Suspected allergy belongs with your GP and an allergist, immediately and before anything else. Intolerance is different: slower, dose-dependent reactions like bloating, loose stools, rashes or behaviour changes that make life miserable without being immediately dangerous. ReMed works in that intolerance space with structured investigation, and we refer straight back to medical care whenever the story suggests allergy.
Honest answer: quality varies enormously, and some direct-to-consumer tests are not worth your money. We are selective about which pathways we use, and we never hang conclusions on a single result: testing sits alongside a structured symptom and food history, a supervised dietary trial and careful reintroduction. If a test would not change the plan, we will tell you not to spend on it. Data has to earn its place.
That is exactly what our structured process is designed to prevent. Unsupervised internet elimination diets tend to grow: more foods out, more mealtime fear, no end point. We work the opposite way: identify the most likely culprits from the history, run a time-limited supervised trial, confirm with reintroduction, and keep the final list of exclusions as short as possible, with replacements planned so your child's nutrition never goes backwards.
Parents report the connection constantly: bloating, restlessness or big mood swings within hours of certain meals. The research picture is mixed and highly individual, which is exactly why we map your child rather than apply a blanket rule. A structured food and symptom diary, reviewed across several weeks, shows whether a pattern is real for your child, and testing is added only where the history justifies it. No food gets blamed without evidence.
Begin a simple food and symptom diary today: what your child eats, and any symptoms with rough times. Even 1 ordinary week is useful. Then book a 60-minute initial consultation (from $242) at Bundoora or by telehealth Australia-wide, and bring the diary. Your practitioner maps the history, recommends testing only where clinically indicated, and designs any dietary trial properly: supervised, time-limited, and with your child's overall nutrition protected throughout.
Related conditions and a free checklist
Stop guessing at the dinner table. Start identifying
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ReMed's care is complementary to, not a replacement for, conventional medical care. We work alongside your GP, paediatrician and specialists, and our support is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. In an emergency call 000. Every child is different: outcomes vary and no specific result can be guaranteed.