EVERY Friday night when Angie Jukes tucked into a big bowl of spaghetti bolognaise she thought only of its delicious taste.

It never entered her mind that her favourite meal was the cause behind her severe indigestion.

But a wheat and beef intolerence was in fact causing her symptoms, exacerbated by her love affair with the Italian dish.

She discovered her unusual aversion to spaghetti bolognaise after blood tests revealed she was having allergic reactions to more than 50 foods.

“It wasn’t like my indigestion was anything so serious that I had to take time off work but I was worried it might be something more serious like ulcers or even cancer,” said Angie, a 43-year-old from Enville Street, Latchford.

“I’d been seeing my GP on and off for five years and nothing really made it better despite taking the prescribed medication.

“Eventually a friend suggested my problem might be down to the food I eat so after a bit of research I decided to take a food intolerance test.”

She sent off a blood test to a private company, and when the results came back she was surprised to find she was intolerant of nearly half of the 113 foods tested for, and was told to stay away from dairy, lamb, wheat and beef.

“Beef was something I was eating every Friday night in a spaghetti bolognese so it all became clear and as soon as I began a new way of eating then my condition improved.”

In fact, Angie was intolerant of garlic, red wine, cheese and tomatoes as well as wheat and beef – all the main ingredients in her favourite dish.

Since she cut them out last summer, her health has improved dramatically.

“I no longer get that feeling as if my chest is on fire and I am burning up inside,” said Angie.

“It has taken a while to get used to eating a new diet but it’s well worth it.”

She’s now in the process of slowly reintroducing the foods back to her diet after a rather pitiful Christmas dinner of turkey and veg.

In theory she’ll be able to eat all the foods again after giving her body a break for six months.

Not only has her health benefitted, but Angie lost more than four stone by cutting out her Italian favourites.

“Going from a size 16 down to a 10 has caused havoc with my wardobe but it’s a nice problem to have!”