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Could your daily sandwich be a secret waistline assassin?

Award-winning beauty journalist Jemma Patton takes a look at a new approach to dieting - and find out if it actually works.

Losing weight is hard. Anyone who's tried will know that often, as soon as the diet stops, the pounds pile back on. This yo-yo effect is bad for your self esteem and your health.

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The more diets you try, the worse it can become. So imagine if someone told you that there could be a way to lose weight which didn't involve eating cabbage soup or counting calories?

New diets always make big claims, but the Body ID Plan is the first that's looked at food intolerance as a key to weight loss. So just how does this work? Well, the key to this eating plan is to identify whether you have any food intolerances.

According to a study by Allergy UK, up to 45 per cent of the UK population are affected by food intolerance. Even the rich and famous are suffering: celebrities with food intolerances include Goldie Hawn (dairy), Victoria Beckham (dairy), Geri Halliwell (wheat), and athlete Denise Lewis (cow's milk).

So what is food intolerance?

Food intolerance is not life threatening, but it does mean that if affected, the food you're eating is having an adverse affect on your health. The definition of intolerance, according to Allergy UK, is when your body cannot handle a certain type (or types) of food, because your digestive system does not produce sufficient quantities of a particular enzyme/chemical - which is needed to break down food and aid digestion.

You may not have an immediate reaction to the food - but over time, continuing to eat it can cause symptoms such as headaches and migraines, bloating, fluid retention, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), tiredness, and aches and pains. All in all, not a great position to be in if you are trying to lose weight.

And however healthily you eat, if you're eating something you're intolerant to, it's possible that the bloating it causes could mean you're carrying extra weight.

So are there certain foods more likely to be the culprits of a food intolerance? We asked Liz Tucker, a nutrition expert who helped develop the Body ID Plan.

"There are no common foods - you can develop intolerance to any food - which is why the individual approach is important. You can't just follow what applies to anyone else."

You might think that it's worth trying to eliminate some foods from your diet, such as dairy or wheat, rather than have to pay for a blood test - but Liz doesn't think this is the answer.

"Elimination diets are difficult because you have to go through all foods and there is usually more than one food to find. Although there is a lot heard about wheat and dairy, most people feel better from cutting them out of their diet because typical Western diets are overloaded in them. We are just eating far too much, to the detriment of other nutrients."

How does the plan work?

I decided to try out the Body ID Plan for myself. I'm not exactly overweight, but I do feel bloated, and I'm always happier if I shift half a stone. So I'm willing to give it a go.

To kickstart the process, you'll need to send a sample of your blood to be analysed. You'll be sent a kit which contains everything you need to take a blood sample from a prick on your finger. Then you just seal it up and pop it back in the post. The blood is analysed in a lab where they look for 76 possible food intolerances. Your results are sent to you in the post, and should take about seven to 10 days to arrive.

When your results arrive, any intolerances will be listed under the 'avoid' heading. For me, yeast and egg white are the offending food stuffs. Concerned that this could mean no more wine or pizza, I asked Liz if total exclusion of these foods was necessary in order to make a difference.

"Initially, to get results, you do need 100 per cent exclusion," she tells me. "An antibody reaction is microscopic and no matter how small the food particle, it will still trigger a response - but the build up of eating it time after time is more of a problem. So if you have the odd bit it won't be as bad as if you had a small bit every day. If you cut down, you could notice a difference - but it won't be as effective. Remember, it is only for six weeks or so - and then you can try reintroducing it."

Next on the results are the 'enjoy in moderation' and 'go ahead' lists. These lists are there to help ensure that the rest of your diet is healthy and balanced. So although you may not be intolerant to meat, health-wise it's best to eat only moderate amounts - therefore it was on my 'enjoy in moderation' list. Oily fish and vegetables are ridiculously healthy, so they take pride of place at the top of my 'go ahead' list.

Does it work?

So now I know what I should and shouldn't be eating, how long is it going to be before I drop a dress size? Liz explains: "For some, it will be weeks, for others a couple of months. However, definitely by three months - and in most cases it's much quicker. And it's not just the weight, you'll feel more energetic, happier and you'll change shape. That is often the thing that makes people less bothered about just losing weight."

As I write this, I've been on the plan for just three weeks, and I'll be honest - I've fallen off a number of times. By rights, my yeast intolerance should have stopped me drinking wine, but I'm weak and my nightly glasses of red have continued.

However, I have stopped eating bread and eggs. Finding something quick to eat for lunch can be tricky, and I've found I'm eating more pasta than usual - which would normally mean I would put on a few pounds. But I haven't.

Life without sandwiches is a challenge, and I do have to read food labels (you'd be amazed at how many foods contain egg), but it's not an enormous effort. My tummy is flatter and I've got more energy. I've never been hungry and I've lost six pounds in three weeks. I call that a result.

The plan costs £130, and is available from York Test. If no reactions are found, £80 is refunded.