Frances Kendrew suffered from irritable bowel syndrome for years. It left her feeling bloated, uncomfortable and often quite sick. Doctors were able to prescribe medicines which brought the symptoms under control for a while: but always they came back.

Hospital tests showed there was nothing seriously wrong: so last December, in desperation, she turned to the York Nutritional Laboratory for help. Their test revealed she had an intolerance towards a number of foods - prawns, nuts, cabbage and bananas in particular, and a lesser intolerance to dairy products, broccoli and kidney beans.

They advised her to cut out the prawns, nuts and cabbage entirely, drastically reduce her consumption of bananas, and cut down on dairy products too.

She did: and her health has improved enormously. But making the change wasn't easy, she admits.

It meant cutting out a lot of the foods she ate every day - hot milk, yoghurt, bananas, cheese. Some, such as bananas and yoghurt, she can still have occasionally,: but has to strictly ration herself.

Now, she has soya milk on her cereal: and instead of having a banana every day with her lunch, limits herself to one or two a week. When she has cheese, it tends to be feta cheese, made from sheep's milk rather than cows' milk.

The changes had been difficult, the 53-year-old school administrator from Haxby admitted, because she loved cheese and liked to have a banana and yoghurt with her packed lunch. "But I think it is worth the effort. I feel so much better."

PICTURE: Frances Kendrew changed her diet to combat the miseries of irritable bowel syndrome