Food Intolerances

 Most people go through life eating inflammatory foods that create many chronic diseases and health conditions, including mental health issues. Food allergies and food sensitivities (or food intolerances) are two types of food sensitivities that can be very destructive to the body. Food allergies are a very severe immune reaction to a particular food that causes immediate reactions such as swelling, rash, itchiness and sometimes a life-threatening anaphylactic shock. Food intolerances cause more subtle health challenges that make someone feel uncomfortable without outward immune reaction. The reactions can take up to 4 days so you may never notice the connection.

Food sensitivity testing is often a misunderstood diagnostic tool. However, there is ample research proving the effectiveness of Food IgG testing and how it can be applied correctly clinically. It has been effective for many challenging symptoms and diseases including mental health conditions including:

-Migraines

-IBS

-Brain Fog

-Schizophrenia

-Headaches

-Arthritis & Joint Pain

-Autoimmune conditions

- Ulcerative Colitis & Crohns

The gold standard for food intolerances is the elimination diet. However for most people this is difficult, tedious, and sometimes confusing because the reactions are not always noticeable or quick. IgG (immunoglobulin G) testing is a useful guide for structuring elimination diets and doing more controlled trial and error. Individuals with neurological, gastrointestinal, and movement disorders often suffer from IgG food allergies. These people may continue to eat offending foods unaware of their potential effects. As immunological reactions, IgE food allergy causes the release of histamine, producing an immediate hypersensitivity reaction, in which symptoms appear within minutes or hours. In contrast, food sensitivity is a non-IgE allergy characterized by the measurement of IgG antibodies specific to antigenic food proteins. This IgG food allergy is a delayed hypersensitivity reaction in which symptoms appear anywhere from hours to days after eating the offending food. The 93 foods tested in the IgG Food Allergy Test can identify problem food so it can be eliminated from the patient’s diet. Elimination of IgG positive foods can improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, autism, AD(H)D, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and epilepsy according to numerous clinical studies.

So How do you know which Allergy Test is the right one?

ELISA and ALCAT are two of the most common blood tests that claim to identify food intolerances. They basically look at how your blood responds when exposed to a specific food. ELISA measures something called an IgG antibody reaction. ALCAT measures white blood cell reactions. At first glance, these sound like plausible theories – after all: antibodies and white blood cells are part of your immune system, and if your immune system reacts to a food, that would obviously signify intolerance, right? Not so fast! The immune system is incredibly complex. It turns out that some studies show that an IgG response to a food actually indicates tolerance, not intolerance! And white blood cells constantly change shape and activity anyway, so if they do that in the presence of a food, that doesn’t mean the food was the trigger. Furthermore, many labs will test for a white blood cell’s reaction to a “raw” protein, like raw chicken or raw eggs or raw beef and not the cooked protein. So it’s not a surprise that you get these tests and then walk away with a frustrating, long list of foods you’re “not supposed to eat”.

Not surprisingly, both tests are notorious for inconsistent results too. Some doctors have sent in two blood samples for testing from the same person at the same time on the same day for tests like ELISA and ALCAT, and received completely different intolerance reports!

I only recommend Cyrex Labs for both food allergy testing and food intolerance testing.

Cyrex Labs is an advanced clinical laboratory focusing on mucosal, cellular, and humoral immunology and specializing in antibody arrays for complex thyroid, gluten, and other food-associated autoimmunities and related neurodysregulation. Cyrex’s Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of experts from a variety of medical and research disciplines, brings together the latest findings from medical research and the assessment needs of today’s healthcare professionals. Cyrex adheres to and surpasses the highest standards of clinical laboratory testing worldwide. A Cyrex-designed quality control criterion called The Double Assurance System (QC2™) is the standard operating procedure at Cyrex Laboratories. In fact, Cyrex’s proprietary QC2™ method enhances the reproducibility, specificity, and sensitivity of all Cyrex arrays. Only Cyrex tests contain the accuracy enhancements provided by The Double Assurance System.

Schedule your appointment for Food Allergy Testing Today, starting at $379!