Food Sensitivity Testing
Do you wonder if the foods you eat may be causing distress? Do you often experience gas, bloating or feel uncomfortable after meals. The key may be identifying trigger-foods that cause a Food Sensitivity.
What is a Food Allergy, a Food Sensitivity and Food Intolerance?
Food allergy, food sensitivity and food intolerances are often used to describe all abnormal food-reactions. But there is actually a difference between all three.
A food allergy is an immediate immune reaction (IgE) that occurs shortly after eating a particular food. Even a small amount of the allergy-causing food can cause serious and life-threatening symptoms. Allergic reactions can cause vomiting, hives or rashes, difficulty breathing and anaphylactic shock. It is wise to seek Urgent Medical Care if you are having an active allergic reaction. To test for food allergies, you usually see an Allergist who will use a skin-prick test to determine which foods you have an allergy to. In general, it's recommended to avoid foods that are known to cause an allergic reaction to because of their harmful and possibly life-threatening risks.
A food sensitivity is a different type of immune reaction (IgG), where symptoms arise a few days after eating a trigger food. For this reason, food sensitivities are referred to as Delayed Reactions and can be associated with a variety of signs further discussed below. Because reactions to food sensitivities take longer to arise, it is often difficult to pinpoint which foods trigger our system, so typically an Elimination Diet or Food Sensitivity Testing (blood test) is used (discussed more below). It is important to figure out which foods trigger food sensitivities because we can heal from these reactions and bring them back into our diet again.
A food intolerance occurs when a person has difficulty digesting a particular food and is not associated with an immune reaction. Food intolerances are typically caused by the lack of enzymes that naturally occur in the body to help breakdown our food for digestion. Common signs of food intolerances include gas, stomach pain and diarrhea. For example, those with lactose intolerance cannot fully digest the sugar (lactose) in milk and milk-products. People with lactose intolerance can experience digestive upset after consuming dairy. Those with food intolerances typically avoid or limit their intake of the specific food or take a special digestive enzyme to help digest their intolerant-food better. For example, some people with lactose intolerance find they tolerate milk better if they take a supplement containing lactase, the enzyme that helps break down lactose.
How do we find out which foods cause food sensitivities?
The Elimination Diet has been the standard for many years to determine food sensitivities, where we avoid all common trigger-foods such as milk and milk-products, gluten, soy, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, bananas, strawberries, peanuts, soy and others, and see if your symptoms improve. Then after 4-6 weeks, we re-introduce the trigger-foods one-at-a-time and observe your body's reaction to them. This process is economical (because you don't have to pay for a test) and helps improve awareness of what's going on inside your body. But, the Elimination Diet process also involves determination (as you must strictly avoid all trigger foods), meal-planning, mostly self-preparation of meals and can take 4-months or more, depending upon how your food re-introduction goes.
To help take the guesswork out of your diet, we can test for food sensitivities using a blood test called a total IgG Food Sensitivity Test. This test is an alternative to the Elimination Diet and offers a quick and convenient way to identify foods that cause food sensitivities. For the blood test, no special preparation or fasting is required, simply proceed to the lab with your requisition from your Naturopathic Doctor and they will take a small sample to be analyzed for food sensitivities. You will receive a list of foods that are triggering your symptoms and then work towards improving your symptoms (see below for an example Test Report).
Common signs of food sensitivities include:
Health Conditions research has shown Total IgG Food Sensitivity Testing can be helpful or help provide valuable information in conditions like:
What is a Food Allergy, a Food Sensitivity and Food Intolerance?
Food allergy, food sensitivity and food intolerances are often used to describe all abnormal food-reactions. But there is actually a difference between all three.
A food allergy is an immediate immune reaction (IgE) that occurs shortly after eating a particular food. Even a small amount of the allergy-causing food can cause serious and life-threatening symptoms. Allergic reactions can cause vomiting, hives or rashes, difficulty breathing and anaphylactic shock. It is wise to seek Urgent Medical Care if you are having an active allergic reaction. To test for food allergies, you usually see an Allergist who will use a skin-prick test to determine which foods you have an allergy to. In general, it's recommended to avoid foods that are known to cause an allergic reaction to because of their harmful and possibly life-threatening risks.
A food sensitivity is a different type of immune reaction (IgG), where symptoms arise a few days after eating a trigger food. For this reason, food sensitivities are referred to as Delayed Reactions and can be associated with a variety of signs further discussed below. Because reactions to food sensitivities take longer to arise, it is often difficult to pinpoint which foods trigger our system, so typically an Elimination Diet or Food Sensitivity Testing (blood test) is used (discussed more below). It is important to figure out which foods trigger food sensitivities because we can heal from these reactions and bring them back into our diet again.
A food intolerance occurs when a person has difficulty digesting a particular food and is not associated with an immune reaction. Food intolerances are typically caused by the lack of enzymes that naturally occur in the body to help breakdown our food for digestion. Common signs of food intolerances include gas, stomach pain and diarrhea. For example, those with lactose intolerance cannot fully digest the sugar (lactose) in milk and milk-products. People with lactose intolerance can experience digestive upset after consuming dairy. Those with food intolerances typically avoid or limit their intake of the specific food or take a special digestive enzyme to help digest their intolerant-food better. For example, some people with lactose intolerance find they tolerate milk better if they take a supplement containing lactase, the enzyme that helps break down lactose.
How do we find out which foods cause food sensitivities?
The Elimination Diet has been the standard for many years to determine food sensitivities, where we avoid all common trigger-foods such as milk and milk-products, gluten, soy, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, bananas, strawberries, peanuts, soy and others, and see if your symptoms improve. Then after 4-6 weeks, we re-introduce the trigger-foods one-at-a-time and observe your body's reaction to them. This process is economical (because you don't have to pay for a test) and helps improve awareness of what's going on inside your body. But, the Elimination Diet process also involves determination (as you must strictly avoid all trigger foods), meal-planning, mostly self-preparation of meals and can take 4-months or more, depending upon how your food re-introduction goes.
To help take the guesswork out of your diet, we can test for food sensitivities using a blood test called a total IgG Food Sensitivity Test. This test is an alternative to the Elimination Diet and offers a quick and convenient way to identify foods that cause food sensitivities. For the blood test, no special preparation or fasting is required, simply proceed to the lab with your requisition from your Naturopathic Doctor and they will take a small sample to be analyzed for food sensitivities. You will receive a list of foods that are triggering your symptoms and then work towards improving your symptoms (see below for an example Test Report).
Common signs of food sensitivities include:
- Body-wide: Fever, fatigue, chills, sweating and feeling weak, puffiness
- Seasonal allergies, runny nose and/or nasal congestion
- Skin: Itching, redness, swelling, and rashes
- Brain: Mood and memory disturbances, behavioural problems
- Lung: Food-induced bronchitis and asthma symptoms
- Pain: Headaches, Joint pain, muscle stiffness and swelling
- Digestion: Nausea & vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, gas, and bloating
Health Conditions research has shown Total IgG Food Sensitivity Testing can be helpful or help provide valuable information in conditions like:
- Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (wheat sensitivity)
- Digestive Concerns: Irritable bowel Syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
- Migraine Headaches
- Weight gain
- Mood, attention deficit disorders
- Eczema
- Psoriasis
A Sample Food Sensitivity Report (courtesy of Rocky Mountain Analytical)
A little "Food For Thought"
- Food sensitivities are not the same as food allergies OR food intolerances
- There are two ways of figuring-out which foods trigger you: The Elimination Diet OR Food Sensitivity Blood Test
- The Food Sensitivity Test can provide you with a list of your trigger foods that you tested reactive to. This can help guide your Naturopathic Treatment plan.
- Food sensitivity testing isn’t always the right test for everyone, especially if you are experiencing Food Allergies (IgE)
- Your Naturopathic Assessment (First Naturopathic Visit) with Dr Monique Bassan BSc (Hons) ND will help determine the right test for you.
Curious if food-triggers may be a problem and wonder if Naturopathic Medicine can help you?
Contact us for your first naturopathic visit and get started today! |
References
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- Atkinson, W., Sheldon, T. A., Shaath, N., & Whorwell, P. J. (2004). Food elimination based on IgG antibodies in irritable bowel syndrome: a randomised controlled trial. Gut, 53(10), 1459–1464. https://doi.org/10.1136/gut.2003.037697
- Aydinlar, E. I., Dikmen, P. Y., Tiftikci, A., Saruc, M., Aksu, M., Gunsoy, H. G., & Tozun, N. (2013). IgG-based elimination diet in migraine plus irritable bowel syndrome. Headache, 53(3), 514–525. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2012.02296.x
- Bentz, S., Hausmann, M., Piberger, H., Kellermeier, S., Paul, S., Held, L., Falk, W., Obermeier, F., Fried, M., Schölmerich, J., & Rogler, G. (2010). Clinical relevance of IgG antibodies against food antigens in Crohn's disease: a double-blind cross-over diet intervention study. Digestion, 81(4), 252–264. https://doi.org/10.1159/000264649
- Cai, C., Shen, J., Zhao, D., Qiao, Y., Xu, A., Jin, S., Ran, Z., & Zheng, Q. (2014). Serological investigation of food specific immunoglobulin G antibodies in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. PloS one, 9(11), e112154. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112154
- Hardman, G. and Hart, G. (2007), Dietary advice based on food‐specific IgG results, Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 16-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/00346650710726913
- Karakula-Juchnowicz, H., Gałęcka, M., Rog, J., Bartnicka, A., Łukaszewicz, Z., Krukow, P., Morylowska-Topolska, J., Skonieczna-Zydecka, K., Krajka, T., Jonak, K., & Juchnowicz, D. (2018). The Food-Specific Serum IgG Reactivity in Major Depressive Disorder Patients, Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients and Healthy Controls. Nutrients, 10(5), 548. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10050548
- Lewis, J. E., Woolger, J. M., Melillo, A., Alonso, Y., Rafatjah, S., Jones, S. A., . . . Tannenbaum, J. (2012). Eliminating Immunologically-Reactive Foods from the Diet and its Effect on Body Composition and Quality of Life in Overweight Persons. Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy, 2(1), 1-6. doi:doi:10.4172/2165-7904.1000112
- Liu, Y., Yan, H., Shao, F., Li, Q. H., & Cui, M. (2018). Correlation between childhood eczema and specific IgG antibody level. Journal of biological regulators and homeostatic agents, 32(2), 341–344.
- Mansueto, P., D'Alcamo, A., Seidita, A., & Carroccio, A. (2015). Food allergy in irritable bowel syndrome: The case of non-celiac wheat sensitivity. World journal of gastroenterology, 21(23), 7089–7109. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v21.i23.7089
- Shakoor, Z., AlFaifi, A., AlAmro, B., AlTawil, L. N., & AlOhaly, R. Y. (2016). Prevalence of IgG-mediated food intolerance among patients with allergic symptoms. Annals of Saudi medicine, 36(6), 386–390. https://doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2016.386
- Wolters M. (2005). Diet and psoriasis: experimental data and clinical evidence. The British journal of dermatology, 153(4), 706–714. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2005.06781.x