Food Intolerance Testing

I am intolerant to more than ten Wendy's spicy chicken nuggets at a time.
No tests needed. My guts tell me the next day that they don't tolerate it.

I am also intolerant to kale. I put it in my mouth once and my taste buds immediately reacted with complete intolerance.

My father-in-law is intolerant to lactose (the sugar in dairy products). If he eats to much pizza he has to take a few extra bathroom breaks. If he eats regular ice cream he can't stray far from the toilet at all.

I myself had a blood test done that measured IgE and IgG levels for a large variety of foods, when I was being tested. I know some doctors consider the higher IgG levels to be indicative of a potential intolerance, although from what I've read, that is seeming less and less likely the more research is done.

I did find the test showing IgE levels useful, though, and for me, many of the foods with high IgG, DID turn out to be problems.

However, it was not nearly as useful as a simple, but intense, elimination diet combined with a food journal, honestly. Dropping the 8 most common allergens (wheat - or gluten in my case, as I'm a celiac, dairy, soy, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts) plus any artificial dyes, preservatives, additives, is what was done. And avoiding it to allergic levels, so no ingredients derived from these allergens, nothing.

It basically meant that I made everything from scratch, from very basic ingredients. And I learned along the way to make sure my ingredients WERE the most basic...and to try not to use an ingredient in every meal, just in case. And it was less than a week before some correlations were being made between how the body felt and what foods were eaten.

Every single food that was 'bad' on the allergy/intolerance test showed up correlating on the food journal, too (and as I started the food journal after the test but two weeks BEFORE I got the results, I figured that was pretty good news). But I also found a number of other foods that were problematic too, and had not shown up on the test, but that have consistently proven to cause me problems when I accidentally get them these days.

The one thing I'd say about doing a really intense elimination diet is to try and never have one ingredient that you eat every single meal, and on top of that, no set of ingredients that would be present in every single meal if they come from the same company.

I thought I was reacting to oil in general at one point, but it turned out I was reacting to an allergen that was contaminating all the oils I tried, because they were all from the same company and made on the same equipment lines.

And I thought for a while that I was just reacting to what seemed like everything. Then one day when I was sick, I ran out of salt for a couple days and was too sick to go get new salt. And suddenly I am feeling SO much better, and feeling sick again when I added salt back in. Turns out I react to corn, which is present in all iodized salt as a stabilizer. As I added at least a little salt to every meal, I would have never known it was an issue, you know?

Now, if I ever have to do elimination diets again, I try to make sure and have every ingredient missing from at least one or two meals a day, so that there is a gap in 'bad' feelings that is more trackable. :-)



I should probably add, for honesty's sake, that my case might be unique on how useful an elimination diet is. I have a disorder that causes me to react to a LOT of things, but in ways that aren't really trackable unless I had a barrage of tests done after every item of food I ate. So the elimination diet has allowed me to determine what I react to in a more workable way. I don't know if it would find so many problem foods that the test did not, otherwise.

I was going to get one done but they made me do an elimination diet first (6 weeks total) and i was shocked to find out it was dairy for me.

Literally within 20 minutes of re-introducing it my stomach was rumbling. For some reason when i had eaten it my whole life i never experienced these side effects (although i did have bloating, constipation and heartburn along with some skin eczema) so i was really surprised.

I would like to get a test done in the future though, i'm curious if anything else could be going on as well.

I had the ALCAT test done last year as I knew it was more intolerances than allergies for me, based on my reaction. Some of it was confirmed for me what I already deducted - tomatoes, soy. Some were things I would not have identified myself - clove, casein (I knew some milk products were iffy but didn't know why). I do think that it does pick up things that may not really be an issue; or at least for me I don't have the reaction I'm watching for many things on the list. I will stay away from those most days but might have something once a month if I really did want something. Most of mine were things I only added for a healthier diet so I was able to easily remove. Some things are near impossible for me so I base it on my reaction in how much I need to stay away. Very expensive test but for me since I can now identify what sends me into an itchy mess it was very helpful to have confirm. I did not do the additional additive test; but all of the food ones. I've been able to test out the additives myself as it's a much smaller list.

crzycatlady1 wrote: »

danielle0400 wrote: »

MissusMoon wrote: »

danielle0400 wrote: »

Hey there! Just curious to who has had the test done? What did your results reveal and how did you change your lifestyle after? I realize it's a controversial test, I had it done. Which was pretty helpful, and surprising.

Can I ask, what kind of doctor is doing the testing, and what is the exact protocol of the testing. 99% of this stuff is woo. It's not controversial if it's not actually medically and scientifically valid.

A DO preferred the work, inconjuction with a lab in Seattle... another md also recommended i do it.

Not an allergist? My daughter had the 'scratch' test done through an allergist because we suspected a dairy allergy. We found out she's lactose intolerant and following the allergist's recommendations she's had no issues since then. My sister-in-law also had the scratch test done (allergist) and it picked up several full blown allergies, as well as things she's sensitive to, but can tolerate in certain circumstances (for instance-she cannot eat cooked eggs, but she can tolerate them in baked goods). If you haven't had the scratch test done yet I'd highly recommend it!

I just want to point out that an allergy and an intolerance are not the same thing.

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/foods-allergy-intolerance

"
The Alcat Test measures food/immune reactions through stimulation of leukocytes. The leukocytes, which comprise five classes of white blood cells (WBCs), including monocytes, lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils and neutrophils (~ 70 - 80% of WBC's) can be challenged with individual food or chemical extracts. Immunologic defense reactions, e.g. of neutrophils, initiate an instrumental primary role in inflammation. While this is a very effective first-line defense strategy against acute infections, chronic activation of the immune system may lead to health disorders.

The Alcat Test does not identify type 1 classical IgE mediated (anaphylaxis) allergies.

The difference between the Alcat Test and IgG antibody testing: Food and Chemical sensitivities are mediated by multiple pathogenic mechanisms. By using the cellular approach, instead of a single antibody such as IgG, the Alcat Test can identify food and chemical sensitivities regardless of the pathway (immunologic, toxic, pharmacologic). The cells release free radicals and inflammatory mediators without antibody involvement.

The majority of studies suggest that food specific IgG antibodies are protective and thereby not pathogenic."

For example, someone could have no lactose or whey intolerance, yet they may have an allergy to dairy. Or they could have the ALCAT test done and show no reactivity while having a positive IgG response.

If you have symptoms of ALLERGIES then yes a skin prick test can be helpful.

danielle0400 wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

I was going to get one done but they made me do an elimination diet first (6 weeks total) and i was shocked to find out it was dairy for me.

Literally within 20 minutes of re-introducing it my stomach was rumbling. For some reason when i had eaten it my whole life i never experienced these side effects (although i did have bloating, constipation and heartburn along with some skin eczema) so i was really surprised.

I would like to get a test done in the future though, i'm curious if anything else could be going on as well.

Dairy was my shocker too.. It wasn't just milk it was all dairy.. especially whey Sadly, that was a good check of my calories (I'm not a big eater, so shakes and bars were a big go-to for me). I actually got my results right after being sick, so I was pretty empty on food, I did notice after eating a cobb salad last week, that the dairy definitely didn't sit well. Ugh!

Yeah I'm a vegetarian and was relying on bars, shakes, Greek yogurt, and other dairy to reach my goal.