Food Sensitivities

Food sensitivity testing: What’s your digestive system telling you?

Your gut may indeed be telling you something, especially if you routinely suffer from:

• Stomach pain
• Regular headaches
• Foggy thinking
• Sore or swollen joints
• Poor energy
• IBS, Crohn’s or diverticulitis

These health concerns are often triggered by food sensitivities. Food sensitivities are just as they sound: your body’s reaction to a food it doesn’t necessarily appreciate. When such a food is consumed, your body tags the food (think caution flag). It does this by attaching an IgG antibody to the food’s antigen, creating a circulating complex. Normally, such tagged complexes are eliminated by special cells called macrophages. But when macrophage overload occurs—in other words, when they can’t keep up with the flagged complexes being produced—outward symptoms occur (like those listed above).

Scratch-test does NOT equal food sensitivity

Did the “scratch-test” at your MD’s or allergist’s? These results are entirely different than those of food sensitivity testing, because the tests measure different antibodies, which, of course, exhibit different symptoms in your body. “Scratch tests” measure IgE antibodies, produced when you consume foods that trigger a hypersensitivity reaction in your body (such as hives). IgE reactions are typically rapid onset (think peanut anaphylaxis). Conversely, food sensitivity testing measures the number of tagged IgG antibody complexes for certain foods, with late-onset symptoms.

Easy Testing

Testing for an IgG response in the body for foods is done through a fingerprick blood test for an ELISA IgG panel. Most test 96 or more foods, and the foods screened include dairy and dairy products, meats, common fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood, grains, eggs, cocoa, yeast, and coffee.

Are food sensitivities responsible for every health concern?

Not necessarily.  There are numerous health concerns in the world, and numerous reasons why our body’s physiology changes. For instance, on the digestive health field, other factors besides food sensitivities that can negatively impact digestive health include:

• high stress (blood cortisol) levels
• altered intestinal microbial levels
• inadequate cellular nutrition, possibly the result of poor absorption due to intestinal inflammation
• serious underlying disease such as cancer

What can I do?

• Be mindful. Although IgG food sensitivities usually produce late-onset reactions, it’s always good to be aware of potential food-symptom connections. (For instance, does that morning joint swelling always occur when you’ve eaten almonds as a mid-afternoon or evening snack the day before?)
• Take the test. We do in-office testing for food sensitivities. Naturopathic medicine is covered by most extended health benefit plans.
• Contact us.  We are interested in hearing from you. Call us at 905-876-3047 ext 204 or email drkatie@dsouzahealth.com