Why Consider Food Allergy Testing?

Food Allergies can have a dramatic impact on your health. Common food allergies such as that of peanuts, milk or chicken can be more easily identified because the body’s reactions to these allergens are immediate. However, some food allergies or intolerances don’t produce symptoms until 2-3 days after they are eaten. Another factor that may complicate a delayed food allergy is the number of foods that may have been eaten may contain 10 or more ingredients. Food allergy testing is crucial at this point, because individuals, parents and health care professionals may have a hard time identifying the culprits. Food sensitivity panel tests for 184 common foods.  price is $265 including the in-office blood draw.

Immediate & Delayed Food Sensitivities

The rate that our bodies react to allergens can be grouped into two categories: Immediate and Delayed. In an Immediate reaction, the body produces IgE (Immunoglobulin E) which instantly reacts thus making them easier to identify. These serious reactions can be life-threatening and require the expertise and treatment skills of a medical doctor to develop the best plan to avoid and respond to a IgE reaction. You can find valuable information about this type of food allergies at Alletess Medical Laboratory. The IgE response is NOT the reaction being evaluated here with our food allergy test.

When the reaction is observed more than 72 hours after eating a specific food, a Delayed food allergy or intolerance is at play. The time that it takes for the intolerance to show symptoms makes it hard to identify which food is causing the reaction. One of the best way to identify these delayed food allergens is with a blood test that identifies your personal sensitivity to a list of the most common ones.

In a delayed reaction, the body produces the antibody IgG. Aside from being the most abundant antibody, IgG also produces the most common reactions to food allergies. These unidentified food allergies can compromise your immune system, disrupt normal digestion, and are also linked to a number of chronic diseases such as ADD/ADHD, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autism.

About Your Test Results

Certain results, when complete, provide an option to purchase a one-on-one consult with Dr. Moreira regarding your results and what they may mean for your health going forward.  If you choose a consult, she will also provide you with tailored eating plans and recipe ideas to help you implement a healing nutritional strategy involving your food choices.

The IgG 184 Food Allergy Panel - is a simple way to identify which food allergies may be affecting your health. Alletess Food Sensitivity only requires a simple in-office blood draw that takes no more than 15 minutes. The results of your food allergy test will let you know which food you are most reactive to by ranking each food as low, medium and high. It’s a simple way to begin healing from the inside out!

Frequently asked questions

What is “leaky gut”?
Leaky gut is a condition that affects intestinal permeability. Tight-junctions in the gastrointestinal tract control the absorption of molecules in the small intestines. When these junctions are no longer “tight” substances may enter the bloodstream that otherwise would not. This can lead to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and has been associated with autoimmune diseases.

Food Intolerance vs Food Sensitivity vs Food Allergy
A food intolerance occurs when the body does not produce adequate enzymes (or perhaps does not produce any of the needed enzymes) to digest a particular food, or an excessive amount of a particular food has been consumed and the body cannot produce enough enzymes to cope. Symptoms of food intolerance are gastrointestinal – bloating, gas, diarrhea – they are not life threatening. A common example is lactose intolerance – many people do not produce the enzyme lactase, or do not produce enough lactase to be able to digest milk. Yogurt and cheese may be tolerated by lactose intolerant individuals.

A food sensitivity is an immune-mediated response to some foods. Food sensitivities may change and are impacted by cross-reacting environmental allergens, certain medications, and cross-reactivity within food groups. Symptoms vary and are not exclusively gut related. Food sensitivities are not life threatening and can be resolved by removing the culprit foods from the diet.

If you choose to have an IgG ELISA Comprehensive Food Panel test you are selecting a food sensitivity test.

Food allergies occur when the body responds to innocuous food proteins with an abnormal IgE mediated hypersensitivity reaction This is an immune reaction, which can in rare cases, have serious consequences. Many young children have multiple food allergies that they usually outgrow by the time they are adults.

Source of Allergens used in Alletess Food Sensitivity (IgG) and General Allergy (IgE) testing
General allergen extracts used at Alletess are sourced from FDA approved suppliers.  Food extracts are obtained from organic raw materials.  Testing the complete ‘raw’ extract is pragmatically the best approach to defining a patient’s response.

The use of the raw food extracts is common in allergy testing.  Cooking or processing foods may denature some of the allergenic proteins.  Some allergens, however, are resistant to heat and/or digestive enzymes.  Furthermore, the number of cooking methods, the temperatures used, and differences in processing methods for many foods are incredibly varied and would be impossible to address in the context of ELISA testing.

Like all diagnostic tests, food sensitivity and allergy testing can only be interpreted in conjunction with the patient’s symptoms. Please be assured that Alletess uses rigorous Quality Control procedures to ensure test reproducibility and reliability.

How often should you retest for food sensitivities?
We usually advise the patient be retested within 6-12 months after the initial test. However, if symptoms have improved and the culprit foods have been reintroduced without adverse reaction then a retest is not necessary.

How often should you retest for Candida, yeast overgrowth?
Curing Candida, yeast overgrowth can take time. Therefore, it depends on the initial antibody levels from the test result. Diet, herbal remedies and medications are typically recommended for treatment with retesting within 6 months.

What is Gluten?
Gluten is a compound protein – gliadin and glutenin. In recent years gluten-free diets have gained popularity, and many people report feeling better overall when they remove gluten from the diet. Less than 2% of the population have gluten allergies, this includes those diagnosed with celiac disease. We may wonder why gluten has become such an issue in recent years – could it be that we now consume much more than we did before? Has the type of wheat which is generally consumed changed?

The recent article in the New York Times by Moises Velasquez Manoff, The Myth of Big, Bad Gluten, offers a different perspective.

Gluten free grains include: teff, rice, corn, amaranth, quinoa.

Oats may be tolerated by those who react to gluten.

What are GMO foods?
Many GMO plants are developed to resist pesticides or herbicides or to produce an insecticide as the plant grows. This allows farmers to spray chemicals to kill weeds but will not damage the crop they want to grow.

However, there is one example of a GMO crop which is beneficial – Golden Rice. Golden Rice has been engineered to produce Vitamin A to combat Vitamin A deficiency in parts of the world. Some 190 million children around the world have Vitamin A deficiency which can cause blindness and premature death. Replacing just 20% of their regular rice with Golden Rice can provide adequate Vitamin A to prevent loss of sight[g1] [H2] [LS3] [LS4] .

Currently, food manufacturers in the United States are not required to label foods that contain GMOs. (64 countries around the world do require GMO labeling). Follow the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act alternatively known as the DARK Act (Deny Americans the Right to Know) through our legislature, it was passed in the US House of Representatives July 23rd 2015.

If you are concerned about GMO foods in your diet, the following are at high risk for cross-pollination with GMO plants:

• Alfalfa
• Canola
• Corn
• Cotton
• Papaya
• Soy
• Sugar Beets
• Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash

What does “organic” mean?
Organic products have been grown without pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, they have not been genetically modified and have not been irradiated. Animal products have been raised without antibiotics or growth hormones.

What do organic labels mean?
100% Organic – the item is made with 100% organic ingredients.

Organic – 95% of the ingredients must be organic.
Made with Organic Ingredients – a minimum of 70% organic ingredients and no GMOs.
Check out www.organic.org for product reviews and information on organic products.

Should I Buy Local or Organic?
Supporting your local farmer keeps money in your community, however, not all local farmers are “certified organic” farmers. It usually takes three years to obtain the “Certified Organic” stamp. If your local farmer does not have the “organic” stamp ask what chemicals he uses on his crops. He may be not be using any.