Food allergy tests actually show food sensitivities, and not life threatening allergies.

The following blog addressing non-life threating food allergies or food sensitivities. Any food /substance that causes an anaphylactic reaction should be strictly eliminated and proper precautions taken.

I frequently get questions about food allergy testing by people looking for answers to why they feel awful all the time. Yes, it likely has something to do with what you are eating, however paying for a comprehensive food allergy test may not give you the answers you are looking for. Let me explain.

People are most likely to go get tested because they feel awful on many levels and honestly that’s probably the worst time to get tested. When you feel awful all over its most likely because your are full of inflammation. Then your allergy tests come back showing that you are allergic to so many common foods, more than you ever imagined, and it feels like an impossible task to eliminate all them. This can be very discouraging and disheartening. Often trying to eliminate a great many foods all at once is very stressful and that can be detrimental to your health.

Lisa’s approach is to look to the source of the inflammation and work on that, focusing on healing the body, empowering you with the information needed to take control of your health.

Food sensitivity symptoms:

frequent headaches
lethargy, fatigue, energy goes up and down quickly
brain fog, trouble concentrating, poor memory,
bloating, gassiness, indigestion, reflux, IBS
soreness all over, achy joints and limbs
skin problems, acne, eczema, psoriasis, dark circles under the eyes
foul body odor or bad breath
moodiness, irritability, anxiety, depression
frequent colds, susceptible to viruses, frequent sinus congestion, tonsil stones
difficulty sleeping

The problem with food allergy testing

Allergy testing measures the amount of inflammatory response your body is having to particular stimuli (foods). If the only thing you do is eliminate these foods you may feel better for a short time, but gradually you will start to feel worse again. And if you go get a follow up allergy test several months later, you’ll find that you are reacting to entirely different foods! Why is that? By eliminating the problem foods you decrease the inflammatory response for a short time. However you have done nothing to treat the source of the inflammation: your gut health, leaky gut causing over active immune histamine response. This is what causes the high levels of inflammation in your body leads to pain, brain fog, poor organ function, skin problems, poor sleep, etc. I prefer clients to work on the lowering the inflammation, addressing any causes, nutritional deficiencies, errors in diet and eliminating as many stressors as possible before doing allergy testing.

The solution

Dietary changes are a great place to start. Start by looking at what you eat daily and over a typical week. Keep a food diary if you need to be more aware of everything you are putting in the your mouth. Look carefully at foods you crave, or eat every single day, these can be inflammatory foods. When you eat a food you are sensitive to, not only does your body have an inflammatory response, it is often accompanied by a endorphin response. This gives you a bit of a “high” or energy boost or feel good sensation which drives the cravings.

If you are working with Lisa, she’ll likely guide you through some methods to increase drainage (fluid movement within the body) and provide organ support to lower inflammation.

The next step would be an elimination diet to stop feeding the inflammation. Start with your food cravings, then you can look at the most common inflammatory foods: dairy, gluten/wheat, eggs, soy and corn. When reintroducing foods after abstaining for the recommended time, do so slowly and watch for any reaction. A pulse test is a good tool to use during introduction. This involves taking your pulse before and after eating the food you are reintroducing and taking note of any difference. This is quite effective in identifying reactions, less so in those who who suffer with anxiety and palpitations.

While you are doing the elimination diet, you should be working to heal your gut and lower your over all inflammation in the body. This can involve gut healing foods, lifestyle modifications, supplements, homeopathic remedies or herbs. Lisa will be able to design a program that works best for you.

The histamine connection

A histamine response is a common inflammatory reaction. This can lead to common seasonal allergy reactions, nasal congestion, sneezing, headaches and even hives and other skin reactions including eczema. Histamines are a particular form of inflammation response, which can be caused by common environmental allergens, but more often can be cause by errors in diet and poor gut health. When I meet with someone who constantly relies on anti histamine allergy medications to feel better, I always look at their gut health.

Parasites- no one wants to talk about it or acknowledge that it may be an issue, but constant high levels of histamines in the body are often caused by parasites! FYI they don’t always show up on stool test because the sneaky buggers can be protected by biofilms that make it harder to detect and treat. Over the counter drugs don’t always work either, you need to treat the issue for at least 4 weeks, 8 weeks is better. This is why I recommend a Parasite cleanse once year for most people.

Candida over growth can also cause a spike in histamines and inflammation in the gut. The more inflammation there is in the gut, the more likely you are to react to certain foods and develop sensitivities. Cutting out added sugar can go a long way to decrease this, but often other supplements or homeopathic remedies are needed for established cases.

The stress Factor

Increased cortisol, a stress hormone response, can also increase histamine responses. When you are stressed, recovering from an acute illness, sleeping poorly or other forms of stress can increase histamines. This increase can create the appearance of new allergies or food sensitivities. In these cases addressing the source of the stress, as well as any increased nutritional needs, or organ/system support will help get you back on track.

my personal expereince

In 2004 I was training for a marathon (and dealing with additional stressors in my life) and I suddenly developed an allergy to sesame seeds. My reaction wasn’t anaphylactic, but my lips did swell hugely and I developed hives on my torso and ended up in Emerg twice! I’d never had a food allergy before then, just some seasonal allergies so it came as quite a surprise, as did the cost of Epi-pens! I used to eat sesame snaps often as a kid and couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden I was allergic. After the marathon was done I focused on supporting my body and started my work in Nutrition. I discovered that I was quite deficient in several B vitamins (very common in stressed individuals) and zinc, and with proper supplementation I was able to overcome my sesame seed allergy. I can now enjoy them as often as I like! No more Epi-pens for me.

Bottom Line

Unfortunately it isn’t always as easy as just avoiding foods that you may be sensitive to when it come to repairing your health. When it comes to food sensitivities, I always recommend working on your gut health, healing indigestion, cleaning out parasites or Candida if needed and lowering histamine levels. If you are still suffering from some lingering symptoms and discomforts after working to heal your gut and lower overall inflammation, then it may be useful to do a food allergy/sensitivity test. The number of allergies you’d test positive for will be much lower if any at all. It is helpful to do the work first, and if there are still some lingering symptoms of unknown origin then do the test and see if there is a food that is causing the problem.

The information provided here is for educational purposes only. For treatment please seek a qualified healthcare provider.