Food Allergy - testing for
[UPDATED OCTOBER 2022]
Please see this page's sister page - Food Allergy - which diet to do
Introduction
I rarely do food allergy tests because people misinterpret them as what is or is not safe to eat. No test can mimic what goes on in the body after food has been chewed, swallowed, digested and absorbed! Food reactions may result not just from allergy, but poor digestion of food or gut fermentation. Furthermore allergy reactions to food change with time - if you have avoided a food for some time you may be tolerant of the occasional exposure. This does not apply if you have ever had an anaphyslactic reaction!
A further problem with allergy tests is the high numbers of false positives and false negatives. Many doctors will tell patients that they are not allergic, and therefore they can eat anything, because the tests are negative. This is misleading.
Diagnosis by elimination diet
The PK Diet
My work up to diagnose food allergy is to start with the PK diet - this eliminates the three top allergens namely grains, dairy products and yeast. It helps to eliminate other problems such as hypoglycaemia, reactions to which may be confused with allergy reaction. Please see
- The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - this is a diet which we all should follow
- The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - meals which require no cooking or preparation
- The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - PK Bread
- The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - PK Dairy
- Diet - what you need to eat to slow the normal ageing process
and my new book on the "PK" diet
If symptoms still persist...
If allergy symptoms persist, then one may need to do further detective work either on a best guess basis, or possibly a rare foods diet, or rotation diet or a Carnivore Diet - see below. If there are multiple allergies then I start desensitisation such as Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation (EPD) - how it works.
The Carnivore Diet
If symptoms persist, try the Carnivore Diet. In essence, the primitive Carnivore Diet is as below (see My book - Paleo-Ketogenic: The Why and The How for more detail).
Drinks:
- Water, flat or fizzy, with vitamin C dissolved in it.
- Black tea and coffee (away from mealtimes).
- Bone broth – with a pinch of Sunshine salt (see Sunshine Salt ).
Meals:
- At first you should eat meat only.
- If you are sure you are not allergic to fish, then add it in.
- If you are sure you are not allergic to eggs, then add them in too.
- Then re-introduce foods and watch out for reactions!
Available tests
- Antigliadin antibodies for wheat: one of the commonest foods causing problems is wheat protein, namely gluten. However, there are other antibodies associated with this problem, namely anti-endomysial antibody and anti-reticulin antibody. For example, antigliadin antibodies test can be used to diagnose coeliac disease (allergy to gluten), but it will not pick out all those patients who would respond to a wheat-free diet. This is because they may be allergic to wheat starch and not to gluten. The point here is that a negative test does not mean it is safe to eat gluten grains!
- FACT test: - The Food Allergen Cellular Test - This is probably the most useful of the blood tests for food allergies since it looks at leucotriene production in response to various foods. Please see here - Positive Health webpage on FACT
Neutralisation
- Neutralisation - It is also possible to diagnose food allergies by using neutralisation.
Other Allergens: dusts, pollens and animals
Most of the reactions to dusts, pollens and animals (fur and feathers) are mediated via IgE antibodies and can be tested for by skin test or antibody levels (common inhalant profile IgE - house dust mite, comprehensive grass mix, cultivated rye, comprehensive tree mix, comprehensive weed mix, cat, dog, horse, comprehensive mould). To find a practitioner who uses the method of skin testing, please visit British Society for Ecological Medicine then contact individual practitioners.
Allergen Group Tests: there are also tests that measure levels of IgE antibodies to certain groups of allergens:
- Insect Allergen Panel: bee, wasp, hornet (and optional additional mosquito).
- Comprehensive Animal Allergen Panel: cat, dog, horse, cow, guinea pig, rabbit, rat, mouse.
- Bird Keeper's Allergen Panel: bird feathers - budgerigar, canary, parakeet, parrot, finch.
Because there are so many tests for allergens, they are not all on the website. If you want to try something like this, just tell us what you want
Related Tests
Related Articles
- Food Allergy - which diet to do
- Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation (EPD) - how it works
- The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - this is a diet which we all should follow
- The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - meals which require no cooking or preparation
- The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - PK Bread
- The Paleo Ketogenic Diet - PK Dairy
- Diet - what you need to eat to slow the normal ageing process
- My book - Paleo-Ketogenic: The Why and The How
- Neutralisation
External Links
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