The Low Down on Food Testing

Food allergies, food sensitivities, IgE testing, IgG testing...what’s this all about and how could it help you?

It’s something we hear about more frequently these days. A 2015 social invite, especially when children are involved, is often accompanied by the question “Do you have any food allergies or sensitivities?” Someone who experiences these issues knows how important it is to be aware of the ingredients in the food they eat. On the other hand, many people are unaware that their food can trigger many undesirable symptoms and chronic inflammation. Whether a food is considered healthy or not has no bearing on how your body may react when you ingest it.

 

IgE - Fast and Furious

Allergies, to foods such as peanuts, eggs or shellfish, call upon your IgE antibodies to respond to what is considered a threat to your system. When an intruder (an allergen such as a peanut) is detected, the body produces chemicals like histamine which create an inflammatory reaction to take out the ‘bad guy’. An IgE response usually occurs within minutes to a few hours after eating the offending food. Reactions can range from gastrointestinal issues like cramps, diarrhea and vomiting, to skin issues such as hives, or respiratory issues. Unfortunately this type of inflammatory attack can at times be strong enough to cause life threatening results such anaphylaxis, when inflamed airways close off breathing.

The most common food allergens are -

Peanuts, Wheat, Dairy, Soy, Fish, Shellfish, Eggs, Tree Nuts

These foods account for 90% of food allergies in the United States and by law must be labeled on any processed foods.

An IgE allergy test, which is a simple blood test, will alert you to the types of substances that will cause your immune system to react with this type of swift immune response. However, usually a person is quite aware of these types of allergies due to the swiftly occurring allergic reaction, so they can easily determine the responsible food.

 

IgG - A Slower Immune Response

IgG antibodies react to food proteins with a slower inflammatory response. The body’s release of inflammatory cytokines may produce reactions days after the offending food was ingested. This can make it hard to determine a connection between the food and the delayed symptoms which can occur up to seventy-two hours later. While these reactions are not immediately life threatening they can wreak havoc on your health over the long term. IgG reactions can be caused by many foods and are linked to delayed symptoms such as migraine headaches, painful digestive bloating or other IBS symptoms, acne, eczema, psoriasis, achy joints or muscles,  mood issues and brain fog, just to name a few.

Let’s say you enjoy pizza and some ice cream on a Saturday evening and come Monday afternoon you are at work feeling another darn migraine coming on. You are feeling terrible but not making a connection between your Saturday food choices and your current state. Meanwhile, your body is releasing those inflammatory cytokines from the dairy and wheat on Saturday, and not realizing they are a problem for you, you have eaten them again on Monday as a lunch of leftover pizza. Continued inflammation will be the delayed IgG response. As this goes on undetected and you repeatedly ingest wheat and dairy, you create a state of chronic inflammation in your body. Chronic inflammation is when your body doesn’t shut the inflammatory response off and damage occurs to healthy tissue. This is the beginning of the disease process.

According to Dr. David Marquis, “The presence of inflammation is what makes most disease perceptible to an individual. It can and often does occur for years before it exists at levels sufficient to be apparent or clinically significant. How long it has been smoldering really determines the degree of severity of a disease and often the prognosis assuming the inflammation can be controlled. One could also argue that without inflammation most disease would not even exist.”

You can see why it is important to be aware of ‘random’ symptoms you are experiencing and the possible causes of them. Like the IgE blood test, an IgG blood test will alert you to food items that cause a delayed inflammatory response which you otherwise may never connect to your symptoms. If you think some of your chronic symptoms could be linked to the foods you are eating ask your doctor for an IgG Food Allergy Test. You can also order your own test through companies such as MyMedLab.com . Another option is to keep a food journal tracking everything you eat and drink. Note patterns between foods you have eaten and symptoms you experience in the following days. This takes more work but can prove useful as well.

If you are experiencing symptoms that concern you these tests may be helpful in determining a possible cause. Even if you eat a ‘perfect’ diet of foods you consider to be healthy, your body may have something different to say on the matter. IgE and IgG tests or food journaling are simple ways to discover if a particular food is the cause of your trouble. While giving up a favorite food item may be tough...it’s better than creating an inflammatory process with each bite!

It’s Your Life...Choose Health!