Food allergies are very common in the US.
IgE food allergies, which are the acute, life threatening anaphylactic type allergy response affects approximately 15 million Americans. These are IgE mediated food reactions which standard care claims is the only real type of food allergy. These are the kind of allergies if a child eats a peanut, his face may swell or he may have trouble breathing and is why certain foods are not allowed in some schools or work places. IgE type food allergies are tested by doing skin scratch testing and seeing if a noticeable swelling occurs on the skin, but most patients can figure out they are allergic to a food by the obvious and intense reaction to it which unfortunately occurs.
However, clinically, many more people suffer from of a different type of food allergy, called IgG delayed reaction allergy, which is much harder to discern. Estimates are hard to pinpoint but it seems that between 45-60% of Americans have an IgG reaction.
Whether it is an actual “allergy” or a food “sensitivity” or a food “reaction” is not as important as finding out which foods are reactive and are causing significant problems in patients.
IgG delayed food reaction means that a person eats a turkey sandwich for lunch and wakes up the next day with new psoriasis lesions, or has heartburn or a migraine. What caused that—was it the wheat in the bread, the yeast in the bread, the egg in the mayo, the cheese, the turkey, the corn in the chips the patient also ate? It’s impossible to know without doing testing from a reliable lab.
IgG food allergy testing is done via a typical blood draw from a patient’s arm. It’s a non-fasting draw so we can draw the blood at the end of the first office visit if it seems a valuable tool. We send the serum to an alternative lab which can test up to 184 foods from the one blood draw; it takes 5 to 7 days to get the results back. There are only a handful of labs in the US that do a valid IgG food allergy test and AIMS uses a company called Alletess Medical Laboratory.
Many conditions have studies showing that food reactions are oftentimes a vitally important etiological factor in many conditions: psoriasis, eczema, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux, migraines, inflammatory bowel disease, gallbladder pain, chronic sinusitis, irritable bowel syndrome, eosinophilia esophagitis, auto-immune conditions, and chronic illness, and others.
When we get back the food allergy test result, we explain it very precisely to patients so they are well educated on what is happening in their body. We have many handouts we use to help them learn how to avoid their allergy(ies); how to eat alternative foods; how to read ingredients; where to eat at restaurants; and where to shop. It makes is very easy for patients to follow the plan.
When a patient has many food allergies come back positive on a test result, we understand they also likely have “leaky gut” or “intestinal permeability”. This is the wearing down of the lining of the small intestine from having eaten a problematic food for years, causing a malfunction of tight junctions between cells, inflammation, and decreased protective mucous. The healing process with these patients is to remove the food sensitivities, heal the gut, and then add in as many of the reactive foods the patient can eat again without reproducing the main condition they came to be treated for. In general, when the gut is healed up, patients can typically add in 95% of the positive foods with no trouble.
At AIMS clinic, this type of food allergy testing is the number one alternative test we do. We have done hundreds and hundreds of these and have had had patients heal from so many conditions as a result. Having your blood tested for food sensitivities may be one of the most valuable investigatory tests you an have done to remove a major obstacle to the return of your health.
Click above image to Watch a video concerning the advantages of digestive enzymes with Dr. Mona Morestein.
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Arizona Integrative Medical Solutions
4657 S. Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1
Tempe, AZ 85282
Office Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8:30-5:30 pm
Sat: 8:00-Noon
Our office is located near Baseline Road and Rural Road in Tempe, Arizona