Are you wondering if you have a underlying food sensitivity? What test should you take? Should you even take one? Find out on today's episode!
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Transcript
One thing that you’ve probably seen on the internet or talked about it with someone is food sensitivities. Now to start off with, I’m not talking about allergies, which is the IgE response to certain foods or environmental factors. But, our body responding to foods that affects us negatively, NOT a full blown allergy. The definition of a food sensitivity is an inflammation generated reaction against a specific food that does not involve IgE sensitivity. Many food sensitivity tests test only one component of our immune system reacting to food, like just IgG or just IgA, etc. One problem with that is there are other aspects of our immune system that could be reacting to a food, not just IgG. And MOST food sensitivity tests only test IgG or IgA. Just IgG being elevated to a certain food can actually show tolerance versus having an intolerance. It’s just showing that your body is exposed to a certain food, it doesn’t mean technically mean a sensitivity. There are many different ways the immune system can respond that doesn’t include IgG, IgA, IgM, etc. In the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, it backs up with what I’m saying that IgG to foods does not indicate food allergy or intolerance, but a response of the immune system after being exposed to a food components. Having a food sensitivity and it actually affecting our body, we want to look for mediator releases, which are cytokines (interleukins, TNF, Interferons), Histamine, Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, etc. These are released from white blood cells. If these aren’t being released, then there is ultimately no negative effects to our body from a certain food. The physical symptoms (like fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, headache, etc.) all come from these mediators. Not all immune complexes and reactions end with these mediators. Most food sensitivity tests show one small part of the immune response. It’s just if you just test ONE hormone, like one estrogen, when there are actually three major estrogens E1, E2, E3. It’s just one tiny part of a big picture. This is why I’m a big fan of the DUTCH test for hormones and adrenals. The food sensitivity test that I recommend is the MRT. Because it shows these mediator end points of how we’re reacting to food. If you take any other food sensitivity test, you are most likely taking out foods that you are fine with. It can become very restrictive when it doesn’t need to be. I don’t want people to have to deal with false negatives/false positives. Of course, the cheapest way to test for food sensitivities in your body is the elimination diet and I love doing this with most of my clients at first with the most common inflammatory foods because you can get results like that. BUT, sometimes people are sensitive to foods that are healthy like broccoli or cauliflower or almonds. It can be hard to exactly pinpoint which food it could be and it takes a lot longer because you need to rid yourself of a certain food for about 3 weeks and reintroduce and see if you get symptoms and how you feel. It’s a timely process. BUT, I do want to say that the gut plays a big role in food sensitivity and how we react to the outside environment. If you find yourself with a lot of allergies or food sensitivities, you need to work deeper into the issue of not just avoiding the problematic foods, but actually nourishing and healing your gut. Again, our gut is our place where we respond to the outside world. 70% of our immune system lies in our gut. I highly recommend the MRT food sensitivity test.