{On IgG Food Testing for Food Sensitivity} Got a Q about this, and it is a great one, because there are so many threads to this conversation, and so much misinformation out there to boot. First, most people who say they have been checked for food allergies get a skin prick test. This test checks for ONE type of allergy, and IgE allergy, the one responsible for seasonal-type allergy symptoms at best and anaphylaxis at worst. IgE is just ONE way that your immune system can have a reaction to a food. IgG sensitivity is another way. IgG, contrasted to IgE, is responsible for more chronic/less acute symptoms, takes slower for symptoms to manifest, and may not interrupt daily life at all, though they may keep you from feeling your best. IgG forms immune complexes, which get into the blood and general circulation & can create symptoms ANYWHERE (not just the gut, loves!) Data for IgG testing efficacy are solidly mixed. This does not mean, however, that we should inherently discard it. If we use it, it is important to know what we are looking for and not live or die by the test results. Side note ----> honestly, we dont need to live or die by most labs. They are a mere snapshot in time, not an iron-clad, written-in-stone sentence for who you. They are helpful, of course, but when we focus solely on labs and neglect symptoms and lifestyle, we are doing ourselves an enormous disservice When I run an IgG test, or when someone brings one in for me to look at, I am assessing the following: 1. Are there one or two foods that come up really strongly? 2. Are there a bunch - more than four to six - that come up mild-moderate? 3. Is there a mix between the two? I use these guidelines to guide elimination diet & gut restoration. If someone comes in with 25 foods lit up, its not that they have 25 sensitivities, but rather there is an issue between the interface where food and the immune system interact - the wall of the small intestine. Intestinal barrier function (IBF) compromise is responsible for quite a bit of reaction we see in IgG testing. The lining lack integrity, thus food particles are heavily stimulating to the immune system, thus you are reacting to everything your immune system comes across. Big, BIG difference from a skin prick test. Bottom line is that I use IgG testing essentially to assess IBF and guide future steps. Foods that are reacting strongly are eliminated for 4-6 weeks in conjunction with gut restoration. After that time, foods are systematically, strategically re-introduced, one by one, to determine how they are acting in YOUR body. Your body will let you know, and this is a huge piece of how you determine whether you have a true sensitivity to a food vs. it being an artifact from some other issue in your GI system (inflammation, IBF dysfunction, low digestive fire, micro biome concerns, pathogenic infection, etc…) Does it take time? Yes. But there is really no quick and dirty way to get around it. Experimenting with this stuff takes time but gives you the absolute best data, and for that there is no test to take.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 18:09:52 +0000
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