“Food Sensitivity Tests” are pretty common these days. There are now a plethora on the market, but – like anything – there are high quality ones, and low quality ones.
I have worked with many clients who have already tried some of these food sensitivity tests they see on Facebook ads or on tv commercials. (Yes, those are still a thing!) but without relief or results. And, there are multiple reasons these low-end tests don’t provide the answers you may be looking for
COMMON PITFALLS IN LOW-END FOOD SENSITIVITY TESTS:
𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝
Some places I worked did tests that looked at less than 30 items. That means there are hundreds of other foods that aren’t even being checked! If you expand, you likely will eat a food that wasn’t tested, and triggers a problem. And sometimes it’s not food! You need to test chemicals as well (I’ve had people have issues with food colorings in their deodorant, or a preservative in their medications. Once their doctor helped them find an alternative, we saw progress)
𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬, 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐒 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐭
As above… if such a small list is tested, and a bunch comes back as a reactive food, what if your list of “safe” foods is only 10 items long? You need a large test list that gives the high and medium reactive foods, as well as the safe foods.
𝟑. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐈𝐠𝐆 𝐚𝐧𝐝/𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐠𝐀 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 – 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 (*ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑡* 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝐼𝑔𝐺 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑔𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠.)
You need a comprehensive test that tests the END RESULTS from any of these pathways. IgG, IgA, Histamine, and all other non-IgE pathways. Look at the whole pie, not just 1 or 2 pieces.
𝟒. 𝐔𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 – 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫; 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬
You feel overwhelmed, and unsure where to start as your results come back with every single food you eat – or you feel you’ve wasted your time and money because they only thing that showed up was Mung Beans – “what they heck ARE mung beans even?” you wonder. And you are no closer to feeling better.
𝟓. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 – 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.
If the above issues happened (not enough items tested; chemicals not tested; answers too burdensome) and you diligently go through the program… but alas, no help to be had. It’s usually due to one of the previous reasons, or a nuanced issues you missed (for example, a client who realized she was reactive to soy, and didn’t think about changing up her chicken’s diet of corn and soy before eating the eggs – yes, it can matter. Or a client who had corn issues and found that in her cosmetics. Eczema, no more!)
𝟔. 𝐍𝐨 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 – 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮
You are confused on the test results, unsure what to eat, not seeing progress, and you aren’t sure how to deal with your medical issues on top of that! Maybe you need to also be on a low histamine diet; or FODMAP restrictions, or need to monitor with your glucose, or are trying to boost your protein intake… But you don’t have a guide, and you feel lost trying to do this all on your own. You want a test that comes with a full health history consultation, as well as ongoing support.
𝟕. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 – 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞
No one should ever have to avoid all whole foods for life (with few exceptions.) These tests are to help you reset and heal, but there should be a long-term plan to get to a sustainable plan. I had one client doing the Everlywell test ever 4 months per her doctor’s recommendation to help with migraines. After 3 solid years of this, she was no where close to seeing progress but now developed food anxiety over this ever shifting food list. If you can’t get off of a restricted list, you haven’t addressed the underlying cause.
𝟖. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 – 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞?
You need to know that to begin to heal and prevent problems later down the road. Food sensitivities usually show there’s an issue with your gut health integrity, GI lining, microbiome, and/or a hyper-responsive immune system. Using a quality food sensitivity test helps you feel better, fast — to calm your body down — but you still need to test and figure out WHY you had them in the first place.
*****These are some of the reasons I use the Mediator Release Test (MRT) with the LEAP ImmunoCalm diet protocol; and recommend it over the other tests.
TEST, DON’T GUESS. Be willing to invest in the RIGHT path to feeling your best.
If you think you may have food sensitivity issues or GI damage, I’d love to hop on a free call with you and help you get a game plan. We can go over your symptoms, health history, and determine if this is the right path for you. Have you tried food sensitivity tests in the past that you think meet any of those 8 Pitfalls? Don’t worry, I can help you with that too!
**FEEL BETTER, FAST**