Food Sensitivity & Food Intolerance Testing

 

Food sensitivity and Food Intolerance testing is a great way in Australia to quickly identify and measure food sensitivities that may be causing and contributing to chronic disease, autoimmune disease, gastrointestinal disorders and a range of other seemingly unrelated health conditions.

We offer food sensitivity and food intolerance testing Australia wide that includes up to 132 different foods and additives.

The Food intolerance test we use is the most sensitive as it tests both IgG and Immune Complex containing C3d (IC-C3d) simultaneously.  By measuring both IgG and IC-C3d simultaneously, we get a much clearer signal in the test, giving much more accurate results than other IgG food tests that only measure IgG.

The benefits of food intolerance testing

• identifying the foods that are causing inflammation
• reduce to intestinal permeability
• improving mental clarity
• improve energy levels
• ability to create a personalised nutrition plan

The importance of the gut

Aside from the obvious gastrointestinal symptoms caused by food sensitivities and intolerances, there are a wide range of seemingly unrelated symptoms that can be related to with food sensitivities, these include fatigue, skin reactions, brain fog, sleep disturbances and aches and pain.

Problems with gut health, such as increased intestinal permeability, bacterial overgrowth and eating foods that cause an inflammatory reaction in the gut cause systemic health problems.

We now know that the gut is the organ that produces the majority or our neurotransmitters, more than 90% of 5-HTP (precursor to serotonin), it houses approximately 2/3 of the immune system, has a metabolic activity greater than any organ in the body and contains more cells that the rest of the body combined.

You can see how important it is to ensure the gut is operating optimally, and one of the best ways to establish this is the removal of foods that are causing reactions and inflammation.

Types of food reactions

There are two main types of adverse food reactions.

IgE Immune response

The IgE food reactions are the classic food type reactions that occur shortly after ingesting the food or anaphylaxis. It is strong immediate immune response to food, up to 4% of the population suffer these reactions.

IgG Immune response

The IgG food reactions are an immune response to the body’s exposure to a perceived pathogen.  It is elevated to foods that we eat commonly that trigger the immune system.  IgG alone can be an unreliable measure of food sensitivity. But when combined with the inflammation marker IC-C3d, we get a much more accurate picture of those foods causing inflammation in the body.

IgG reactions are generally not noticed immediately and can be experienced days after ingestion of the offending food,

The IgG reactions occur when incompletely digested food particles cross the permeable membrane of the small intestine, these undigested particles can elicit an IgG or IgA immune response.

Even with a healthy intestinal wall integrity, approximately 2% of ingested protein is still passed through and available for the immune system to react to.

What sets up food Sensitivity

• Nutrient deficiencies
• Low stomach acid
• Food and environmental allergies
• Intestinal permeability
• Maldigestion
• Genetic / epigenetic factors
• Gut dysbiosis
• Stress
• Foods that are very frequently eaten

When the pH of the gut is not low enough, the ability to break down your food properly is compromised resulting in larger protein molecules being passed through the intestinal barrier allowing these molecules to trigger the immune system.

Those taking proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s) such as Nexium are at much higher risk to develop food sensitivities.

Symptoms associated with IgG delayed hypersensitivity reactions.