What your doctor may not have told you...

This week on the Harmony with Food Show I about food sensitivity testing and why you may need it.

What You Need to Know About Food Sensitivities

While food is packed with nutrients and has the power to nourish and heal, it can have the opposite effect when it disagrees with our bodies. Pain, weight loss resistance, digestive troubles like bloating, constipation, indigestion, and heartburn, fatigue, headaches, and more can all be symptoms of food intolerance.

You are your own unique person, so what works for your friend or a famous celebrity or athlete isn't necessarily going to work for you. In fact, I haven't had a single person who's done a food sensitivity test, toxic burden test, gut zoomer test, etc., and had it look the exact same as someone else's.

Even if you are on a healthy diet you may still be consuming foods you are sensitive to. For example, I had a client who was eating a lot of garlic and ginger because it is known to be good for inflammation, digestion, and cholesterol. These are healthy foods, right? Well, for her it turned out that she was sensitive to them and needed to eliminate them from her diet.

Elimination Diet vs. Food Sensitivity Testing

Before we had microarray technology available, you would try to figure out your food sensitivities through an elimination diet. This meant you would eliminate the foods you thought you may be sensitive to for a few months, then add them back into your diet and watch for symptoms.

There were two main problems with this method. First, it can be hard to identify your food sensitivities. For example, say you realize you have pain every time you eat ice cream. It could be that you have problems with the milk, casein, sugar, or any number of ingredients in the ice cream. So you may not have even eliminated the right food to get rid of the symptoms in the first place.

Second, it can be hard to track symptoms because they can be immediate after eating a trigger food, or can show up to 72 hours later. This meant you had to be very diligent when reintroducing foods and the process could take months. Most people don't have the patience for that.

How Food Sensitivity Testing Works

The food sensitivity testing process is much easier than the elimination diet. You'll get a kit mailed to your home, then do a finger prick. You'll need just three drops of blood to complete the testing and then you'll mail the kit back to the lab.

Once I get your test results, we'll go over them and eliminate those foods from your diet for 30 to 90 days, and then slowly reintroduce them. When I do reintroduction I have you try the food at 3 meals in one day. Then you stay away from it for 72 hours and see if you had any reaction to it.

Quality Differences in Food Sensitivity Tests

Now, not all food sensitivity tests are created equally. You may have seen Facebook ads for food sensitivity testing (I know I am getting them) but I want you to know that it is a really low-budget type of testing. They charge around $397 and you get no nutritionist to help interpret the testing. My client and her friend ordered the test because it was cheaper than what I used, and they both had the exact same results. They realized they were duped and actually came back to me to get food sensitivity testing.

Every test I use is well-vetted by me, and I chose this food sensitivity testing because it uses microarray technology that gives really precise results. Before this technology was available, we figured out food sensitivities through elimination diets. You would guess which foods you should stay away from, eliminate them for a while, then add them back in. But, it's really hard to figure out which ones you may be sensitive to in the first place, then when you add them back in your reaction can be anywhere from immediate to 72 hours later, and the type of reaction can vary.

Schedule a Free Consultation to Talk About Food Sensitivity Testing

If you're interested in doing food sensitivity testing with me, click HERE to schedule a free 45-minute consultation call with me to determine which test is best for you.

Episode Transcript