Allergy test results

[Hannah2907]

Hello, I have done an online allergy test with a hair sample due to having symptoms of allergy/intolerances. The results came back as a high sensitivity to gluten and dairy amongst other things. 
 

im just curious as to what foods are good to eat and what to avoid when it comes to being sensitive/intolerant to gluten? As I have never had to do a gluten free diet before and have no idea where to start! 

thanks in advance, I have no clue what to do or eat! 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum community, @Hannah2907!

I know this is going to be all very confusing, Hannah, but the first thing to realize is that celiac disease is not an allergy and it cannot be diagnosed by allergy testing. It is an autoimmune disorder characterized by an inflammatory reaction to the ingestion of the protein "gluten" which is found in wheat, barley and rye. 

Autoimmune disorders speak to diseases where the body's immunes system attacks the body's own cells. In the case of celiac disease, when food containing gluten is ingested, it triggers an attack in the villous lining of the small bowel. This causes inflammation in the villous lining and produces characteristic antibodies that can be detected in the blood through certain lab tests. This inflammation often (but not always) causes discomfort and other GI distress and always wears down the villous lining. This "wearing down" of the villous lining over time causes increasing inefficiency of nutrient absorption and can cause serious vitamin and mineral deficiency related medical problems. The villous lining of the small bowel is essentially where all the nutrition in our food is absorbed. The damage done to the villous lining can also be detected through an upper GI scoping ("endoscopy") with a biopsy. The endoscopy/biopsy is typically used as confirmation when the antibody blood testing is positive for celiac disease.

Celiac disease may also be referred to as "gluten intolerance". 

There is another gluten-related disorder known as NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). NCGS is also known simply as "gluten sensitivity" but, unfortunately, many people use the terms "gluten intolerance" "gluten sensitivity" interchangeably.

NCGS is 10x more common than celiac disease and shares many of the same symptoms with celiac disease. The main difference is that celiac disease damages the villous lining of the small bowel whereas NCGS does not. There is no test for NCGS. Celiac disease must first be ruled out. Both require complete abstinence from gluten. Some experts believe that NCGS can be a precursor to celiac disease. The immune system pathway of NCGS is not well understood though, like celiac disease, it is not an allergy.

My point in all of this is to help you understand that the testing you have undergone for allergies is not effective for diagnosing gluten disorders. You need to get blood antibody testing done that is specifically designed to detect celiac disease.

Many people with gluten disorders also must avoid dairy and sometimes oats, even gluten-free oats. 

[Scott Adams]

Also, I've not heard of any legitimate allergy tests which use hair samples, certainly there is no test for celiac disease which uses a hair sample. Are you sure your tests are legitimate?

[Hannah2907]

4 minutes ago, Scott Adams said:

Also, I've not heard of any legitimate allergy tests which use hair samples, certainly there is no test for celiac disease which uses a hair sample. Are you sure your tests are legitimate?

Hi, the test I did was an online one with list of positive feedback. I initially did the test as I thought I may be lactose intolerant but with the results showing high sensitivity to gluten as well as dairy I thought I’d just ask for foods that may benefit me and my symptoms as well as follow these results up with a blood test with my doctors. It doesn’t specify coeliac, it just showed a very high sensitivity to gluten

[trents]

Keep in mind, Hannah, that of you are on a gluten free diet and want to get tested for celiac disease, any testing would be invalid until you were back on generous amounts of gluten for weeks/months.

[Scott Adams]

If you self diagnose this way and go on a gluten-free diet and it relieves your symptoms it might reveal non-celiac gluten sensitivity, but as @trents mentioned, to get a formal diagnoses of celiac disease it would mean a blood panel which is typically followed up with an endoscopy if the blood tests are positive.