Food sensitivity testing? Worth it?

[HilaryM]

Hi all, it’s been about 7 months since I was diagnosed and stopped eating gluten. I’m strict and rarely eat anywhere but home but symptoms persist - fatigue, easily upset stomach, etc. one doc said to do food testing to see if there’s anything else I should cut out (dairy probably) but another said good testing is basically useless. Any thoughts? Insurance won’t cover it and it’s expensive so I’m leaning toward no but wonder if I should cut out dairy. Literally makes me want to cry on top of gluten also. Just tired of feeling as fatigued as I would when I was eating gluten (my main symptom). Plus I have pain in one hand that comes and goes and unsure if it’s related? 
 

thanks for any insight! 

[trents]

I have had food allergy testing done and have mixed feelings about it. First, realize there is more than one method of doing it so you need to look into that. There is skin prick testing and there are blood tests. What is interesting is that you can compare the results from various kinds of testing and they can be significantly different. But there is usually some overlap as well. Typically, there are some false positives that can happen through cross contamination of the antigens used or just the fact that actual symptoms don't match test results. The other issue is that the list of offending foods that accrues from the testing can be quite long and encompass many common everyday foods that are difficult to avoid or difficult/unhealthy to drop from one's diet. I mean you have to eat something to stay alive! The testing will rank the degree of reaction of the different offending foods such as "high", "medium", "low". Focus on the strongest offenders would be one recommendation I have and also pay attention to how your symptoms line up with the test results if you decide to get this done. I would also push the ALCAT food sensitivity test as perhaps the most helpful: 

 

Edited July 19, 2024 by trents

[Beverage]

I had it done at the time that I was tested for Celiacs (blood testing only). My celiacs tests were super high positive, and all the attention went to that. The super high dairy results got ignored. But recently I inhaled some mold, and I got really sick, couldn't get into my doc for awhile, so I went back and reviewed those old blood test results, thought "oh yeah, the dairy!"  I cut out dairy for about a month waiting for that doc appointment, and lordie, a lot of my sinus issues since the mold exposure reduced dramatically.

On blood tests, they're only going to show anything for foods you are eating. If you aren't eating it, you won't have the antibodies? or whatever it is, in your blood, so an issue won't show up in the tests.  But yeah, the testing can point you in a direction you need to explore for things you are currently eating. 

Without doing the testing, you can research what are the most common issues with people (grains, dairy, alcohol, etc.) and try eliminating one by one for a period of time each to see if you notice any improvements.