Allergy TestingArticle from Ener-G Foods

Allergy Testing

Allergies are complex, one minute you have it, the next you don’t, or you end up developing more and more over time, here are 10 useful tips from a parent who has already gone through many of the hassles:

1.) How Accurate are Allergy Tests? The testing can be a total hit or miss, some allergy panels are more accurate than others, however, they are extremely helpful in figuring things out.

2.) Best Allergy Testing Labs: Plasma allergy is recommended to obtain the IgE and IgG allergy findings (both traditional allergies AND intolerances. Some labs do one or the other and not both.) DAN doctor recommended are Sage labs www.foodallergytest.com/ ,Great Smokies labs www.gsdl.com and Great Plains www.greatplainslaboratory.com.

3.) Doctor’s Preference: Often doctors have their preferences of one lab or another so ask the doc as well. And yes, since it is a plasma test – it requires a prescription, a lab to draw the blood and a lab to send the results back.

4.) Test Results & How Often to Re-Test: Allergy results can be all over the place – in other words inaccurate. But they can also be EXTREMELY HELPFUL. We test every 1 to 1 ½ years to see how things are going. Allergies to foods and environment can come and go. This seems to be a hallmark issue for children suffering regressive autism and related gut issues.

5.) Food Suspects: Be prepared to get rid of any food for a period of time. The most common allergies are: gluten/wheat, casein/dairy, soy, eggs, corn, and all nut families. My understanding is that these SIX FOODS account for 90% of the allergies according to many pediatricians and family doctors. So you can even do a trial without these foods to see if they have a negative or positive affect by removing them for a minimum of 4-6 weeks.

6.) Reading Test Results: When you get an allergy test results back each of the labs have different “counting” mechanisms to tell you what foods have had a negative response and foods are OK. The counting mechanisms will tell you which ones to avoid PERMANENTLY (or until your next test) or which ones to avoid FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. Usually they recommend you remove an allergy response food for at minimum 4- 6 weeks. You can add back in foods that are not permanent foods (i.e. highly allergic or highly intolerable foods) one at a time using a small amounts one food a week. The small amount would be 1 soy based cracker to test soy. But make sure the cracker does NOT contain other ingredients that show an allergy response on the test results. Please do not overload your child and feed them a large quantity. It is best to use the MAIN INGREDIENT you are testing by adding that back in by itself if you can or mixed with foods you KNOW 100% are ok.

7.)The Serious Nature of Allergies: Be very careful of allergies – some can be deadly – like the classic peanut allergy that requires immediate medical attention.

8.) Food Cravings: It is interesting to note that many children CRAVE the food they are allergic to. If this is demonstrated in your child you may wish to remove a food for 4-6 weeks to see if that food is a potential offender to your child.

9.)Supplements & Allergies: It is important NOT to add supplements or make other changes when you are adding foods back in the diet that were once removed. It is extremely important to check supplement ingredient lists for allergens and diet offenders!

10.) Documentation: Keeping a food/daily journal is recommended when you rotate foods out and back in is an excellent way to track behavior, bowel movements, rashes, sleep habits and any other notes that could yield important clues on possible offending foods, supplements or other environmental allergies.

Reprinted with permission from TACA —For more information visit www.tacanow.com

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