Food Allergies

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Disclaimer: I am NOT a medical professional. I am a CFS sufferer who is relaying some of his experiences and opinions. None of the information on these pages is to be construed as medical advice. Please see a doctor for such advice. For further disclaimer information, see Expanded Disclaimer.

Food Allergy Testing

Allergies and Sensitivities - What Are They?

What exactly is an allergy or sensitivity? Allergies occur when your immune system has mistakenly identified a normally harmless substance as a bacteria or virus. Your immune system then attacks this substance the same way it would attack an invader. When your immune system attacks an invader, it has side effects. It can cause aches, pains and fatigue. Think about the symptoms you experienced when you last had the stomach flu. Many of these were caused by your own immune system and not the bacteria or virus in your stomach.

IgG and IgE Sensitivities

There are two types of immune system reactions which can typically cause food allergies or sensitivities, IgE and IgG. IgE reactions typically occur quickly, in two hours or less. IgG reactions can take up to 48 hours to occur. These are much more difficult to figure out on your own. In my own case, if I eat peanuts, I will have no symptoms for about 12 hours, followed by a full day of fatigue and light-headedness.

The ELISA Test

In my opinion the ELISA allergy test is vastly superior to skin prick tests. I have looked through the medical literature for justification for the continued use of these other tests and have not found a satisfactory explanation. Both tests have their advantages, but overall I believe the ELISA test is better and less expensive.

The advantage of skin prick tests is that they are more sensitive. Also, ELISA will yield a false negative if the patient has not consumed the food in three weeks. Skin prick tests don't have this problem.

The advantages of the ELISA test is that it can test for 190 food allergies by drawing just a little bit of blood and costs only $140. ELISA will detect IgG sensitivities which skin prick tests cannot detect at all!

There is no question that without skin prick tests and far more expensive RAST tests, allergists would be out of business. Is there any doubt why they prefer these to the ELISA test?

Most doctors believe that a positive on any test is not necessarily a real problem. In many cases consumption of foods that show a positive test do not result in immediate problems when eaten. I think this is shortsighted. Foods that do not seem to have immediate consequences may have long term consequences.

Even if the Elisa test is too sensitive, it is a good starting point for an elimination test. It will give the patient a list of foods which the patient can be sure is safe.

In my own case, I would have had an almost impossible time figuring out what foods I am allergic to by elimination. I was allergic to many grains including wheat, rice, and to a lesser extent oats and potatoes. Many elimination tests suggest rice as a "safe" food!

Food Allergies and the Mainstream Medical Establishment

Food allergies are often major factors in any gastrointestinal problem, whether it is spastic colon, diarrhea or other problems.

Do you have asthma, skin rashes, or hay fever? It is very likely that you have a food allergy and should get tested. Elimination of the foods you are allergic to will very likely help these other problems.

The fact is there are numerous medical studies linking food allergies to these conditions. If you don't believe me, go to Medline (a database of literally millions of medical studies) and type in the keywords "food allergy asthma" or "food allergy dermatitis". It will return dozens of studies.

Did your doctor ever give you this information?

If this information is so well known, why aren't doctors shouting it from the rooftops? The answer is simple. Drug companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year "educating" doctors about the benefits of their drugs. Your doctor is inundated with this information. Medical conventions are even largely sponsored by drug companies pushing their drugs.

On the other hand, there is no money to be made by pushing a change of diet. There is information out there, but it is much harder for your doctor to find.

Food Allergy Testing

It is interesting to note that almost all allergists still use skin prick tests to diagnose food allergies in their patients. The research community on the other hand tends to use the blood tests. A search of Medline for the last ten years shows that 530 food allergy studies used either the Elisa or RAST blood tests and 423 used skin prick tests. If we eliminate the studies that used both methods, we find that 356 used blood tests and only 249 used the skin prick test.

While many allergists denounce the blood tests, you can see that the research community actually prefers them! How can this be? I think the answer is pretty obvious when you realize that skin tests can easily run over $1000 while the Elisa blood test can do a better job for about $140. Also, the blood test can be done by any doctor and sent off to a lab for analysis. Widespread acceptance of the Elisa test would put all the allergists out of business. This is why the allergists resist them.

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