There are three primary aspects to a healthy diet, the elimination of hazardous foods (artificial sweeteners colorings, trans-fat, and junk food), following a diet that best suits your metabolic needs, and finally, determining if food allergies are affecting your health. In this article we will focus on Food Allergies.
What are food allergies/sensitivities?
The simple answer is any food that your immune system has developed anti-bodies – resulting in treating that food as a potential hazard. There are many different types of immune system reaction everything from instant, potentially fatal anaphilatic responses to subtle, delayed allergic responses. Practically any food can be an allergen, but the most common foods are: shellfish, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, and peanuts.
Most people who have strong reactions to a type food are aware enough to avoid these foods. The more subtle reactions are often not correlated with a food allergy and can lead to years of unnecessary suffering. Many individuals suffering from headaches, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, and even anxiety due to undiagnosed food allergies.
How do you test for Food Allergies?
While there are many methods, I find using a IgG food sensitivity blood-based test provides the most accurate results. Once food allergies are determined, a careful plan of elimination can be created to restore balance to the body, with additional therapies used to strengthen the digestive system function to attempt to reduce reaction to the foods.
The food allergy testing laboratory I used is NeuroScience who offer several levels of testing, including a basic 22 food panel, 88 food panel, 110 food panel, and their complete 154 food panel. The basic 22 food panel has been a very popular test for the clients at Blue Sky as it has a very low cost of $49 dollars. If you would like to find out what food allergies are affecting your health, please schedule an appointment soon as we only have 5 kits left.
To Your Good Health,
Dr. Shawn Soszka
Naturopathic Physician
Licensed Acupuncturist
