Food Allergy Blood Tests and results

[Windmill knight]

One interesting thing that I remembered is that a general rule for The Paleo Mom is to avoid all reproductive parts of plants. So seeds (yes, we know about grains, legumes and nuts, but also seeds such as anise, vanilla and cocoa) and flowers (chamomile, for example isn't very good for me). There are also plants like Stevia, which have an impact on hormones (it was used as contraception by women in South America) can cause reaction - again, something to do with hormones/reproductive system)... Which brings me to eggs... I know it might be a bit of a stretch because these are from animals and not plants, but maybe (just maybe) there's kind of a connection there

When I saw the results in which most people turned out to be sensitive to eggs, I had a similar thought. Maybe it is because Nature wants to protect the future of a species more than anything else, so it loads seeds and eggs with defensive substances. Or maybe it is a sort of karmic thing; like it is not the same to kill an adult being and eat it, than to kill it before it is born without even giving it a chance.

 

[Altair]

One interesting thing that I remembered is that a general rule for The Paleo Mom is to avoid all reproductive parts of plants. So seeds (yes, we know about grains, legumes and nuts, but also seeds such as anise, vanilla and cocoa) and flowers (chamomile, for example isn't very good for me). There are also plants like Stevia, which have an impact on hormones (it was used as contraception by women in South America) can cause reaction - again, something to do with hormones/reproductive system)... Which brings me to eggs... I know it might be a bit of a stretch because these are from animals and not plants, but maybe (just maybe) there's kind of a connection there

When I saw the results in which most people turned out to be sensitive to eggs, I had a similar thought. Maybe it is because Nature wants to protect the future of a species more than anything else, so it loads seeds and eggs with defensive substances. Or maybe it is a sort of karmic thing; like it is not the same to kill an adult being and eat it, than to kill it before it is born without even giving it a chance.

Stevia seems to be really bad

Stevia is “sweet” on the palate, so the body assumes it is receiving sugar and primes itself to do so. Glucose is cleared from the bloodstream and blood sugars drop, but no real sugar/glucose is provided to the body to compensate. When this happens, adrenaline and cortisol surge to mobilize sugar from other sources (liver, muscle glycogen, protein or body tissue) to bring blood glucose back up.
...

The frequent release of the stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) in response to the Stevia-induced hypoglycemia can be damaging to our adrenal glands and overall health. These stress hormones are designed to be utilized when we need to be in a fight-or-flight response, not when we are eating a meal. The consequence to increased cortisol; suppressed immune system, increased inflammation, increased abdominal fat and lower thyroid function, just to name a few.
...

Stevia has a hormonal structure:

The last findings I will present include the chemicals responsible for the sweet taste of Stevia. These are known as the steviol glycosides. There are at least ten different steviol glycosides present in the Stevia plant. The purified version or manufactured form of Stevia often isolates one or two of these steviol glycosides.

Steviol glycosides are structurally very similar to the plant hormones gibberellin and kaurene. This means that yes, Stevia has a hormone structure hence why there have been few studies showing that it can act as a mutagen and may increase the risk of cancer (controversial of course, but anytime we ingest a hormone-like structure there is bound to be some problems). Regardless of whether Stevia causes genetic mutations, we should still take caution in this, especially those with an autoimmune disease in which hormones have a dramatic impact on disease development and progression.

Source: _http://simplerootswellness.com/stevia-side-effects-and-why-our-family-quit/

 

[Yas]

One interesting thing that I remembered is that a general rule for The Paleo Mom is to avoid all reproductive parts of plants. So seeds (yes, we know about grains, legumes and nuts, but also seeds such as anise, vanilla and cocoa) and flowers (chamomile, for example isn't very good for me). There are also plants like Stevia, which have an impact on hormones (it was used as contraception by women in South America) can cause reaction - again, something to do with hormones/reproductive system)... Which brings me to eggs... I know it might be a bit of a stretch because these are from animals and not plants, but maybe (just maybe) there's kind of a connection there

When I saw the results in which most people turned out to be sensitive to eggs, I had a similar thought. Maybe it is because Nature wants to protect the future of a species more than anything else, so it loads seeds and eggs with defensive substances. Or maybe it is a sort of karmic thing; like it is not the same to kill an adult being and eat it, than to kill it before it is born without even giving it a chance.

Yes, I though it could be something symbollic too... manifested in how nature works (making seeds difficult to digest so that it's future creations are protected hehe)

I also thought about the idea that 4D STS suposedly do something with our hormones themselves... so people at 3D eat the reproductive parts of plants for a "fix" (i.e wheat) and 4D STS eat our hormones for their "fix". But I guess this is a silly idea

 

[Aiming]

This is the most unbelievable puzzle . Eggs are such a surprise for me.
According to the tests its worst food to eat. And i`m egg lover.I eat minimum 4-5 eggs per day.They are regular eggs from supermarket. And i have a chance to try real organic eggs from local farmers and they are totally different, but they are 3-4 times more expensive. Once i bought a eggs in supermarket and when i boiled them they have a taste like eating a melted plastic.
My point is that maybe eggs that you are consuming have something in them that makes your body to react to them. Maybe chickens are feed with something that is not suppose to. Maybe the ground/ the soil is toxic.
Maybe the connections between this food intolerance and HM are that one of the main sources for ingesting HM are the eggs. Chickens ingest food/ chemicals reach in HM and then we ingest the eggs and part of the HM, and then body reacts to them.

I dont know , this is just an idea that come to my mind.

I think this aspect could at least be part of the equation (next to the interesting thought that seeds generally come with an inherent defensive mechanism). If you take a look at what chickens are commonly being fed (grains, corn, soy), - and even private people who own chickens I've met don't know any better - of which we know that most of it is GMO already anyway, then it makes sense we'd react to the eggs. Also, such an egg coming from a GMO-fed chicken would contain the accordingly altered proteins which are harmful to us, as brought up in the latest C's session. Further, it could be similar to meat from animals who aren't grass-fed, but carb-fed and so the meat's composition has an unfortunate ratio of fatty acids. But eventually, it's like Pandora's box for all the possible factors involved, like what medications/vaccines did the animal receive, how has it lived, did it have a life so stressful and unhappy that it's been flooded with a detrimental mix of hormones; not to speak of its general genetics, what type of genes were turned on over the long process of breeding that might have further influence, and so on. I don't know. I agree that this whole health thing is similar to the work, it's a path and a discovery process and whatever helps to improve and strengthens us is welcome, but whether we ever get to becoming completely healthy is perhaps unrealistic in this world.

 

[nicklebleu]

Got my results back - I did the ImuPro 300 IgG test. The test results come in 4 categories:

Strength of reaction:

0 - < 7.5 mcg/ml IgG
1 - > 7.5 mcg/ml IgG
2 - >12.5 mcg/ml IgG
3 - >20 mcg/ml IgG
4 - >50 mcg/ml IgG

The results:

Of 269 tested foods, only 12 reacted positive:

Category 1 - almond. pear, aspergillus niger, pine nut, buckwheat, raspberry, fig, savory, leek, lobster
Category 2 - peanut
Category 3 - red snapper
Category 4 - nil

I was astonished about the small amount of things I seem to react with - neither gluten, nor cow dairy reacted (even though I eat all of these things at least 3 times before the test). Of course there are other reasons why you wouldn't want to eat some of the foods that tested negative (like gluten for instance). Not sure how to interpret these results.

I will definitely cut out the above mentioned foods - the ones I regularly was eating is only almonds and raspberries. Lobster ... ? Can't remember when I had the last one - must have been years!

 

[dugdeep]

This is the most unbelievable puzzle . Eggs are such a surprise for me.
According to the tests its worst food to eat. And i`m egg lover.I eat minimum 4-5 eggs per day.They are regular eggs from supermarket. And i have a chance to try real organic eggs from local farmers and they are totally different, but they are 3-4 times more expensive. Once i bought a eggs in supermarket and when i boiled them they have a taste like eating a melted plastic.
My point is that maybe eggs that you are consuming have something in them that makes your body to react to them. Maybe chickens are feed with something that is not suppose to. Maybe the ground/ the soil is toxic.
Maybe the connections between this food intolerance and HM are that one of the main sources for ingesting HM are the eggs. Chickens ingest food/ chemicals reach in HM and then we ingest the eggs and part of the HM, and then body reacts to them.

I dont know , this is just an idea that come to my mind.

I think this aspect could at least be part of the equation (next to the interesting thought that seeds generally come with an inherent defensive mechanism). If you take a look at what chickens are commonly being fed (grains, corn, soy), - and even private people who own chickens I've met don't know any better - of which we know that most of it is GMO already anyway, then it makes sense we'd react to the eggs. Also, such an egg coming from a GMO-fed chicken would contain the accordingly altered proteins which are harmful to us, as brought up in the latest C's session. Further, it could be similar to meat from animals who aren't grass-fed, but carb-fed and so the meat's composition has an unfortunate ratio of fatty acids. But eventually, it's like Pandora's box for all the possible factors involved, like what medications/vaccines did the animal receive, how has it lived, did it have a life so stressful and unhappy that it's been flooded with a detrimental mix of hormones; not to speak of its general genetics, what type of genes were turned on over the long process of breeding that might have further influence, and so on. I don't know. I agree that this whole health thing is similar to the work, it's a path and a discovery process and whatever helps to improve and strengthens us is welcome, but whether we ever get to becoming completely healthy is perhaps unrealistic in this world.

I've thought that part of the reason eggs are so prevalent on these tests might be because eggs are used in the production of vaccines. Anyone who's been vaccinated at any point in their lives has had egg proteins injected straight into their bloodstream along with adjuvants whose specific purpose is to cause the body to mount an immune defence. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this is the culprit. It would be interesting to see if there's a correlation between those who've been vaccinated at some point and egg sensitivity. It would be nice to have a control, also, but has any adult in this day and age NEVER been vaccinated? Unlikely, sad to say...

 

[dugdeep]

I decided to go through testing for food sensitivities in a slightly different manner than the IgG blood test. There's an Electro-Dermal Screening (EDS) clinic here in my city that has a good reputation, and I've been meaning to try it out for some time (see a quick description of EDS here). Now the whole EDS thing is a bit controversial (you can find myriad articles online declaring it as quackery), but since I've heard from a number of people over the years who've had good results, I decided to give it a try.

The interesting thing about EDS is that they can test for multiple things - food sensitivities, environmental sensitivities, hormone balance, parasites, viruses, neurotransmitter deficiencies. Due to budget constraints, I kept it to just the food sensitivities and toxic metals. I've attached my results for the food sensitivities to this post and will just write out the metals results.

The scale goes from 1 - 100. With foods, anything over 65 is considered something you want to avoid outright, 61 - 65 is moderate sensitivity (not to be had more than twice per week), 56 - 60 mildly sensitive (up to 3 times per week) and anything under 56 considered perfectly OK. They test over 300 foods, so the results are extensive (3 pages).

I showed the results to my boss (she's been in the holistic health business all her life) and she said "Dude, you have candida". I was pretty shocked - it wasn't something I had considered at all. But the results are very consistent with the sorts of sensitivities that come up when someone has candida - all sugars, alcohol, yeast, mushrooms, all vinegar, pretty much all grains, gluten, dairy, soy, pork, sweet fruits, nightshades...

I was a little (OK, a LOT!) disappointed that butter, ghee, coffee and chocolate were all off the charts. So was black tea. Caffeine might be the culprit here, since that was off the charts for me too. So no more fatty drinks for this guy!

I'm also dismayed about the meat and fat situation. Apparently, I'm super sensitive to pork, including bacon () and ham. I would assume that means lard is off the table too. Beef and lamb are in my moderate sensitivity category, so tallow could probably be gotten away with sometimes. Chicken, turkey and most fish and seafood are fine. But butter and lard are my two main sources of fat, so this is going to require some pretty big changes. Coconut, olive oil and avocado all seem to be on my OK list, so maybe these will have to be my main go-to as a fat source.

With metals, the operator told me you don't want to have anything over 70, 56 - 69 means trace amounts and anything 55 or under is negative. My results:

Mercury 86
Lead 74
Cadmium 68
Aluminum 65
Zinc 62
Stannum (Tin) 61
Arsenic 60
Copper 59
Nickel 58

The rest of the 21 metals tested were negative. The operator took one look at it and asked "Do you live in the old part of the city?" Apparently this result is consistent with anyone exposed to municipal water in the older part of the city due to the infrastructure of piping, if I understood him correctly. I have lived in the older part of the city at various points in my life and I grew up in the old part of a suburb before that (not sure if that could be the cause). I should point out that I've never had an amalgam filling, so the mercury levels were quite surprising to me. I'm wondering if it might be something passed on from my mother - she had a mouth FULL of amalgam fillings when she was pregnant with me and during breastfeeding. But the operator seemed pretty sure it was coming from the water (which in recent years, I've always filtered).

Anyway, all of this is a bit dismaying, but I'm trying to stay on the bright side. If it is a candida issue, I know there are steps to take to get it out, avoiding sensitivities being of major importance, but also the liberal use of anti-fungals and probiotics. Metals can be addressed with chelating agents - I've done quite a bit of chlorella with the iodine protocol, but apparently that's not really doing the trick. I did 5 or 6 rounds of the DMSA protocol years ago, but again, didn't seem to do the trick (I had no noticeable herx reaction). The operator recommended this product, saying he's seen better results from this over the years than even intravenous chelation protocols. Sounds a little too good to be true, but it bares investigating (he doesn't sell it, BTW).

Ideally, what I'd like to do is take the IgG test as well, and maybe do a DMSA provocation test, to check for consistency. I don't know if I'll have the chance to do this, though. It's hard to say whether the EDS testing will correlate with an IgG test, since it's not necessarily testing immune response, but more your body's frequency resonance with the foods (OSIT).

My results are attached.

 

[Laura]

Dugdeep, if I were you I would do the blood testing thing just to double check.

 

[dugdeep]

Dugdeep, if I were you I would do the blood testing thing just to double check.

Yeah, I think that's a good idea.

 

[Yas]

I've found some information about egg allergy on the Paleo Mom website:

The WHYs behind the Autoimmune Protocol: Eggs
http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/06/whys-behind-autoimmune-protocol-eggs.html

Eggs are one of the most allergenic foods with approximately 2-3% of the population affected. However, people are still surprised when I advertise an egg-free recipe or mention that I can’t eat eggs. It’s not because I’m allergic but because I have an autoimmune disease and eggs are excluded on the Autoimmune Protocol. Given that eggs are such an important staple for the paleo enthusiast (as a breakfast food, as a cheap protein, and as an ingredient in the vast majority of paleo baking recipes), I get asked “Why Eggs?” frequently.

One of the main functions of the white of the egg is to protect the yolk against microbial attack while the embryo grows. It achieves this worthy goal by using proteolytic enzymes (or proteases), enzymes that can cleave proteins into shorter chains of amino acids (typically rendering those proteins inactive/useless in the process). There are many different types of proteolytic enzymes, each highly specialized to cleave a specific type of protein and/or in a specific place. In particular, the proteolytic enzymes in egg whites are very good at cleaving proteins in the cell membranes of certain bacteria (specifically gram-negative bacteria, which I’ll come back to in a couple of paragraphs). The specific protease in egg whites that those of us with autoimmune disease (or severe allergies or severely leaky guts) need to be concerned with is called lysozyme.

I used to use lysozyme in the biology lab to break apart the membranes of bacteria (typically bacteria that I had engineered to grow specific DNA strands for me). Lysozyme is specific for bacterial membranes, works very quickly, is very resistant to heat, is stable in very acidic environments (so it’s still active even after cooking eggs thoroughly and digestion!), and is really a pretty ingenious little enzyme (that’s me geeking out). Humans also produce lysozyme as part of our normal defense mechanisms against bacterial infections. It is present in our saliva, tears and mucus (including the mucus layers in the intestines). So, if we already make our own lysozyme, why is it a problem in egg whites?

Lysozyme has the ability to form strong complexes with other proteins. So, lysozyme from egg white typically passes through our digestive system in large complexes with other egg white proteins. Many of the proteins present in egg whites are protease inhibitors (see this post for more information on how protease inhibitors can contribute to a leaky gut). This means that the lysozyme/egg white protein complexes are resistant to digestion by our digestive enzymes (which are themselves proteases). You might be wondering if lysozyme is still active if it is a protease and it is now bound to egg white protease inhibitors. The answer is yes, it is still active. The egg white protease inhibitors that are most likely to be bound to lysozyme are ovomucin and ovastatin, which are a trypsin inhibitors (trypsin is one of our main digestive enzymes), cystatin, which is a cysteine protease inhibitor, and ovoinhibitor, which is a serine protease inhibitor. None of these inhibitors inhibit the activity of lysozyme. And very importantly, as the lysozyme complex travels (largely intact) through the environment of our gut, lysozyme can also bind bacterial proteins from the bacteria normally present in our digestive tract (like the gram-negative E. coli!).

Lysozyme has an unusual chemical property (it maintains a positive charge) that allows it to cross through the enterocytes by electrostatic attraction to negatively charged proteins imbedded in the enterocyte cell surface (proteoglycans). Research confirms that consumed lysozyme gets into the circulation even in healthy individuals (even in conjunction with food intake, although the amount that enters the circulation is lower). 1,2,3 Absorption of pure egg white lysozyme by itself into circulation is likely not problematic because lysozyme is an enzyme that the body naturally produces (unless it is absorbed in very high concentrations and then it can cause kidney damage). The problem is the other proteins that piggyback on lysozyme across the gut enterocyte barrier. It is this “leak” of other egg white proteins that is the reason why egg allergy is so common. Any other proteins present in the digestive tract can potentially bind in the lysozyme complex and get helped across the gut and into the blood stream (or lymph). And because lysozyme binds bacterial wall proteins, these are likely to “leak” across the gut enterocyte layer as well. These foreign proteins are believed to contribute to a molecular mimicry response where the body, in its attempt to form antibodies against these foreign invaders, accidentally creates an antibody that also recognizes a normal protein in the human body.

It’s also important to point out that the ability of lysozyme to cross the gut barrier (carrying potentially immunogenic proteins along with it) is a fairly small effect. In normal, healthy individuals, lysozyme is not likely to cause significant damage to the healthy lining of the gut or cause a substantial immune response (although the effect of lysozyme is why Prof. Loren Cordain recommends limiting eggs to 6 per week). In healthy individuals, pastured or omega-3 eggs can be an excellent, inexpensive source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zeaxanthin, choline, selenium, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin D and the B vitamins. However, in the case of autoimmune disease, individuals are more sensitive and tend to have exaggerated immune and inflammatory responses to foreign proteins in the circulation. These individuals are also more likely to form auto-antibodies in response to bacterial proteins that may enter into the circulation with lysozyme.

You might notice here that this discussion was entirely related to egg white proteins. Egg yolks are not likely to cause these issues. However, if you are following the Autoimmune Protocol, I urge caution since egg yolks are a very common food sensitivity in those with leaky guts (note that this is different than being allergic to them). I still recommend avoiding both egg white and yolk when you first adopt the Autoimmune Protocol. But, of all of the foods that are restricted in this protocol, I think egg yolks are the most likely to be tolerated and many people can add them back in.

I know most of you probably knew about allergy to egg whites, but I thought this is very interesting and it helps in understanding why so many people can be allergic to it. While I was searching, I read that egg allergy is the second most common allergy in children. The first one is cow's milk. If we think about it, cow's milk is also full of proteins and antibodies that have the purpose of protecting the baby, so I think it has more to do with some sort of natural protection by nature as Windmill Knight said. Of course, there is the eggs in vaccines and the issue with eggs from poultry fed with grains and loaded with hormones. But maybe even organic eggs are problematic for many people simply because we are not supposed to be eating them so often.

I still want to find out more about egg yolk allergy.

FWIW...

 

[Beau]

Has anyone in the US ordered an IgG food allergy test? I'm looking online, but the places I've found say a health practitioner has to sign for all blood tests. I tried from here: http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/igg-food-allergy-test/, but when I tried to order a test, it said:

For all domestic orders, the test requisition form (included in test kit) must be signed by a medical practitioner and accompany all specimens sent to the Great Plains Laboratory. Alternatively, practitioners can submit signed kit requests to our lab via fax or through our online test requisition form. The Great Plains Laboratory does not offer testing in the state of New York.

Similar thing here - http://foodallergy.com/tests/order-a-test-kit/

Is there any way to get around going through a doctor to do these tests in the US?

 

[Foxx]

Has anyone in the US ordered an IgG food allergy test? I'm looking online, but the places I've found say a health practitioner has to sign for all blood tests. I tried from here: http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/igg-food-allergy-test/, but when I tried to order a test, it said:

For all domestic orders, the test requisition form (included in test kit) must be signed by a medical practitioner and accompany all specimens sent to the Great Plains Laboratory. Alternatively, practitioners can submit signed kit requests to our lab via fax or through our online test requisition form. The Great Plains Laboratory does not offer testing in the state of New York.

Similar thing here - http://foodallergy.com/tests/order-a-test-kit/

Is there any way to get around going through a doctor to do these tests in the US?

I haven't done one, but it looks like this test might work:

http://www.lifeextension.com/vitamins-supplements/itemlcm73001/food-safe-allergy-blood-test

It looks like they just send you a kit and then you collect the specimen yourself and send it back to them. They have a sample report on that page as well.

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but last time I got blood work done with them I got a 25% discount for signing up with them to get their magazine subscription for $6/month (which I canceled next month).

 

[Lilou]

I was going to suggest Life Extension. I use them to order lab tests thru Lab Corp and they provide any needed doctors signatures. I've also purchased supplements from them, they have an A rating, no contaminants.

 

[ClaudiaYG]

Hello. I did the Igg test on april and here are my results. Breakfast are very difficult for me without eggs. I try to eat bacon,ham and dinner leftovers but I think is not enough, sometimes is boring. The doctor told me I have to eliminate foods starting in Zone 3. I try to eat nightshades like peppers and tomato after 2 years and I think is not good for me because my knees hurts. Another think I notice like in an hour is jaw pain after eating corn. My question is I have to remove zone 1 and zone 2?

1
GOAT MILK
sesame
spelt
beans
celery
broccoli
parsley
pork meat
turkey meat
scallop
shrimp
salmon
cacao
bread yeast

2
onions
green beans
mushrooms
tomato
lettuce
radish
ginger
tuna
corn
crab
clam

3
cucumber
soy sprouts
vanilla
cow´s milk
yoghurt
casein
amaranth
peanut
oat
alubias

4
whey
pineapple

5
egg yolk
egg white

6
cane sugar

 

[seek10]

Has anyone in the US ordered an IgG food allergy test? I'm looking online, but the places I've found say a health practitioner has to sign for all blood tests. I tried from here: http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/igg-food-allergy-test/, but when I tried to order a test, it said:

For all domestic orders, the test requisition form (included in test kit) must be signed by a medical practitioner and accompany all specimens sent to the Great Plains Laboratory. Alternatively, practitioners can submit signed kit requests to our lab via fax or through our online test requisition form. The Great Plains Laboratory does not offer testing in the state of New York.

Similar thing here - http://foodallergy.com/tests/order-a-test-kit/

Is there any way to get around going through a doctor to do these tests in the US?

I too have similar issue. I ordered the food allergy test kit from Alletess , but current PCP don't want sign for the blood test. I called Alletess folks, they insist on having a doctor signature. I did twice before, but at that time, my PCP ( an old chinese guy) didn't have issue in signing it. I was wondering about what to do. Maybe I have to look for naturopath or change my PCP. Now a days, lot of doctor's prescriptions, test results are collected by insurance companies in the name of better service. May be doctors are cautious about what they write, I guess.