This is a cross post from the medical tests subforum.
What food allergies do you have and what tests did you run? When in life did symptoms occur and did they resolve at any point?
My concern is mainly that lab tests are very unreliable:
I am not sure how to go about detecting foods that might be harming me as I have very sensitive skin.
What’s usually recommended is the elimination diet. For two weeks, eliminate only one food at a time, and watch for any improvement in symptoms. Start with the top suspects.
I am a nutritional therapist and deal with a lot of digestive issues with clients, such as food allergies.
The thing is, we have to look at the cause of food allergies and in tolerances. Of course we can avoid the foods that are causing the problem, but after a while you’ll be sensitive/allergic to other foods and it will not stop until you address the rout cause, which is leaky gut or hypochloridia.
Our stomach acid should be between pH 1.5 and 3 in order to break down proteins so they may be digested properly and nourish our cells. If this does not happen, these undigested proteins cause the gut lining to become damaged, leading to leaky gut syndrome, which allows undigested foods to get into the blood stream causing an auto-immune reaction, which is what food allergies and sensitivities are. Logically, avoiding these foods will not cause the leakiness o subside; you just get sensitive to other foods you’re eating. Vicious cycle. So, addressing the healing of the leakiness is what we should be focusing on. This can be done with proper diet, food choices and food preparation.
At the same time, we have to look at stomach acid and balance of gut bacteria. It all has to be in balance so that we are digesting the foods we are eating and they nourish our cells and do not attack out systems.
Many of the food allergy testing labs are just money makers. There are a few good ones (like Cyrex), who measure gut permeability and other meaningful parameters. I myself give clients a thorough evaluation (some of it online) to give me a picture of what’s going on with all of the body’s systems.
My company is building an online portal for such evaluations and coaching clients through the healing process. We’ll be online in the next few months–by early 2015 for sure.