Food Allergy tests - do they work?

Here! A big, fat file containing a list of food allergies is thrust into my hands. I am told to see all the things I am allergic to. So do you really have these food allergies, or is the report misleading?

We all have food allergies. Most of them are mild enough to never really bother us. Sometimes, the same thing you were mildly allergic to can cause more grief.

Diarrhoea or nausea, perhaps. So then, wouldn't it make sense to get yourself tested for food allergies?

Find your personalised footprint, unique and special to you. Asparagus cooked in olive oil with a dash of aged balsamic is that thing that gets your alarm bells ringing as though it were announcing Christmas. It sounds so alluring.

The chosen method to detect food allergies is through an Ig test. An Ig is an immunoglobulin or antibody produced when your body does not like something. There are many kinds, but I will spare you the details for now.

However, your body also produces Ig every time you need it. Sometimes, these are produced to prevent your body from getting an immune response.

Worse, it is almost impossible to know whether your body produced a particular response specific to something or whether it was a generalized response.

You probably already experienced it when you got your test done. It showed a bizarre array of foods that you are supposedly allergic to but have somehow miraculously never experienced.

If you ask, someone might explain, "Oh yes, you are not seeing it, but I promise you it is there."

It's kind of like me telling you that you are rich; you are just not seeing it. So what should you do? Not to get rich; you already know that. To reduce your allergies.

Stop eating the things you think you are allergic to. Stop doing one thing at a time. Wait for at least 4-6 weeks, and then see if it makes a difference. If it does, you may be allergic.

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