A 34-year-old female asked:
what is the best food allergy, sensitivity or intolerance test?
1 doctor answer
Dr. Randy Baker answered
39 years experience Holistic Medicine
Avoidance &challenge: Every test out there is imperfect. This is because there are many different mechanisms of food sensitivities- some mediated by igg, e, a & m antibodies, some by lymphocytes, some by inability to digest (lactose), some by inability to metabolize (nightshades) and there aren't tests for all of these. Avoiding suspect foods for 5 days to 1 month & challenging to see if you react is still the best test!
Answered on Jul 6, 2015
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Dr. Randy Baker commented
39 years experience Holistic Medicine
Provided original answer
Here is a nice article on allergy elimination diets:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=diet&dbid=7
In my experience the most common food allergens are dairy, wheat/gluten, eggs, soy, corn, almonds and greenbeans but it possible to be allergic to anything!
Avoiding suspect foods for a week is generally adequate but the big exception is nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant & peppers) which trigger arthritis in many people not due to allergy but intolerance of solanacea alkaloids. Generally someone who suspects nightshade sensitivity (like someone with osteoarthritis) needs to totally avoid these foods for at least a month before noticing improvement.
Jul 2, 2013
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