Hilary Beckwith 7/12/23 Hilary Beckwith 7/12/23

Food Sensitivity Testing - Is It Legit?

As an inflammatory health expert, I can tell you that using food sensitivity tests to address inflammation is a big piece of the puzzle, and has the ability to reduce pain, improve long-term health, and prevent chronic illnesses such as diabetes and autoimmune disease.

In this article, we’re going to cover the following topics:

What are food sensitivities?
How are food sensitivities different from food allergies?
What’s the best food sensitivity test available?
Can I recover or heal from food sensitivities? Or am I stuck with it?

Blog Header Image of woman showing reaction to garlic, with the text "food sensitivities, what are they? hilarybeckwith.com" Hilary Beckwith of Well Roots

Food Sensitivity Testing

Food sensitivity testing has been a hot topic in the media for the past few years.

And quite frankly, until I began to educate myself on the effects food sensitivities in long term health and whole-body health, I thought it was a load of hot garbage.

The media has not done a great job at educating us on what food sensitivities actually are, what causes them, and how they affect your health.

So, I’m here to fill the gaps for you.

In this article, we’re going to cover the following topics:

What are food sensitivities?
How are food sensitivities different from food allergies?
What’s the best food sensitivity test available?
Can I recover or heal from food sensitivities? Or am I stuck with it?

Much of the information in this article is referenced from experiential knowledge, in addition to the book Food Allergies and Food Intolerance (Brostoff, J., & Gamlin, L. (2000). Food Allergies and Food Intolerance: The complete guide to their identification and treatment. Healing Arts Press.).

Additional research was done to fill in the gaps. Those references can be found throughout the article.

What Are Food Sensitivities?

A food sensitivity occurs when a food particle, known as an antigen, is recognized as foreign, triggering an immune response. Antibodies known as immunoglobulins, recognize and bind to these foreign “invaders” and work to eliminate them as though they would a virus or other pathogen.

Once initially recognized as foreign (more on why that occurs later in the post), the immune system creates antibodies that remember and recognize when the culprit food is present, causing an immune reaction each time the food is ingested. This type of reaction and memory is known as the adaptive immune system.

There are three main types of immunoglobulins involved in food sensitivities:

IgA - Primarily lives in, and protects, the mucosal barrier of tissues in the digestive tract, lungs, and sinuses.
IgG - Patrols the blood throughout the body, and the most common type of food sensitivity responder.
IgM - The initial antibody produced by the adaptive immune system in response to an antigen (1).

These types of immune responses trigger inflammatory mediators and cytokines. Cytokines are various types of proteins whose roles are to fight, destroy, and even “eat” pathogens (2).

Food Sensitivities can often be reversed with the right support subheader

Common Symptoms of Food Sensitivities Include:

headache
migraine
fatigue (feeling tired/low energy, without explanation)
depression/anxiety
hyperactivity (more common in children)
recurrent mouth ulcers
aching muscles
vomiting
nausea
stomach ulcers
diarrhea
diagnosis of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
constipation
flatulence/bloat
diagnosis of Crohn’s
joint pain/Rheumatoid Arthritis
edema (swelling or water retention in joints)

When a food becomes an antigen, and it’s consumed often, you can imagine the impact this would have on inflammation and pain levels.

Food Sensitivities vs. Food Allergies

It’s important to understand the difference between food sensitivities and food allergies mainly for two reasons:

Reactions to food allergies can be potentially fatal
Reactions to food sensitivities are more likely to cause long-term health conditions that can be confused for other issues.

So, what’s the difference?

We discussed how the immunoglobulins (antibodies) responsible for food sensitivity reactions are IgA, IgG, and IgM.

The immunoglobulin responsible for food allergy reaction is known as IgE.

Think of it this way:

Addressing Food Sensitivities is essential to addressing chronic inflammation & pain subheading

Think of the ‘G’ in IgG (remember, this is the most common responder in food sensitivities) as standing for ‘Gradual’ (it doesn’t in actuality, but play along). Food sensitivities have a more gradual reaction, often manifesting within 12-72 hours of consuming the culprit food.

Whereas the ‘E’ in IgE could stand for ‘Emergency’. Food allergies typically have a more immediate response (within seconds or minutes), and often require emergency care.

IgE molecules bind to receptors on mast cells (a type of immune cell that lines connective tissues such as under the skin, nerves, lungs, and intestines (3)) and look for allergens - factors (in this case, foods) that cause an allergic response.

Once the allergen binds to the IgE molecule, the mast cell ruptures and releases mediators to fight or engulf the invader (this rupturing is called degranulation). These mediators trigger an inflammatory response, signal other immune cells, and cause blood vessels to widen.

This is why food allergy symptoms often include:

hives
itching
trouble breathing
redness
swelling
abdominal cramping
diarrhea

Food Sensitivity Testing

Depending on who you talk to, there is no one test that is superior to others. The best tests are going to reflect the type of work you are doing with your practitioner.

Because I specialize in helping individuals reduce inflammation and repair gut health, it’s important to me to use a test that differentiates between the types of antibodies, helping you recognize symptoms much more easily, re-establishing your intuition, and growing connection with your body.

For this reason, I prefer to use a panel that tests for both IgA and IgG, and differentiates between the two. The test kit you get from me is an at-home dried blood spot kit, no need to go to a lab.

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT THAN OTHER ONLINE FOOD SENSITIVITY TESTS?

There is a big piece missing when using online testing services you might have heard of.

That missing piece is support in getting rid of food sensitivities.

Yep! You read that correctly.

Food sensitivities are most commonly caused by poor digestion and damaged intestinal lining (leaky gut). While food allergies often have a genetic factor, food sensitivities are more commonly caused by food experiences, and can be reversed!

These online food sensitivity tests might tell you which foods to avoid, but they are not able to assess your body’s unique digestive health needs. Getting tested under the care of a holistic provider like myself enables you to get the individualized support you need to overcome food sensitivities by addressing the root cause.