I wanted to share a little bit about food allergies and how they are usually classified because it may be helpful for you to understand what’s going on with any food reactions you might be having. It also helps you to know the best way to test and get to the root of your health problem.

Even though I had a really good inkling that part of my health problems were from food allergies I wanted the doctor I worked for to test me. He used a test from Meridian Valley labs that tests a combination of IgE and IgG. IgE allergy is the type of allergy that someone who is allergic to peanuts might experience. Their throat tightens and they could go into anaphylactic shock. I was told by another allergy doctor that I should carry an epipen around just in case I had a reaction like that. She had done a skin prick test which showed altogether different allergies than the blood test. I had wanted her to confirm my first test by doing a blood test but the conventional allergy doctors typically do a skin reaction test. IgE allergies are considered ‘true’ allergies.

Food sensitivities as spoken about by Carolee Bateson-Koch DC, ND, “Food sensitivities is a common catchall term employed for food allergy, food intolerance and other adverse reactions to food. Proof of food allergy is still often difficult to establish. Most laboratory blood tests deal primarily in identifying the IgE antibody and often do not screen for reactions that may produce the IgG, IgA or IgM antibodies. It is interesting to note that the most accepted diagnostic test for allergy, the elimination diet and subsequent reintroduction of suspected substances, does not differentiate between the two terms, allergy and intolerance.”

IgG allergies are what is called delayed reaction food allergies because you may not feel any symptoms until 24-48 hours after you ate the food you may be reacting to. This is what was happening to me especially with dairy, sugar, wheat, and sometimes eggs. It was horrible because I would eat brown rice or barley and wake the next day literally feeling very hung over with a headache, feeling lethargic, swollen glands and just exhausted.

My boss who was a naturopathic doctor told me that I had leaky gut syndrome because on the test I was reacting to all the foods. That meant small particles of not fully digested foods where getting into my blood stream causing an immune reaction. It was actually a big mess at the time because while I did the best I could to stop eating dairy, beef, and sugar I would still at times react emotionally to stress in my life and eat it again. This went on for a couple of years. I knew full well that I could die from all sorts of different diseases if I did not heal the leaky gut. I truly did the best I could at the time but looking back some of what I was doing seems like a joke now.

One statement I just love and never want to forget is one I read in the book Hidden Food Allergies by James Braly, M.D and Patrick Holford that talks about how you can overcome your food allergies. I wasn’t sure I believed this and I didn’t touch dairy for about five years. My husband had prayed diligently for my healing for the last three years and this statement may be in part why I can now eat Kefir which is made from dairy without any problems. “The good news is that you can grow out of most food allergies. While celiac disease and IgE-based food allergies are almost always fixed and permanent for life, most food allergies only involve IgG antibodies, and your immune system can ‘unlearn’ its IgG sensitivities. If you strictly avoid a food you are currently IgG sensitive to for three to four months, there will be no more IgG antibodies left tagged for that food and the immune cells producing food-specific IgG anitbodies appear to lose interest in doing so over time. This means you won’t react allergically to that food when it’s reintroduced.” This is because immune cells that produce IgG antibodies don’t pass their ‘memory’ on to the next generation. They often forget.

Leaky gut and IgG food allergies or sensitivities are very connected. These are subjects I go into greater detail in a digestion education class I am in the process of putting together right now.

If this interests you go to my website and get the free download of 7 ways to improve your digestion now and you will get on my list where I will let you know where, where, and how of getting the support you need to overcome your digestive issues.

Love and blessings

Joan

Empowering you to revolutionize your health

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