Food and Environmental Allergy and Sensitivity Testing
Food sensitivity testing may be performed through an IgG4 and/or IgE blood test performed by one of several independent laboratories. The doctor will test for sensitivities to approximately 100 different foods and food additives. Additionally, testing may also be performed for environmental allergens, if required. Once you receive your test result it is usually necessary to avoid all food sensitivities for at least six weeks. In many cases, this time allows the immune system to become less reactive to many previously sensitive foods.
Fee: Varies based on testing performed
Allergies? Itchy eyes, scratchy throat, sneezing, coughing, headaches, and most disturbing, the runny nose and congestion that make up the symptoms of allergic rhinitis.
According to the CBC, more than one in six Canadians suffer from seasonal allergic rhinitis and most will rely on some form of antihistamine to control their symptoms. And while treating symptoms is one approach, what about working on the cause of the problem … an over aggressive and confused immune system.
Allergy symptoms result from an immune system that has gone astray. Particularly, a part of the immune system that produces antibodies, called the humoral immune system, starts to produce large amounts of antibodies against the environmental invader … pollen! The problem here lies in that pollen is actually not dangerous at all, however your immune system, at some point during your life just got confused into thinking it was and can’t stop trying to kill the pollen, year after year after year!
The intestinal lining houses the majority of our immune system. Manipulating the immune system to become less confused, in-part involves, manipulating the intestinal bacterial inhabitants of the intestine, known as our microbata. Strain specific probiotics, that are supposed to make up the majority of our intestinal flora, are one of the key areas to start with in treating allergic rhinitis. Along with the elimination of individual food allergies and foods that are known to increase allergic symptoms in some pollen allergy sufferers, most peoples allergy symptoms just go away, forever!
Although, food sensitivity and allergy testing can help people identify and eliminate specific food triggers to atopic conditions, many pollen allergy suffers are also advised to avoid cross-reactive foods, depending on the type of pollen allergy they suffer from. There are many potential combinations of cross-reactive foods that might be triggering or worsening your allergy symptoms, and the best way to determine which ones are affecting you is actually through avoiding all of the know cross-reactive foods connected to your known pollen allergy.
Common Cross-reactant Foods Associated With Birch, Ragweed, Grass And Mugwort Pollens (Provided by Health Canada)
| Pollen Allergy | Known Potential Cross-reactant Food |
| Birch | Fruits: apple, apricot, cherry, kiwi, nectarine, peach, pear, plum, prune Vegetables: anise, beans, caraway, carrot, celery, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, green pepper, lentils, parsley, parsnips, peanut, peas, potato, tomato Nuts: almond, hazelnut, walnut Seeds: sunflower |
| Grass | Fruits: kiwi, melon, orange, tomato, watermelon |
| Mugwort | Fruits: apple, melon, watermelonVegetables: carrot, celery |
| Ragweed | Fruits: banana, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelonVegetables: cucumber, zucchini |
I also advise my allergic rhinitis clients to use a nasal lavage or neti pot, to keep the pollens from sitting on the surfaces of the nasopharynx for to long. Regular nasal lavage has been well established in treating allergic rhinitis and is very inexpensive for people to practice.