Food Sensitivity Testing
IgG and IgA Tests
Food sensitivities are common and on the rise, but they can be difficult to pinpoint without testing because symptoms are often subtle and delayed. That dairy headache may not hit until hours, even days, after you eat a pot of yogurt.
It’s also easy to assume that you won’t be sensitive to “healthy” foods, and that’s not the case – we regularly see clients with sensitivities to superfoods like broccoli, berries, chicken, beef… foods that are nutritious, but still poison for their systems.
Ann Arbor Holistic Health offers comprehensive IgG and IgA food sensitivity testing for both children and adults. The results provide a useful guide for nutrition planning, so you can get the nutrients you need with the foods that are best for your body. Eliminating reactive foods can help reduce stress on the immune system, lower whole-body inflammation, and help heal the gut.
What is a food sensitivity test and how does it work?
When the immune system encounters a threat, it releases a range of antibodies (also called immunoglobulins). Antibodies are proteins that identify and neutralize foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and toxins. They play a crucial role in your body’s defense mechanism.
When you develop a food allergy or sensitivity, your body releases antibodies in response to food, rather than to an infection. Food sensitivity testing examines a range of up to 300 foods to identify which ones cause an antibody response and how severely your body reacts.
Your Ann Arbor Holistic Health practitioner can help identify which testing panel is right for you, based on your age, symptom history, and current diet.You can test the body’s immune response to many common foods, including gluten, dairy, wheat, soy, peanuts, shellfish, tree nuts, and a variety of meats, fruits, and vegetables, as well as commonly used dyes and preservatives. A routine blood draw or at-home finger poke is all that’s required.
What does food sensitivity testing show?
IgG/IgA testing detects specific antibodies created by the immune system in response to foods, and it’s especially helpful for detecting delayed food sensitivities. Each panel of tests shows which foods caused a reaction and to what degree, ranking them as mild, moderate, or severe.
When you have a food sensitivity you don't know about and continue to eat that food, it sabotages your ability to make progress with your health. You might be working really hard to eat nourishing foods, get good sleep, and exercise often, while an unknown sensitivity to something you eat regularly is causing constant inflammation. Your body never gets a chance to recover, and you never see the results you expect from all your effort.
Food sensitivity testing can help uncover links between the foods you eat and common sensitivity and intolerance symptoms, including fatigue or low energy, trouble focusing, headaches, skin issues like acne or eczema, and digestive problems. Discovering food sensitivities and intolerances is crucial to creating a comprehensive wellness plan that meets your personal needs.
Does insurance cover food sensitivity testing?
Insurance typically only covers testing for food allergies, characterized by severe, often life-threatening immune responses. That information is certainly helpful, but it’s just a fraction of the data that modern functional testing can offer. What you eat plays a tremendous role in your health, and it makes sense to find out what’s right for you and your body.
While food sensitivity testing is not covered by insurance, thankfully it is affordable. Your results are a major tool in your wellness toolbox, providing vital data to help you take charge of your health and end the cycle of inflammation and increasingly miserable symptoms. Identifying food sensitivities has proven life-changing for hundreds of Ann Arbor Holistic Health clients.
Where can I get a food sensitivity test?
Start the process with a free Comprehensive Consultation & Evaluation. Your Ann Arbor Holistic Health practitioner will spend 45 minutes with you, learning about your symptoms, health history, and lifestyle to see if food sensitivity testing is a good fit. If so, it’s just a few simple steps to get lab tests ordered.
Once your results are in, your practitioner will provide insight about how to read them and what they might mean for you, then offer help with a customized wellness plan. Your plan will help you learn how to find plenty of nourishing, yummy foods that work for your body, plus addresses any effects of long-term exposure and reactivity, such as leaky gut syndrome or chronic infections.
Food Sensitivity Test Benefits & Uses
What can food sensitivity testing be used for?
According to numerous clinical studies, eliminating IgG-positive foods may improve symptoms of well-known conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, autism, ADHD, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and epilepsy. We commonly explore food sensitivities and intolerances because they can impact so many of the body’s systems.
Food sensitivity testing may make sense for you if you’re experiencing any of the following signs or symptoms:
Tiredness, drowsiness, no energy
Frequent headaches or migraines
Stomach bloating, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, flatulence
IBS, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
Eczema, hives, psoriasis, other chronic skin problems
Aching joints, backache
Sinus problems, chronic cough, acid reflux
Behavior problems in children (including ADD & ADHD)
Unexplained weight gain
Yeast (Candida) infections
Clumsiness, lack of coordination
Miscarriage or infertility