Two weeks ago I got blood drawn for 2 special tests. The first test is called the IgG Standard Food Family Sensitivity Assay, where they tested my sensitivity to certain foods. It came back with 25 foods I'm currently sensitive to. The level of sensitivity is measured on a scale of 1-4, 1 being the lower of the sensitivities, and 4 being a very high sensitivity. Here are the foods I am sensitive to. I'm sure you guys probably don't care but I was shocked:
Amaranth (+1)
Apple (+1)
Bean, Green (+1)
Bean, Kidney (+1)
Bean, Pinto (+1)
Bean, Yellow Wax (+1)
Cashew Nut (+1)
Coconut (+1)
Coffee (+1)
Crab (+1)
Cranberry (+2)
Egg (+2)
Garlic (+1)
Lobster (+1)
Milk, Cow's (+2)
Milk, Goat (+1)
Pea (+1)
Pecan (+2)
Pineapple (+1)
Pumpkin (+1)
Sesame (+1)
Walnut (+2)
Yeast, Baker's (+3)
Yeast, Brewer's (+2)
Yeah... mind blowing. I think I am the most upset about Apples, Garlic, and Shellfish. The thing is, too, if they find 3 or more in the same family of foods, it means I have to avoid the entire family. So that means NO BEANS OR LEGUMES, and NO SHELLFISH. How much does that suck? Plus I cannot have milk, or the milk substitutes I love most, Soy and Coconut. It also means, that though I thought I was allergic to gluten, I either have eliminated it enough from my diet that it didn't show up on the test, or what I thought was a gluten allergy was really an allergy to the YEAST in the bread I love so much. CRAZY!!!
The 2nd test was the IgE Assay. In this test, they tested for a different kind of allergic reaction, one that is more permanent and not really fixable through food therapies. They only tested 36 foods on this one, because I opted not to test the foods I have been doing relatively well with like almonds. On this test, it only came back with one IgE reaction, Black Walnuts (+2). I was shocked, surely the other nuts should have shown up? But they didn't. I didn't know this, but there are several different types of immune responses, and the IgE looks for the worst immune response, and I guess Walnuts is my big bad wolf.
So what does this mean? It means that right after getting off a really extremely difficult diet experiment, I have to go right back on to a new diet. One that is NOT for weight loss, but for health. I have to cut my +1 foods out for 3 months, my +2 foods out for 4.5 months, and my +3 foods for 6 months, and my black walnuts forever.. it'll be rough since I have NEVER been able to eat those.
So this diet has me eating only foods I was tested for and did not have an immune response to. I am also not supposed to eat the same food two days in a row, or I can develope an immune response as my body cleanses itself from the allergens. My doctor put me a on a 4 day rotation, meaning I get to eat certain foods every four days, and then after 3 months has passed, I can try adding in my +1 foods one at a time, and so on and so forth.
I was going to wait until I went to Cape May before attempting this diet, but I have been having so many negative symptoms the last few months, I have decided to start tomorrow. I think I can handle it. I've had it so much worse.
If you are curious where I got my lab test results from, the website is http://www.immunolabs.com/
Amaranth (+1)
Apple (+1)
Bean, Green (+1)
Bean, Kidney (+1)
Bean, Pinto (+1)
Bean, Yellow Wax (+1)
Cashew Nut (+1)
Coconut (+1)
Coffee (+1)
Crab (+1)
Cranberry (+2)
Egg (+2)
Garlic (+1)
Lobster (+1)
Milk, Cow's (+2)
Milk, Goat (+1)
Pea (+1)
Pecan (+2)
Pineapple (+1)
Pumpkin (+1)
Sesame (+1)
Walnut (+2)
Yeast, Baker's (+3)
Yeast, Brewer's (+2)
Yeah... mind blowing. I think I am the most upset about Apples, Garlic, and Shellfish. The thing is, too, if they find 3 or more in the same family of foods, it means I have to avoid the entire family. So that means NO BEANS OR LEGUMES, and NO SHELLFISH. How much does that suck? Plus I cannot have milk, or the milk substitutes I love most, Soy and Coconut. It also means, that though I thought I was allergic to gluten, I either have eliminated it enough from my diet that it didn't show up on the test, or what I thought was a gluten allergy was really an allergy to the YEAST in the bread I love so much. CRAZY!!!
The 2nd test was the IgE Assay. In this test, they tested for a different kind of allergic reaction, one that is more permanent and not really fixable through food therapies. They only tested 36 foods on this one, because I opted not to test the foods I have been doing relatively well with like almonds. On this test, it only came back with one IgE reaction, Black Walnuts (+2). I was shocked, surely the other nuts should have shown up? But they didn't. I didn't know this, but there are several different types of immune responses, and the IgE looks for the worst immune response, and I guess Walnuts is my big bad wolf.
So what does this mean? It means that right after getting off a really extremely difficult diet experiment, I have to go right back on to a new diet. One that is NOT for weight loss, but for health. I have to cut my +1 foods out for 3 months, my +2 foods out for 4.5 months, and my +3 foods for 6 months, and my black walnuts forever.. it'll be rough since I have NEVER been able to eat those.
So this diet has me eating only foods I was tested for and did not have an immune response to. I am also not supposed to eat the same food two days in a row, or I can develope an immune response as my body cleanses itself from the allergens. My doctor put me a on a 4 day rotation, meaning I get to eat certain foods every four days, and then after 3 months has passed, I can try adding in my +1 foods one at a time, and so on and so forth.
I was going to wait until I went to Cape May before attempting this diet, but I have been having so many negative symptoms the last few months, I have decided to start tomorrow. I think I can handle it. I've had it so much worse.
If you are curious where I got my lab test results from, the website is http://www.immunolabs.com/
1 comment:
Wow, that really sucks! But at least you now have knowledge, and knowledge is power! So use it for good, young padawan! Good luck with your new diet!
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