Improve Your Life with Food Sensitivity Testing
Frank and Emma have invited Susan over for dinner. On the menu is lasagna with tomato sauce, a mixed greens salad and all the trimmings. Everyone else who eats the meal feels fine the next day, but Susan has a headache, cramping and bloating.
Susan has known for a while that she feels bad after certain foods, but she’s never been able to pinpoint exactly what was causing what. After hearing so many negative things going around about wheat and dairy, she figures it must have been the wheat and the cheese in the lasagna she ate the previous night. She decides to eliminate wheat and reduce her dairy intake for a while. Soon, she actually starts to feel better! That is, until she gets the symptoms eating something else, even though she’s been avoiding wheat and dairy.
If Susan had gotten a LEAP MRT® (Mediator Release Test), which tests for inflammation caused by 170 foods and food chemicals, the test would have shown her that it’s not the wheat or dairy, but actually the tomato in the sauce that was causing her symptoms from Frank and Emma’s dinner. So now Susan has been mistakenly avoiding all dairy and wheat for nothing. For others with similar problems like Susan, it could have even been baker’s yeast or polysorbate 80 (an additive) in the bread, but not the wheat itself.
Have you ever related to Susan’s plight in trying to pin down what food or food chemical is causing your inflammatory symptoms? You go to doctors and specialists, and everyone’s scratching their heads. Sometimes they help, but other times they tell you to “try avoiding dairy and wheat,” and to keep a food journal.
Perhaps you have already gotten food sensitivity testing, like the everpopular IgG (Immunoglobulin A) testing. The problem with this more common testing is that it only shows you what you ate, which isn’t very useful in helping you find out the cause of your inflammation.
Food and food chemical sensitivities, frequently confused with “food allergies,” are non-allergic, non-celiac inflammatory reactions that can involve both innate and adaptive immune pathways. Since the intestinal tract lining is extremely thin, anything could cause a “leaky gut affect” and lead to improper digestion of food molecules. A variety of triggering mechanisms could then prompt reactions in your white blood cells, which can lead to the release of pro-inflammatory and pro-algesic (pain-causing) mediators, such as cytokines, leukotrienes, and prostaglandins. This ultimately results in pain and discomfort all over the body or in specific areas.
Food sensitivities are one of the most common causes of inflammation and symptoms across a wide range of chronic inflammatory conditions. Some of these include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), migraine, fibromyalgia, arthritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD/heartburn), obesity, metabolic syndrome, ADD/ADHD and autism, to name a few. The role of food sensitivities in these conditions and others is not addressed in conventional medicine very deeply at this time.
So, what’s the big deal about reducing inflammation? Lots! Inflammation can be an exacerbating factor behind being overweight or obese, cause a myriad of unpleasant symptoms, joint pain, headaches, gastrointestinal symptoms and even increase risk of cancer and other diseases.
As a registered dietitian in private practice, I, as well as so many other dietitians across the country, have been fortunate enough to see numerous case reports of clients greatly improving their conditions with LEAP MRT®. The test, although proven highly successful, has been in experimental phase for a long time, which is why insurance has not covered it. That said, we are excited there are peer-reviewed studies being planned to make the test and diet therapy much more recognized. This test not only tells you what not to eat, but also what to eat. Luckily, many whole and specialized foods can be found at Marlene’s Market & Deli!
I like to call the protocol “the ultimate detox.” It’s the elimination diet without being blind. While others are detoxing in an unscientific and unhealthy fashion, or avoiding foods they don’t need to avoid, LEAP MRT® testing looks at which foods and food chemicals affect you personally, to create a diet that causes the least amount of inflammation - for you!
Cathy Hains, MS, RDN, CLT, CDN, is a registered dietitian-nutritionist who has practiced in her own clinic, Lighthouse Nutrition and Wellness in Gig Harbor, since 2010. She helps clients there and elsewhere lose weight, prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease, treat digestive issues and pinpoint food sensitivities. She’s married with three kids, two cats, loves eating at Marlene’s, watching movies, music, playing drums and traveling. She can be reached at 253.269.8888.
