Allergy testing

[barb62]

Hi all, I have just purchased my Food Intolerance kit. Has anyone else looked at this as a possible cause of their symptoms of Thyroidism

[MiniMum97]

I hope you are able to get your money back because food intolerance tests are a waste of money. They generally test IgG antibodies which simply tell you what you have eaten recently. If you completed a few of them and sent them off you would get different results. Sorry if that's disappointing but if it helps, I have wasted my money on them myself in the past. The only way to check accurately for food intolerances is an elimination diet.

[barb62 in reply to MiniMum97]

Hi MiniMum97,

I have been on the aip elimination diet for about 10 weeks. Therefore I haven't eaten nuts or beans in that time. My results are showing some nuts and beans as 100% intolerant

[Portia1974 in reply to MiniMum97]

I've been reading this too. Have just had my results back and had ZERO response to ANY food. If I believe the science that says IGg response to food is normal (and a result of exposure to that food) then surely I can only conclude that there's some kind of dysfunction of my IGg 🤔💁 IDK . It seems VERY odd that I have no IGg response to ANY food.

[MiniMum97 in reply to Portia1974]

I don’t think it works that you will have elevated IgG for everything you have eaten but there is a link between elevated IgG and recent exposure. Bottom line is that there is no scientific evidence to support that these tests can identify food intolerances. So they are a waste of money. The only reliable way to identify food intolerances is by undertaking an elimination diet.

eatright.org/health/allergi...

There’s lots of other resources and studies to look at online. Just google are foid intolerance tests accurate and there’s lots to look at.

[Portia1974 in reply to MiniMum97]

Oh I agree with you. Totally. I think I've wasted my money. I'm just flummoxed as to why I've got 6 sheets of zeros if IGg antibodies to the foods we eat are a normally occurring thing, lol!

[MiniMum97 in reply to Portia1974]

Yes that is strange. If it makes you feel any better I wasted my money on lots of different food intolerance tests years ago before I knew better - we all do these things when desperate for answers!

[Portia1974 in reply to MiniMum97]

Indeed we do! Did anything show up on yours or did you have 6 sheets of zeros too, lol?

[MiniMum97 in reply to Portia1974]

No I had intolerances identified - I had vega testing a few times, and did the york test (IgG) - cut out the foods but it didn't resolve symptoms, sometimes symptoms improved but not completely. I have recently done low fodmap and found out i am intolerant to fructans which are in loads of different types of foods - some nuts, beans, pulses, vegetables, fruits - so it's likely that they hit on some of those which is why some symptoms improved - also when you are intolerant the amount of the food that you eat matters too which is why it can be hard to identify the foods that are giving you a problem. I now avoid the offending fructans and use Alpha-galactosidase enzymes (which presumably I am missing) when eating out and my stomach is the best it's ever been

[Portia1974 in reply to MiniMum97]

Ah thats good to hear! Glad for you

[Maxxxx]

I think that food intolerances are a symptom of hypothyroidism rather than a cause. You might also have SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) as I did. If you have food intolerances you might also have and digestion problems so it would be a good idea to check your vitamin levels, especially B12, D3, folate and ferritin.

[HowNowWhatNow in reply to Maxxxx]

Funny you mention this.

I have just had a blood test result back showing I have very low folate levels. I have very borderline ferritin levels - because I take handfuls of pills for it.

So in this scenario, what kind of testing / elimination do you recommend I do?

[HowNowWhatNow in reply to HowNowWhatNow]

I have in the past felt better (less brain fog) when I did two months of eating GF. Is it worth getting a coeliac test eg?

[Maxxxx in reply to HowNowWhatNow]

Hi. I am of the opinion that it is better to be gluten free when you have Hashimotos whether you are celiac or not but you could get tested if you really feel like it. I used to get headaches whenever I ate gluten but after three years I am ok if I occasionally have it but I am not taking the chance of it getting bad again because the gluten causes actual damage to the villi in your stomach which is how you absorb the vitamins - which is why we get vitamin deficiencies with Hashimotos. I am sure this isn't the best scientific explanation but I believe it's more or less correct!

[HowNowWhatNow in reply to Maxxxx]

Thanks.

Headaches and GF - interesting.

My son has had to go GF because he is a probable coeliac (he has an IG(A) deficiency so it has taken us years to get to the bottom of it) so it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to go GF in solidarity anyway. If only I didn’t love bread..