Health can be improved and maintained by knowing how food interacts with your own body.

Food & Chronic Inflammation

80% of the immune system is in the gut, the largest area of contact with the environment, and it distinguishes around the clock between “harmless” and “harmful.” 

An overburdened immune system, exposed to toxins, chemicals, additives, sugar substitutes, emulsifiers, thickeners, pesticides, herbicides, radiation, pollution etc. can contribute to a loss of tolerance to harmless compounds and an “over-reaction” of the non-specific immune system. This results in chronic inflammation, cell dysfunction, and tissue damage. This chronic inflammation is silent and can manifest through a multitude of symptoms and be an underlying factor for chronic inflammatory disease, autoimmunity, and even cancer.

Food and Chemical sensitivities can be an underlying factor in:

• Gastrointestinal: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), indigestion, reflux/GERD, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease^.
• Metabolic: Obesity, inability to lose weight, Metabolic Syndrome, Type II diabetes
• Skin: eczema, psoriasis
• Joints: arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis
• Neurological: headache, migraine, chronic fatigue, ADD, cognitive impairment
• Respiratory: chronic cough, asthma

Sensitivity vs. Allergy

An allergy is a reaction that triggers immediate release of antibodies with immediate symptom, like rash, itching, swelling, difficulty breathing, and immediate immune response that affects multiple organs, is severe or even life threatening.

Food sensitivity involves an immune inflammatory reaction, local or systemic, with symptoms delayed hours or even days after exposure, making the primary “trigger” difficult to identify.

Why do I have Food Sensitivities?

There are multiple reasons why immune cells attack food particles:

• the body, especially liver and kidneys, have limited ability to detoxify
• unprecedented excess of chemicals in the foods, water and the environment,
• the intestinal function is out of balance
• immune dysregulation resulting in some food particles not being recognized and considered as harmful.

Testing for FOOD SENSITIVITIES

The most popular and researched food sensitivity testing is the leukocyte (white cell) activation testing (ALCAT)

The ALCAT identifies and measures immune cell responses to over 450 individual foods (including gluten, milk, eggs, yeast, sugar and sugar alternatives), Candida and molds, additives, colorings, functional foods, medicinal herbs and chemical substances (such as environmental, chemical, pharmaceutical substances).

During testing, white blood cells from a patient sample are exposed to a wide array of extracts (foods, herbs, spices, chemicals, additives, etc.) while changes at the cellular level are recorded and measured.

The results from the ALCAT can determine which foods and other substances may trigger unwanted inflammation. In other words what can safely be eaten and what should be avoided. Test results include a rotational dietary plan, a personalized nutrition plan based on your immune response, to assist with food choices that are better for your health and well-being.

Research

The ALCAT has been independently evaluated and demonstrated a high degree of health benefits.

Positive results related to a broad range of symptoms have been reported in more than 30 published studies.

When complying with the ALCAT results, many clinical symptoms associated with food sensitivity may be substantially improved or possibly prevented altogether.

A meta-analysis of data from approximately 1,300 patients showed the following health benefits:

• Weight management 98%
• Gastrointestinal 87%
• Skin disorders 90%

• Migraine / headache 95%
• Respiratory disorders 95
• Stress / burnout 60%

• Depression / anxiety 21%
• Inflammatory arthritis disorders 65%

ALCAT guided diet has recently been shown in a randomized double blinded prospective study to reduce symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) that eliminated foods that tested as severely reactive.

ALCAT is supported by Recent Yale University research as a screening tool to identify foods and compounds that cause the immune inflammatory reactions associated with food sensitivity.

The findings suggest that dietary triggers may play a role in inflammation associated disorders such as: multiple sclerosis, gastro-enteropathies, asthma, arthritis, obesity, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, inflammation of the liver and other target organs, dementia, eczema, psoriasis, and eosinophilic esophagitis.