Food intolerance - explanation

Delayed type 3 food allergy is not an acute but a chronic disease. In type 3 food allergy, the symptoms appear 2 to 3 hours after ingestion of the problematic food, or even later than 3 days after ingestion of the food. Due to delayed symptoms, patients often fail to associate these symptoms with the given food. The therapy is based on 3 basic phases:

1. Elimination phase

For a certain period of time, completely avoid foods showing elevated levels of IgG antibodies identified in the test:

• Antibody levels over 7.5 ug/ml (class 1-2) omission of the critical foods for at least 8 to 16 weeks
• Antibody levels over 20.0 ug/ml (class 3) omission of the critical foods for at least 6 months
• Antibody levels over 50.0 ug/ml (class 4) omission of the critical foods for at least 12 months

The goal is to discontinue the chronic inflammatory process! The basis of the therapy is a rotation diet of the remaining foods using a 4-day cycle - this principle helps prevent the development of further delayed food allergies and malnutrition.

2. Provocation phase

Re-introduction of the particular foods after the "break". Always only one food at a time (consume it for 1-2 days, then skip for 3 days and monitor for any symptoms. If there are no symptoms, introduce the given food into your diet permanently).

3. Stabilization phase

Avoid food triggers that kept causing you problems in the provocation phase for at least 1 year so that IgG antibodies can degrade and the body can recover. Then the patient begins another provocation phase. However, there may be foods that the patient will have to avoid permanently.

You will see 6 columns on the result sheet:

• the name of the food,
• IgG antibody concentration and
• 4 reaction classes (1 - weak reaction to the given food, 2 - increased reaction, 3 - high reaction, 4 - very high reaction).

These classes give information for how long you will need to skip the given food. On the last page, you can see a summary of positive-reaction foods with the intervals for how many months you will need to discontinue their consumption.

Cereals containing gluten - explanation:

When tested for extracts of cereal which normally contain gluten, and the reaction to gluten itself, the reactions are measured separately. The evaluation software is set up so that in the case of a positive reaction to gluten, cereals containing gluten show the same level of reaction. For example, if the result indicates that gluten is "elevated" therefore all cereals are labeled as "elevated" in the same class as gluten itself. The patient will then need to avoid all cereals in this group to avoid the persistence of symptoms of food intolerance to gluten.

A positive reaction to gluten in the food intolerance test is not an evidence of celiac disease; instead, it is rather an information suggesting the so-called non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

Reactions to dairy products

Food intolerance tests (PIT) look into the response to cow's milk proteins - casein, alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin. This is not a test for lactose intolerance! In case of positivity, all types of dairy products from cow's milk (milk, yoghurts, butter, cheese, etc.) should be avoided. It is also necessary to monitor the ingredients in other foods as well. If they contain casein, these should be excluded from the diet, too.