Valuable Life-Long Dietary Advice

Everyone is talking about what they can and can’t eat these days. Supermarket aisles are lined with products claiming to be gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free and everything in between. Food allergies, sensitivities and intolerance are hot topics in nutrition and health right now. At RevitaLifeMD, we want to dispel myths and help you eat what you love and what loves you in return.

FAQs

Click any of the topics below to learn more.

• What Is A Food Sensitivity Test?
  • Our bodies make many different types of antibodies, and they are each named with letters. IgE, for example, is the antibody associated with classic food allergies, like peanut allergies. (Allergists specialize in testing for IgE food allergies.) IgA and IgG, on the other hand, are known as delayed-response antibodies. IgA antibodies can last up to a week in your body after you eat certain foods and IgG can last up to three weeks.
    Because IgA and IgG antibodies last so long, you’re not likely to feel a reaction to foods the moment you eat them. Instead, they are more likely to cause low-grade inflammation and symptoms over time, including intestinal permeability or “leaky gut.” If you eat these foods every day, the inflammation adds up.
    It’s important to test for IgA and IgG antibodies because these tests tell us which foods cause you the most significant inflammation. After all, if you are going to be avoiding foods in your diet, you want to be sure to identify the most important foods to avoid. Dr. Cummins recommends an IgA and IgG food sensitivity test for all of his patients.
    With the information we get from an IgA and IgG food sensitivity test we can tell several things:

    – Which foods to avoid
    – Which foods may be causing or perpetuating your “leaky gut” symptoms
    – The severity of the leaky gut

    This information is priceless when your goal is to heal your body. It’s important to note that not many practitioners offer testing for IgA and IgG food reactions, so this is not a test you’ll be able to have done at the allergist’s office or even at a standard lab. However, you can do food sensitivity testing at home – it’s available as a blood test by finger poke. You can find the testing kits here in our online store.

• What Are the Benefits?
  • Once you have the results that tell you what you should and shouldn’t be eating, you will feel extremely motivated to make changes to your diet. It’s hard to change your diet without knowing for sure which foods are negatively affecting your health. Having food sensitivity test results cuts through that confusion.

    With this information, we can create an informed strategy for improving your health, including leaky gut symptoms. Treatment may involve diet changes, supplements, herbs, nutrients, probiotics, prebiotics, hydrochloric acid, taurine, glycine, glutamine, glucosamine, aloe vera, slippery elm, licorice, turmeric or colostrum, all of which can decrease inflammation and help your body heal.

• How does it work?
  • Symptoms associated with food sensitivities are often vague and difficult to isolate. Inflammation created in the gut can increase inflammation throughout your body, especially if you already have inflammatory conditions. The symptoms most commonly associated with food sensitivities include fatigue, brain fog, headaches, joint and muscle aches, bloating, asthma, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and heartburn. Increased inflammation can also increase your risk for cancer and cardiovascular events, like heart attacks and strokes.

    Food sensitivity testing offers very valuable life-long dietary information which can have a dramatic impact on your energy levels, immune system, metabolism and even weight. A healthy gut can improve your digestion of nutrients, especially proteins and amino acids, that become neurotransmitters and ultimately affect mood, cognition and appetite.

    “This is truly life-changing information that I highly recommend to all my patients.” – Dr. Brad Cummins.

    A simple blood draw in our office after 12 pm is all that’s needed, followed by a scheduled appointment one week later to review the results.

    Below is a comprehensive list of the food categories and food dyes your test results will measure:

• The Science Behind It
  • There are two types of reactions to food. One is the result of an actual allergy while the other is the result of an intolerance. Food intolerance is actually more common, though food allergies can be the most life-threatening.

    Food allergy and food intolerance are two very different things. A food allergy is a type 1 hypersensitivity mediated by the fast-responding antibody IgE. A food allergy will result in an immediate and intense reaction, and doctor’s instructions should be followed in managing the allergy. Food sensitivity, on the other hand, is a type 2 hypersensitivity that is possibly mediated by the slow-responding antibodies IgG and IgA.

    IgG and IgA are not typically used to diagnose food allergy. So if you have received allergy testing in the past, you can still have significant undetected food sensitivities.

• FAQs?
  • – Does this test also test for food allergies?
    No. This is a food sensitivity test, sometimes called a food intolerance test. Food allergies and food sensitivities are different.

    – What foods are tested?
    We test your immune system reaction to 150 food categories and food dyes. We have ensured that high risk foods are included in our tests.

    – If I have eliminated a food from my diet, will the food sensitivity test still work?
    If you have been specifically avoiding a food, we’ll ask you to re-introduce small amounts of that food for the 2 weeks prior to testing. For example, if you’ve been avoiding milk, try including a little milk in your coffee. While some people can accurately guess the foods that they are sensitive to, many discover they have been excluding non-reactive foods. Our test will accurately identify your problem foods.

    – Can I take the test if I’m pregnant?
    We advise against it and require a written prescription from your ob/gyn to administer it.

    – Will my medication interfere with the test results?
    Most medications will not affect your test results. If you are currently on immune system suppressors such as cortisone or other steroids we would suggest not testing for one month until you have completed your course of medication.

• Medical Conditions Associated with Food Sensitivity
  • Medical conditions where food sensitivity can play a primary or secondary role:

    Gastrointestinal:
    – Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    – Functional Diarrhea
    – GERD
    – Crohn’s Disease
    – Ulcerative Colitis
    – Microscopic Colitis
    – Lymphocytic Colitis
    – Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome

    Neurological:
    – Migraine
    – ADD/ADHD
    – Autism Spectrum Disorders
    – Epilepsy
    – Depression
    – Insomnia
    – Restless Leg Syndrome

    Musculoskeletal:
    – Fibromyalgia
    – Inflammatory Arthritis

    Dermatological:
    – Atopic Dermatitis
    – Urticaria
    – Psoriasis
    – Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

    Urological:
    – Interstitial Cystitis
    – Endocrine
    – Obesity

    Gynecological:
    – Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

• The RevitaLifeMD Difference
  • After many refinements, our test has a 94% sensitivity and 92% specificity and has a split sample reproducibility factor that is consistently greater than 90%. What does that mean in plain English? It means it is extremely reliable!

    Again, we recommend this test for all our patients – weight loss, wellness, hormones or anyone with significant fatigue or inflammatory symptoms.