Everyone seems to be familiar with the ‘scratch test’, but have you ever wondered whether there are other testing methods available? I thought I’d take the opportunity now to go over the different types of tests with you, but before I do that, I need to talk about antibodies…
Antibodies are substances that are produced by the body to counteract something that the body recognizes as alien. These aliens could be viruses, bacteria and other foreign substances. There are several types of antibodies:
IgE – located in mucous of respiratory and digestive tracts and it makes up 1% of antibodies
IgG – made by White Blood Cells located in the bloodstream and it makes up 75% of antibodies
IgA – located in saliva, tears, blood stream and digestive system, depleted with frequent consumption
There are a few more, but not enough is known about them at this time.
Okay, now let’s review the traditional testing methods first:
• RAST – A blood test for identifying IgE responses. It’s good for airborne but a little pricy.
• Scratch or skin test tests for IgE and it works best for environmental allergens although it often will miss 50% of foods
• Cytotoxic test takes living white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets, exposes them to food or chemicals and watches how the cells react,
• ELISA test is a blood test that looks at IgG & IgE antibodies. It looks for the presence of antibodies and abnormal white blood cell reactions to food. The great thing about this one is that it picks up delayed reactions!
• The other old fashioned stand-bye is the elimination diet. Obviously this works for foods and not environmental! With this method, you go to a basic diet of non-offending foods and then slowly reintroduce one at a time and see if any type of symptom happens. This is a slow process!
There’s still another type of test available as well and it is the method we use. Some of you may already be familiar with it and others may not. It’s known by several names; such as, applied kinesiology, bio-feedback or muscle testing. The terms are completely interchangeable! To keep things simple, let’s use the term muscle testing.
With muscle testing, the key point to remember is that when your body is exposed to a substance it has an issue with, your body will become stressed and the muscle we’ve isolated for testing (usually your hand or arm) will weaken. It’s basically a stress response test! I know it sounds hokey but it works. This test is capable of finding sensitivities that involve your immune system; as well as, those that do not. We don’t need to test ‘antibodies’. It is non-invasive, doesn’t use needles and is completely safe for children. This test was even validated in double blind studies…pretty cool!
There are also more modern methods of muscle testing called electro-dermal screening or vega testing. These methods use a computer device to perform the test instead of isolating a muscle. Often a computer report is generated listing the problematic substances.
If you find all of this a little confusing, you’re more than welcome to book a FREE 1 hour consultation with us to find out more about it. You can also bring us your own ‘stuff’ and we can test those items. For example, bring us your supplements! We’ve even had people bring us their beer and wine!
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PLUS: Leave comments below — we’ll answer as many questions as we can!