Accurate diagnosis of food allergies has always been the bane of allergy treatment,” says Dr. Braly. The problem with diagnosing a food allergy is that reactions are often varied, inconsistent, and may take several days to develop after eating an allergy-causing food. How much or how often you eat an allergenic food or how it is cooked may be factors in whether or not you have a reaction. Or the allergy may be caused by an additive or ingredient rather than the food itself. In addition, more than one food is frequently involved in causing the reaction and symptoms are often “masked” by regular consumption of the foods.
Despite the complexity surrounding the detection and diagnosis of a food allergy, mainstream medical practitioners generally take a highly simplified approach to the problem. Most rely on a procedure called the scratch or prick-puncture test, a procedure that is only about 20% accurate in detecting food allergies. In truth, this test is only useful for identifying allergens that cause immediate reactions, such as those caused by pollen or dust, and is not effective in pinpointing food reactions. Another common test procedure is the RAST (Radio Allergo Sorbent Test). This blood test is useful for diagnosing allergies to pollens, dust, molds, bee venom, and other allergens. Again, this test is not very accurate in testing food allergies and can be very expensive. Most alternative medicine practitioners rarely use these tests. Instead, they recommend self-testing and laboratory procedures, such as the elimination diet, pulse test, and ELISA test, designed specifically to assess food allergies.
