If I told you that I could touch your nose with the little finger of my left hand and as a result diagnose all your food allergies, would you believe me? I didn’t think so. How would you prove that I was wrong? Well, you would ask me what I thought your allergies were, then you would ask a third person to feed you these foods in such a way that neither you nor I knew what you were eating. And the third person would throw in a few blank tests for good measure! And we would look for any bad effects. This is called double blind placebo controlled food challenge. Double blind because only a third person, not involved with assessing the results, knows what the foods are. Placebo controlled because a few blank tests are included. Let’s call the whole test DBPCFC for short. I can guarantee that my allergy test using the finger on the nose will fail the DBPCFC. And so does a test called “Applied Kinesiology”, where you are tested by holding your arm or leg in the air while someone tries to push it down while passing bottles or containers of food in front of you. This bizarre test was actually tested by a DBPCFC and the results published in the British Medical Journal. It failed miserably to diagnose food allergy. I’ve come across doctors, chiropractors and naturopaths using this test. I don’t use it. Another test without any basis is the so-called Vega Test or Bioprobe Test. Here you hold one wire while the tester touches you with another wire or probe. The wires go through a machine. I don’t use this test either. Another test similar to these two is the Pulse Test, where the tester will take you pulse while passing foods in front of you and diagnose food allergy. Can you believe it! But it is being done in Melbourne, Australia, even by some doctors. I don’t use this test. These tests – Applied Kinesiology, Vega Test, and Pulse Test – are what I call UGLY tests. They have no redeeming features. What are GOOD tests for food allergy. Improvement while avoiding the foods is a good test. And deterioration when the foods are brought back into the diet. And the final proof? The DBPCFC. Remember, if you have a major allergy to foods (see the section on anaphylaxis on this site), then this type of testing, namely diet and food challenge, has to be done under strict control, often in hospital. Blood and skin tests can sometimes be used to diagnose this major type of allergy. If you want help in deciding if you have a food allergy, speak to your doctor. Food allergy DOES occur, and you may need proper assessment.
BTW so-called “live blood analysis” and “IgG food allergy tests” (93 foods tested!!) are expensive and worthless. They do NOT predict allergy.
