IMMUNE POWER DIET: TRACKING DOWN YOUR DANGER FOODS

Obviously, it is crucial to have accurate tests for food sensitivities. Most traditional allergists use scratch tests, which involves giving the patient scores of tiny scratches on the back. Then various food extracts are introduced into the skin and the reaction is measured. Unfortunately, the test is time-consuming and often fails to point up hidden food sensitivities. Often, one reaction hides another, or the tests fail to pick up a powerful allergy to a certain food.

Another kind of test is the sublingual test, where potent extracts of food products are put under the tongue. There they are absorbed quickly and the patient is carefully observed for signs of sensitivity reaction. In my experience this type of testing is also time-consuming, and although it is symptom-specific, it too fails to indicate some hidden food intolerances.

Cytotoxic testing is a valuable tool in screening patients for food sensitivities. The test can be done quickly in the laboratory using only one blood sample from each patient, so there is no unnecessary evoking of possible allergic reactions. The test uses a drop of blood which is then exposed to various food extracts. By observing the patient's white blood cells react to different food extracts, hundreds of foods can be tested quickly and efficiently for their immo-toxic potential. I have had superb results using this test to evaluate thousands of patients.

By far the surest, most reliable test is the isolation test. Here, patients are put into a hospital environment where everything—air, water, food, chemicals—can be controlled to be absolutely non-allergenic. This lets patients start with a clean slate. Then, one by one, particular foods are reintroduced and the physician observes the reactions. Because the patient's entire environment is so tightly controlled, this is the best and most accurate way to test for sensitivities. Unfortunately, the unwieldy complexity of this kind of testing makes it prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. The isolation test is reserved for only the most severe sufferers.

Because the "remove and reintroduce" principle is the most accurate and effective means of identifying allergies that we know, I have simplified it and adapted it for the Immune Power Diet. Here, for the first time, is a program for those of us who want to best identify our hidden food sensitivities but can't afford to check into a hospital for two months to do so. The program I outline in the next chapter is a practical version of isolation testing. It offers a realistic, do-it-yourself way you can use these same accurate principles to measure your own food sensitivities.

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