Food Sensitivity Test Lab Interpretation
in Raleigh, NC
Just look at all the commercials for food sensitivity comprehensive testing these days! Patients are experiencing reactions ranging from diarrhea, constipation and skin rashes to belly pain and bloating, as well as heartburn, headaches and joint pain – and the list goes on. It comes down to an inflammatory response in the digestive system which “spills” into the rest of the body – easily and quickly affecting the entire body.
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Reactions or “sensitivity” to foods is a growing concern.
Many are finding they react to all sorts of unhealthy as well as healthy foods too! Honestly, unhealthy food should cause us problems – simply put, they damage more than our guts. But why should we be reacting to healthy foods?
Too many are spending gobs of money and turning to at-home food sensitivity testing to find the food “culprits” or WHAT is causing them the discomfort. While that can be somewhat informative (and sometimes helpful in the short-term) it can also provide an incorrect focus in restoring gut and overall health.
When we focus too much on WHAT we are reacting to we miss WHY we are reacting in the first place. Common scenario – a person gets their food sensitivity test results so they start restricting their diet on their newly prescribed Food Sensitivity Diet. Over time they become even more food intolerant because they are not addressing the most important point – WHY they reacted. Food sensitivity testing has given many a false sense of security – “if I just remove these foods from my diet then I’m healthier or better”. Not necessarily true! You can remove the foods on your sensitivity list but that doesn’t fix the problem of WHY you reacted to them. It may help with immediate symptoms but whatever you replaced your “bad foods” with can now become your next food sensitivity in 3-6 months.
By the time some new clients start working with me they have reported that they are only able to eat FIVE “safe” foods now! This is the WRONG path to healing and also leads to loads of unnecessary frustration and disappointment!
Now there may be foods that you are ALWAYS going to be sensitive to but once the gut is healed and the microbiome restored then all sorts of foods should be back on the table , literally! Does it make sense to keep removing more and more foods from your “sensitivity” list or does it make MORE sense to figure out WHY you are reacting, and correct and heal that??!! If your gut is strongly reacting to foods – we need to work on healing the gut and rebuilding the microbiome (or terrain) so we can calm down inflammation and rebuild health addressing this problem long-term.
The second most common focus in gut health is SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) and Candida (Yeast Overgrowth). SIBO is when gut bacteria (or other “opportunists” like Candida) invade the small intestine and release gas and cause all sorts of damage to the intestinal wall barrier – one of the most crucial protective barriers in our entire body. When this is damaged we call it Leaky Gut Syndrome. Once the gut lining is “leaking” then we run the risk of having more symptoms or dysfunction outside of the gut, like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (auto-immune thyroid disorder) or neurological (or brain) symptoms like brain fog, memory issues or vertigo.
Once again, the healing is often mis-directed to “kill the bad bugs” when what we really need to focus on is getting a better understanding of WHY SIBO or Candida was there in the first place.
The root cause most often lies in a dysfunctional gut microbiome. We have damaged our guts beyond belief – from antibiotics, acid inhibitor medications, glyphosate (RoundUp herbicide) exposure, SAD (Standard American Diet) Diet, birth control pills, and much more. In recent years we have learned that the gut microbiome is linked to everything including: gut health, mental health, immune system, brain health and more! The key to health is not only learning how to improve our gut microbiome but restoring and maintaining a functional and vital gut microbiome!
There are a lot of stool analysis tests that claim to identify this information – particularly on the number of keystone (crucial) bacteria species or pathogens (bad bugs), macronutrient and micronutrient needs as well as your ability to feed or starve your microbiome. My preferred gut microbiome test far surpasses all others out there – called the GI Map. It’s incredibly accurate, affordable and looks for the WHY in your optimal gut health journey! Restoring your gut microbiome is dependent on your specific results but with an individualized gut microbiome diet and supplementation protocol everyone can achieve great improvements in their gut health – LONG-TERM!
Food Sensitivity Test Lab Interpretation
Choose what Test is right for you, here are our options:
Dutch Lab Test
✓ An extensive hormone picture with a comprehensive breakdown of sex and adrenal (stress) hormones.
✓ Understanding of how you use and balance your own hormones.
✓ Much more accurate assessment of hormone values.
✓ Extensive estrogen and cortisol metabolite testing.
✓ Better understanding of how balanced your hormones are (or aren’t).
✓ Great information on hormone health without the commitment to a more comprehensive health approach.
✓ Results in 2-3 weeks after collecting.
✓ Actionable results.
WHAT YOU GET FROM INTERPRETATION:
✓ A thorough breakdown of your hormone results.
✓ A discussion on what these results mean for your health.
✓ Expert treatment strategy and recommendations based on YOUR result.
GI Map Test
WHAT YOU GET FROM THE TEST:
✓ Comprehensive and accurate gut health stool test.
✓ Most advanced and accurate technology to truly assess the microbiome.
✓ Get the digestive results you’re missing from other testing.
✓ Answers to your gut health problems – bloating, constipated, diarrhea, reflux, IBS.
✓ Evaluates multiple aspects of microbiome balance, strength, and resilience.✓ Evaluates gut inflammatory markers.
✓ Provides an insight to actionable nutrition, lifestyle, and supplement recommendations to more favorably support the ecology of your microbiome.
✓ Useful info on not only pathogens but on healthy gut bacteria.
✓ Great information on how well your body is able to make and utilize numerous crucial nutrients.
WHAT YOU GET FROM INTERPRETATION:
✓ A thorough breakdown of your digestive results.
✓ A discussion on what these results mean for your health.
✓ Expert treatment strategy and recommendations based on YOUR result.
If you feel you need more help than testing alone, inquire and book your
“I believe that all physical disease has an emotional, mental and spiritual component therefore healing must take place on all of these levels. This involves a strong commitment on the part of my patient because all healing occurs from within. Utilizing a comprehensive approach based in functional medicine, full diagnostic testing, nutritional planning and common sense, I partner with my patients to educate and support them on how they can truly improve their health and their life on all levels.”
Dr. Kelley Reis is a Board-certified Naturopathic Physician, Functional Wellness Expert and a Kentucky native. She graduated from The National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon and has been in practice since 2004 – successfully helping clients reach their goal of optimal wellness and vitality. Dr. Kelley’s passion is to help clients “fact find” and uncover root health issues and imbalance within the foundational systems of health: gut health, hormonal balance, detoxification and inflammatory responses. What makes this approach so successful is the focus on resolving the underlying inflammation and stress that cause the breakdown of health, resulting in chronic, degenerative diseases that are so prevalent in today’s society.
Driven to truly help patients get to the root cause of their health issues, Dr. Kelley’s functional approach focuses on the WHOLE person. While she does utilize nutritional supplementation in her practice, she does not just manage patient symptoms with supplements. She believes that a person CANNOT simply be “supplemented back to health” – an individualized and comprehensive approach to treat the whole person is the key!