Food Sensitivity Testing

FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY TESTING

Image of Doctor Carole Warner performing a food test.

Next Testing Dates:
Friday and Saturday, February 22 - 23 & March 14 - 15

Food sensitivity testing is available at the Lincoln St. office by Carole Warner, ND, LAc. Dr. Warner, a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist who practices in Portland, OR. She specializes in food and environmental sensitivity testing, and she will be coming to Moon and Lotus at regular intervals as we need her. The information below, written by Dr. Warner, describes the benefits and process of EAV testing.

Food and environmental sensitivity testing is a very empowering process, leaving you with a direct experience of how specific foods and environmental substances affect you and your health. If you feel you can benefit from food testing, please call the office at 345-2220 and we will schedule for an appointment.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

EAV testing is a technology that is widely used by medical doctors in Europe, and has made its way to the United States. This method of testing is painless and non-invasive (no needles are involved!). While no form of testing is 100% accurate, including allergy testing, EAV testing has been found to be an invaluable tool in helping people to discover what foods or other substances have been affecting their health and how.

Image of the food testing machine.

Similar to the way an ECG reads the electrical activity of the heart, EAV testing can tell us whether the body is reacting negatively to whatever food or substance is being tested. By testing a wide variety of foods and other substances, we can determine those that do not seem to be a problem as well as those that are. This means that you can continue to eat a broad variety of foods while eliminating foods that are a problem for six weeks. This will allow problematic substances to clear out of your system while you continue to live and work normally. Be it food or environmental substances, only by avoiding all exposure to them, letting them clear out of our system and then reintroducing them slowly, can we determine whether and how they’re effecting us.

WHO CAN BENEFIT?

Many of us are affected either mildly or profoundly by foods or environmental substances. Symptoms can be almost anything, including frequent colds and ear infections, heartburn, constipation or diarrhea, hemorrhoids, stomach aches, headaches or migraines, joint and/ or muscle pain, PMS, ADD, depression or irritability, asthma, painful or excessive periods, allergy/hay fever symptoms, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insomnia, fatigue, and the list goes on and on. The most frustrating thing is that your reaction to foods or environmental substances can be delayed for as much as a couple of days, making it almost impossible to correlate your symptoms or health problems with the food or substance in question. This is why testing is very helpful.

IS IT THE SAME AS A BLOOD TEST FOR FOOD ALLERGIES?

Sensitivity testing is not the same as allergy testing. Truthfully, it is not very common to test positive (or allergic) to very many foods. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that foods or other substances aren’t having a causative effect on your various symptoms and health problems, so you are left thinking that there are only a couple of foods that are a problem, when in fact there may be many more that aren’t picked up by allergy testing. Sensitivity testing catches these problem substances, and allows you to put the reliability of the information directly to the test. Once the things you test sensitive to clear out of your system, they can be reintroduced one by one to discover, through direct experience, their effects on your body and your health.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Sensitivity Testing is more thorough and less expensive than allergy testing! You will be tested for about 220 foods and 75 environmental substances at less than half the price it would cost you to be allergy tested for that many substances, AND you’ll get a broader picture about which foods and substances may be causing your health problems and weakening your immune system. You can confirm these results yourself.

The fee is $150. to test the 220 foods, and $195 to test the food plus the 75 environmental substances. Insurance may pay part of this cost if your policy covers the services of naturopathic physicians. We ask you to pay fully at the time of service, and we will give you the appropriate paperwork to submit to your insurance company.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND LINKS

Capella Market and Sundance Natural Foods are happy to assist people in finding foods that they can substitute for those they are sensitive to. Go to the vitamin department at these stores and ask someone for help.

Also see www.glutenfreeeugene.org for lots of information on alternatives to wheat and ideas about support for making diet changes an integral part of your life.

By Carole Warner, ND., LAc. Dr Warner is a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist who practices in Portland, OR.