This is the broken record phrase I hear all the time… ” Oh my gosh, this test can’t be right I eat all of those foods on my allergen list plus there are way too many nutritious foods that I have to avoid for the rest of my life”….. not really the truth.
Read on my friends.
I wanted to shed a little light on how this test works…
So as most of you guys know I have celiac disease and for the first 3-4 years after being diagnosed I was feeling amazing. The past 2 years have been a roller coaster. I have been under a higher level of stress than the years past, and we all know with stress… other food sensitivities tend to crop up slowly. This is one of the reasons I decided to offer the ALCAT test within my practice, I think this test is incredible.
Ever since I had been gluten free/ soy free and pretty much dairy free for a number of years, I started getting migraines again and achy joints. I thought that I just kept getting glutened no matter how hard I tried to avoid it. FRUSTRATION was at its peak. I was staying away from all things gluten and still did not feel as well as I should have.
My diet was filled with rice, potatoes, quinoa, vegetables, fruits, herbal teas, sorghum and millet just to name a few. I was drinking the gluten free beers when I was out with friends and after a while it felt to me like a regular beer would feel- I would drink 2, get a little sleepy, a little grumpy and quiet. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why the %#%$@#^%$&^ I was STILL having issues, I mean come on!
Soooo the results came back… I was sort of surprised, but not really. First of all my list of high allergen foods was 1 and my other reactive food list wasn’t so bad, THAT shocked me. But the list of things that were under my moderate reactive foods answered all my questions. Sorghum, Rice, Potato were all moderate reactant foods. NO WONDER I WAS FEELING SLUGGISH and my joints ached! I had eaten these foods so much on a regular basis that my body developed a slight reaction to these foods and lets face it, ever since I was diagnosed with celiac I am pretty sensitive to a lot of things that go into my belly, if my tummy doesn’t like it I usually react. I try and look at it in a positive way that my body is telling me to stay away from those foods that are unhealthy for MY body. In a way it is kind of cool.
I am however sad that I can no longer have tater-tots at least for a while, if you know me personally, you know I love some tater-tots. Potatoes were also the base of my GF bread that I eat and a good amount of other items in my pantry. I have gotten rid of all potato and rice based products, it has been 3 days and I can honestly say that my joints do not ache and my muscles are not as pissed for a lack of better words. I think this is really going to be a good move.
The point of the ALCAT test, from my understanding and research is to make one aware of the foods that may be causing you to feel sluggish, cause gas, irritability, etc due to the repetition in our diets. Let’s face it, humans are creatures of habit, we tend to eat the same foods day in and day out, I’m guilty of that! This ALCAT test not only tells you what foods in your diet that are causing you to have some interesting symptoms in the here and now, it also give you a list of foods that you should add into your diet or foods you should keep in your diet.
VARIATION IN THE DIET IS KEY! This test just brings home the sound bite that I heard all through school- ” a varied diet is best for your body”. The foods that are in my moderate and mild reactive columns are not ones that I must forever avoid, I must however, avoid them for at least 3-6 months to allow my body to release any toxins that were building up, and give my body time to stop making those antibodies against those certain foods. After 6 months I can add those foods back in SLOWLY and then rotate them to ensure that my body does not start to build up antibodies again. This is a perfect example of how eating the same foods everyday can really do more harm than you think…. I think this ALCAT test is a great tool to use in my practice. Not only does it keep our bodies from getting tired and old, it let teaches us how to vary our diet in ways that is sometimes hard to do. I will forever have to stay away from Oranges- my severe intolerance which makes me sad, but honestly I have not eaten an orange in forever… perfect example if you listen to what your body wants (except for foods high in sugar and fat and all those yummy things) your body will tell you what it wants and what it likes- do it a favor a mix it up a bit, make it happy.
So there it is… I will try my best to keep you updated on how things are going!
Has anyone else had this test done and had really good results????
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