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At-home allergy test to assess in four easy steps whether a particular food might be triggering intolerance or sensitivity issues. Not appropriate for severe situations that may trigger anaphylaxis.
Food sensitivities and allergies in children are clearly on the rise. Official estimates put the number at about 6% of children under the age of three. This sure seems low to me.
In my child’s preschool class, 10 of 12 children suffered from at least one food allergy!
When I went through elementary school in the 1970s, I barely remember one child with a food allergy of any kind.
Food Allergies, Intolerance, and Sensitivities
In years past, genetic predisposition was a clear and primary contributor to the development of allergies.
However, the modern-day tendency for children to eat just a few types of foods all the time like pizza, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, boxed cereal and peanut butter sandwiches is a big reason for the skyrocketing allergy trend.
Exclusive eating requires a constant demand for the same types of digestive enzymes over and over. This can eventually lead to digestive exhaustion, food addictions, and biochemical disruptions.
Poor diet in infancy and childhood which is devoid or low in animal fats such as egg yolks, cream, and butter is also a contributor to the development of allergies.
Arachidonic acid and beneficial cholesterol in these nourishing animal fats promote the development of an intestinal wall that is strong with much integrity.
The nutritionless, carb-heavy, rancid vegetable oil-laden processed foods most allergy-prone children subsist on can lead to weakness in the intestinal walls. Another name for this is leaky gut syndrome.
These microscopic perforations allow partially digested food particles to enter the bloodstream. At that point, the trigger is set for an unpredictable mix of auto-immune and behavioral disorders.
What to do if you suspect a food allergy in your child or yourself but you wish to avoid expensive testing?
Home Pulse Test
As it turns out, it is rather easy to test for a food allergy at home.
Note that this is not appropriate for any situation where anaphylaxis might occur.
The four simple steps include the following:
- Avoid the suspected food for at least 4 days.
- Eat a moderate amount of the suspected food on an empty stomach. Consume no other food within the previous 2 hours (drinking water is fine).
- Measure pulse rate (beats per minute) before and 5-10 minutes after eating the food in question.
- Calculate the difference in pulse rate. Did you find a significant rise of more than just a few beats per minute? If so, then an allergy or intolerance is likely even if you do not identify any other symptoms.
Besides an increased or racing pulse, food sensitivities and allergies can be identified via rashes, fatigue, insomnia, headaches, joint pain, and even hoarseness.
How to Heal
Once one or more food allergies are identified, a diet such as GAPS would need to be followed.
Over a period of time, usually 18 months to about 3 years, the gut wall will heal and seal. At that point, offending foods can be gradually reintroduced into the diet.
If the allergies are not severe, simply eating a varied and best traditional diet may be all that is necessary to put them in remission. This means no refined or stimulating foods.
“Refined” and “stimulating” foods would include anything made with white sugar, white flour, rancid vegetable oils like canola or soy, sodium, and caffeine.
In addition, a variety of traditionally fermented foods and beverages like home-brewed kombucha help tremendously with supplying friendly bacteria and food enzymes to keep the intestinal tract in optimal function.
These vital foods help maintain the integrity of the gut wall. This prevents compromise where undigested foods spill into the blood and trigger symptoms of sensitivity or intolerance.
Prevention is the Best Policy
Ultimately, it is best to never have to “undo” allergies if at all possible.
Eating a nourishing, traditional diet while pregnant and breastfeeding and ensuring that growing children receive regular and sufficient quantities of optimal growth encouraging foods.
These include cream, butter, ghee, egg yolks, fish eggs, grassfed and organ meats for development of a sturdy intestinal system.
This is the best insurance policy against ever needing any sort of special diet to combat allergy or other autoimmune issues.
Reference
Nourishing Traditions, About Food Allergies and Special Diets
The thing is, I went to my doctor and got the scratch test as a result of regular allergies with pollen and such which is not serious as all and during all the testing, discovered that I had developed a very serious to shrimp which I had been eating my whole life… I tried shrimp once after the test thinking perhaps it was wrong and sure enough, my throat started to swell up… I never would have put two and two together and thought shrimp allergy after eating it for 33 years with no issue without that test.
The article says, and it’s been repeated several times in the comments, not to do this for SERIOUS allergies…only SENSITIVITIES. So really it’s only foolish if you don’t understand what’s being said.
…and what happens when you go into ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK???? My cousin would have died if she did something so foolish.
Correction: I just went looking for Dr Daniel Coca and find to my surprise that his name was Arthur. You can find a number of online references to Dr. Arthur Coca, his treatment method and his book The Pulse Test. My memory glitch is most likely due to the fact that I learned of him via the director of my daughter’s kindergarten in 1967. At least I got the rest of the details straight.
My mother’s tests also showed problems with wheat – again, no surprise with what we know these days.
Our current homeopath believes that there isn’t a genetic factor involved in several family members having similar responses to the allergens themselves but more a case of digestive issues, which would likely reflect familial dietary patterns rather than genetic inheritance. Too often you hear “Oh, I inherited this – my father (aunt, brother…) has it too,” which means the problem’s accepted as inevitable.
I was first introduced to pulse testing by the director of my daughter’s kindergarten. She had worked with Dr. Daniel Coca, husband of actress/comedienne Imogene Coca (central to the Sid Caesar Show in the 50’s and onward. Imogene was severely allergic. Her husband began testing her pulse and tracked down the offending foods. I tried this with my mother when she was having major problems, including chronic anxiety and racing pulse. Over a day of testing, using Dr. Coca’s approach, we found that she had problems with the lily family – onions, garlic and asparagus. The asparagus connection was a surprise. As it turns out my kids and I also have trouble with one or another of these things, especially garlic. Predictable, my mother loved onions and began many recipes with sauted onions.
I should have checked before writing this but I imagine you can Google Dr. Coca and perhaps get a reference to the actual testing method. I think he wrote a book about it.
Wow…love all my typos! 🙂
This is a very timely article fo me…I have a 9 week old and am breastfeeding, at first he was spitting/throwing up a lot which was new to me since my older 3 hadn’t spit up at all. I figured right away it was something I was eating and decided to see if I could figure it out…the firs thing I tried was cutting out gluten and *bingo* no more spitting up. 3 days later I had a small slice of pizza (dumb, I know) and not only did my baby throw up but I felt sick also. Then after a week and a half I had some gravy (didn’t even think once about the flour in it) and I got so sick…I thought I was coming down with Strep but I think it was an allergic reaction. So now not only in my baby sensitive to gluten, I am too! And he seems extreamly sensitive…I ate a piece of meat off my husbands sandwich and my baby threw up!
El Temeroso the wrist test can be helpful ..another idea is to make sure you get soy free eggs where the hens get no GMO feed of any kind. Folks with egg allergies sometimes find that they can eat eggs from hens getting no soy and no GMO feed. So try to test with this type of “clean” egg.
Love the Healthy Home Economist! One of my favorite sites!