Food Allergy Testing

There are so many people all over the world who suffer from food allergies. Depending on the nature of the allergic reaction, the symptoms can vary in terms of degree. Many a time, you may suffer from certain symptoms that resemble some sort of allergic reaction to a particular food item. If you are not too sure whether or not you are indeed allergic to that food item, then you can subject yourself to food allergy testing.

By definition, an allergy test is any of various tests that are used in determining whether or not a person is allergic to a particular substance, whether this is a food item, a particular scent, or the like.

There are actually various methods to conduct allergy testing. The common ones include skin tests, elimination-type tests, and RAST, or Radioallergosorbent test. But when it comes to food allergy testing, the most preferred method is the elimination-type test.

For the most part, when you suspect that you are allergic to a certain food item, your physician cannot really come up with a concrete diagnosis immediately. Your physician might even prescribe an elimination diet, to determine if you are indeed allergic to that food item, as suspected. What happens here is that your physician would make a list of the food item or items that are under suspicion. A diet is then prescribed for you, with focus on the elimination of the listed food items. It is typical for this elimination diet to go on for several weeks so that your body would be completely cleansed of that food substance or any of its derivatives. After several weeks, that food substance will then be reintroduced very gradually. If you have several food items on your elimination list, then these would be reintroduced an item at a time. During the reintroduction, your physician would monitor you for any signs or symptoms that entail an allergic reaction.

When conducting food allergy testing, it is very important to avoid conducting a skin test. A skin test is indeed used in determining whether or not you are allergic to a particular substance. However, it is not advisable to conduct a skin test to determine food allergies. This is because conducting a skin test just might increase the risk of a more severe allergic reaction occurring. Thus, you should stay away from skin tests. Just stick with the elimination test. However, you should seek medical assistance for the elimination test, so that it would be conducted accordingly.