ALCAT TEST

[MamaOnAMission]

My child had this test done for food sensitivities. I was wondering if anyone ever had this done and if they feel it is accurate or helpful to their situation.

[smartyjones]

i'm not totally familiar with ALCAT but know it's a food sensitivity. a number of years ago, around time of onset for ds - 4 yrs ago - we had a food sensitivity panel blood test IgG levels for something like 96 foods. he had just been diagnosed and had a disastrous first run with azith. he came back off the charts for over 15 foods -- all diary, most gluten, eggs, peanut. he did not have gastro or eating troubles but had always been thin and was beginning to fall off the weight chart.

we were seeing a naturopath who did the test. we took him off all those foods. he did gain some weight in the first few weeks -- at the time, he was 4.5 yrs old and somewhere in the 30s - lbs. so only a few pounds was significant for him.

 

unfortunately, becasue nothing exists in a vacuum - we also had gotten a new ped around the same time and he put him on 30 days of keflex. ds had 100% remission in about 3 days. that didn't last when he went off the abx. even at the time, i felt the behavioral improvements were due to the abx, not the food changes.

 

we kept him on a strict GF/CF diet for likely 2 yrs. he had exacerbations and good times while eating that way. as his health improved, we slowly moved from that diet. he now eats everything -- unfortunately, he does prefer gluten and dairy. i say unfortunately not from a sensitivity stand but that i don't think those are the healthiest foods. i actually think a GF/CF diet is a stunningly healthy way to eat. i don't think anyone actually needs those foods -- it's just that it is so very different from the way most people eat. and, once you get into it, it's not really even hard, again, it's just so different. we did not do a lot of packaged gluten free -- mainly b/c my kids were more resistant to fruits and veggies, so i was not going to buy them a $4 bagel, if they couldn't eat strawberries. i don't eat a lot of meat, and he ate more meat than i would have preferred for him during that time.

 

we added the foods back slowly and saw no differences -- other than a quick weight gain when we removed all restrictions. he was always quite thin and is now a little chubby. i think it was likely a shock to his system - and like i said, he was preferring bread and cheese - but i don't have concerns about his health in those terms.

 

my feeling about it now(and generally even when we did the restrictions) is that he didn't really have sensitivities as his main issue (i do firmly believe that some people do and removing certain foods can have wonderful effects if that is your issue) but that his system was in such a terrible state of disarray due to infections and subsequent imbalances. i think the removal of those foods was helpful for him to move along a healing path b/c it took away just yet another troublesome thing that his body was trying to deal with. i now put him more in the class with everyone else that those foods are not really so healthy and anyone would be better off not eating them, but not that he is particularly troubled by them.

 

we have never done the blood test again -- i'd like to for curiousity but don't think i would abide by it too much so am not willing to spend the $. we do see an integratvie MD who does a form of energy testing that shows these foods not a problem for ds.

 

i think likely the most accurate test is clinical observation of effects - behaviorally and medicallly - of the foods vs effects of removal of the foods.