Food Intolerance testing phuket

[Startmeup]

Trying to find a test that isn't obscenely expensive in Phuket.

 

Ive seen prices from 18,000 - 37,000 baht.

https://www.andalab.net/allergy-screening-tests/

The J245 or J108 test online in the link above is 2500/2700 baht but it's limited to only 20 different products compared to 200 with the other tests.

I dont need 200 again, 30/40-100 would be ideal but not sure that's available. 

 

[Sheryl]

Frankly if it were me I'd just do trial and error via an elimination diet

[Startmeup]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Frankly if it were me I'd just do trial and error via an elimination diet

How would you go about doing that when you have a few dozen problem foods?

Im questioning the accuracy and efficacy of this test.

Most of the "big ticket items" foods on this list are foods I ate regularly in the weeks leading up to this test.

Apart from Ginko, Mussel, Cola nut, Pistachio, Agar Agar, Winkle etc which are unusual to me.

Does this mean everything I am eating regularly is causing an immune response?

Ive not had a chance to have a consult with the doctor who suggested I get one done yet so just going through it all now in the next few weeks before I get to consult again.

 

[Sheryl]

Just now, Startmeup said:

How would you go about doing that when you have a few dozen problem foods?

 

 

Not sure I understand what you mean.

 

Are you saying you have already been tested and - among foods you normally consume - identified a few dozen that you are  allergic  to? If so, then why do you need further testing?

 

If you are referring to a list of foods people are commonly intolerant to, you do not need to worry about all of them, only those you would normally otherwise consume. (And note that  lists from Thai labs  are geared towards Asian food consumption and common Asian food intolerances. Both might not fit your own).

 

A common place to start is to eliminate first all dairy and then (if dairy elimination makes no difference,) all wheat products products  and see if that makes a difference in how you feel. Then try eliminating nuts, eggs, soy   and seafood one by one. And so on.

 

Once you think you have identified a category of foods that bothers you can try gradual re-introduction of some of them to try to further isolate the culprit. For example if eliminating dairy worked, try re-introducing yogurt first.

 

Steer completely clear of processed foods throughout as these contain multiple additives, any of which might be an issue. In fact, you might start by first eliminating all processed foods if currently eating them. Then move on the eliminating dairy for a week or two etc.

 

If you already have identified allergies  should not experiment with re-introducing those foods except under medical guidance.

 

 

[ChaiyaTH]

If something works; don't touch it. Same with your diet. Easiest way to find out is by basically starting with a 0 diet and then adding things week by week, to see which things then cause a negative or positive effect. 

 

Your results seem to show a lot of super healthy foods, that you somehow should not be eating lol.

[Startmeup]

30 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Are you saying you have already been tested and - among foods you normally consume - identified a few dozen that you are  allergic  to? If so, then why do you need further testing?

 

Yes, initial test was carried out in Oz. 200 foods. Trigger foods I posted above in order of bigger immune response per the figures beside the food type. I was drinking raw milk while I was there and more coffees than usual (with milk) and that's top of the list. 

 

Second is Casein which I would attribute to my collagen powder supplement that I was taking on a daily basis.

 

Third is brewers yeast and fifth is barley . It was Xmas/New years and I wasn't holding back on the beers.

 

No idea about the Ginko, Mussel, Cola nut, Pistachio, Agar Agar, Winkle, Hazelnut (maybe chocolate?), white haricot, cashew nuts.

 

The yellow group is giving less of an immune response but its more of the same.

 

Based on the result I need to avoid all dairy, gluten, alcohol, corn, some nuts, some veg and other stuff that I dont think ive ever eaten.

From what I can see all im left with is meat and veg and rice. A near impossible task when eating out in Thailand or when trying to live a normal existence. 

 

From what I can tell most gluten free products contain corn of some sort so it's not like I could go out every now and then and even have a <deleted>ty gluten free pizza or similar. 

 

[Startmeup]

41 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

If something works; don't touch it. Same with your diet. Easiest way to find out is by basically starting with a 0 diet and then adding things week by week, to see which things then cause a negative or positive effect. 

 

Your results seem to show a lot of super healthy foods, that you somehow should not be eating lol.

Its not working ive got 30 immune trigger foods in my diet according to this test

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, Startmeup said:

Its not working ive got 30 immune trigger foods in my diet according to this test

I count  only 17 in the red category, and some of them (e.g. winkles) I really doubt you would anyway often eat.

 

List does not indicate you have to eliminate all dairy; goat's milk is borderline rather than high, and yogurt -- which many people intolerant of cows milk can safely consume - is not listed.

 

Wheat (which does not necessarily mean  gluten) is also in the borderline category,  not the red group.

 

I would suggest you completely eliminate those things in the red category (some of which you likely don't eat anyhow) and then use trial and error to see what you can get away with in terms of the borderline category. It may depend on quantity and frequency. Also use trial and error with regard to any foods not listed that you would like to eat.

 

Cost aside, you are nto going to find any testing that is  fine-tuned and individualized enough to tell you much more than you already know.

[Startmeup]

40 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I count  only 17 in the red category, and some of them (e.g. winkles) I really doubt you would anyway often eat.

 

List does not indicate you have to eliminate all dairy; goat's milk is borderline rather than high, and yogurt -- which many people intolerant of cows milk can safely consume - is not listed.

 

Wheat (which does not necessarily mean  gluten) is also in the borderline category,  not the red group.

 

I would suggest you completely eliminate those things in the red category (some of which you likely don't eat anyhow) and then use trial and error to see what you can get away with in terms of the borderline category. It may depend on quantity and frequency. Also use trial and error with regard to any foods not listed that you would like to eat.

 

Cost aside, you are nto going to find any testing that is  fine-tuned and individualized enough to tell you much more than you already know.

 

Yellow group causes an immune response to a lesser degree than the red group.

As per the testing company guidelines, limit yellow group foods but not necessarily needed to eliminate fully, for three months.

Red group should be eliminated for a minimum of three months, The testing company says. 

 

That brings me back around to my original question, is there any places that you know of that test select foods instead of paying huge money for a 200+ test? I will try eliminate the red category foods, if I cannot eliminate all I will try to vastly reduce the consumption. I was hoping I could maybe test after the 4-6 week mark to see if I have lowered/knocked some of them off the trigger list without paying huge money for full testing. The test I linked above checks a few of my red list items but surprisingly not for corn, barley, yeast.

[Sheryl]

I do not know of any place that lets you tailor what foods you want to test for

 

And I still don't understand why you would want such a test given that already tested. How/why would you "have lowered/knocked some of them off the trigger list"??? The trigger list is based on a blood test and does not necessarily reflect what you have been eating.  (Hence things you never eat, making it onto the list). Not eating something on the list will not remove it from the list, if in fact you are sensitive to it (I have no idea about the validity of the testing done).

 

And surely all that matters is whether your symptoms, whatever they are, improve?

[Startmeup]

42 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I do not know of any place that lets you tailor what foods you want to test for

 

And I still don't understand why you would want such a test given that already tested. How/why would you "have lowered/knocked some of them off the trigger list"??? The trigger list is based on a blood test and does not necessarily reflect what you have been eating.  (Hence things you never eat, making it onto the list). Not eating something on the list will not remove it from the list, if in fact you are sensitive to it (I have no idea about the validity of the testing done).

 

And surely all that matters is whether your symptoms, whatever they are, improve?

My understanding is once you remove the trigger foods and you stop producing an immune response to them you can then reintroduce the foods and it won't necessarily trigger again once your body/gut has healed. 

So I want the test to see if the level of immune response to the foods outlined in the blood has been reduce when I have eliminated them for a period. Maybe from the 88 U/ml to 40 U/ml over a few weeks. It's a progress report to tell me that yes the immune response is reducing keep up the good work or it could also say after a few months that some foods will have to be eliminated at all times because there has been no reduction from the body attacking

 

Given some of the foods on that list I dont ever remember eating, I suspect they will always be on the list or they are false positives. The foods that I was regularly eating might or might not go from red to yellow to green over time by being unable to permeate the gut lining once it has had time to heal.

If you rub a scab it will keep opening and starting to bleed. If the scab heals you can do alot of rubbing on that skin and there won't be any blood unless you do big damage again. From what i've read it's the same principle with the gut. It needs time to heal to offer proper protection.

 

But yes you are right, seeing some symptoms resolution would be great but I think this is also a way to show that the first test and second test align and that there is improvement over the period between the two if not seen from symptoms.

 

Im not going paying 20k baht again thought this soon. Is this something healthy insurance would cover do you think?

[Sheryl]

No, insurance will not cover it

 

Symptomatic improvement is really what matters

 

 

[mstevens]

I would like to come at the issue of food intolerances from another angle.

 

People often develop sensitivities to foods over time i.e. something you used to eat and had zero reactions to now causes a reaction. This is often due to gut issues. It could be anything from IBS to dysbiosis to SIBO to fungal / yeast overgrowth to leaky gut to something more serious like Celiac or IBD and the likes of Crohn's or ulcerative colitis.

 

When you say, "From what I can see all im left with is meat and veg and rice", this is a classic presentation of people with a messed up gut!

 

Thailand has plenty of gastroenterologists but I am not aware of any specialist gut clinics that take a functional medicine approach to gut health which is often what is needed in cases like this. When you're next in Australia (presuming from your post that you're an Aussie), it might be worth scheduling an appointment with a gut clinic and going from there. This is one area of medicine / health where Australia is light years ahead of Thailand. A quick medical history along with a breath test and comprehensive stool test can identify many issues which conventional gastroenterologists simply don't test for. Identifying such issues and treating them (often with a combination of practitioner-only supplements, herbal anti-microbials and perhaps antibiotics and / or anti-fungals) can resolve issues. With the gut fixed, your food tolerances disappear.

 

I really don't think testing for food tolerances is the way to go. Find a really good gut clinic or functional medical doctor who specialises in gut issues and go from there. The root cause will be identified, can then be treated and following that you should have far fewer issues with intolerance to food.

[Startmeup]

8 hours ago, mstevens said:

I would like to come at the issue of food intolerances from another angle.

 

People often develop sensitivities to foods over time i.e. something you used to eat and had zero reactions to now causes a reaction. This is often due to gut issues. It could be anything from IBS to dysbiosis to SIBO to fungal / yeast overgrowth to leaky gut to something more serious like Celiac or IBD and the likes of Crohn's or ulcerative colitis.

 

When you say, "From what I can see all im left with is meat and veg and rice", this is a classic presentation of people with a messed up gut!

 

Thailand has plenty of gastroenterologists but I am not aware of any specialist gut clinics that take a functional medicine approach to gut health which is often what is needed in cases like this. When you're next in Australia (presuming from your post that you're an Aussie), it might be worth scheduling an appointment with a gut clinic and going from there. This is one area of medicine / health where Australia is light years ahead of Thailand. A quick medical history along with a breath test and comprehensive stool test can identify many issues which conventional gastroenterologists simply don't test for. Identifying such issues and treating them (often with a combination of practitioner-only supplements, herbal anti-microbials and perhaps antibiotics and / or anti-fungals) can resolve issues. With the gut fixed, your food tolerances disappear.

 

I really don't think testing for food tolerances is the way to go. Find a really good gut clinic or functional medical doctor who specialises in gut issues and go from there. The root cause will be identified, can then be treated and following that you should have far fewer issues with intolerance to food.

I am seeing a specialist already and paying through the nose. His consults are not covered under medicare in Oz. Luckily most of the bloodwork is but all of it. The foodprint is not covered. Ive already spent 1000s on this. Based on all the blood work/piss tests carried out at his request (pages and pages) he already said I would need a strict elimination diet to make a recover from the markers that were flagged in the blood tests and the various symptoms. We have not had a consult since I carried out the Food print but it just adds more weight to what he already said. 

 

Everything I have read says you need to eliminate the trigger foods to give your gut the chance to heal. That is the path im trying to take. My consultant is booked out for the next two months and I know even if I got an appointment he would just tell me what he has already told me given he now has the footprint and blood tests that match up. 

 

I dont think all the foods will be causing long term issues but whatever damage I have done is likely allowing other things to pass through the gut that wouldn't ordinarily be there. Dairy is a very common trigger food for people and I think that may be the case for me. 

[orang37]

I didn’t need one of those super expensive 200-item tests either, but I also wanted more than just a basic list of 20 items. After a lot of research, I ended up choosing a test that covered around 50 items, which was a good middle ground for me.

 

I also worked with the practitioners at https://mfm.au/digestive-health/food-sensitivities-allergies-intolerances, and they really helped me narrow down what I actually needed. They walked me through which foods were worth testing based on my symptoms, so I wasn’t wasting money on unnecessary tests.