Food Allergy Panel: IgG or IgG4??

Igg4 is what I've heard from a head gi pathologist at a major us research hospital and my doc. Also good general web reports.

Hi Conquer UC,

I am glad you asked the question as I am wondering the same thing today. I also had heard that IgG4 was the most accurate for food sensitivity so am leaning towards Metametrix over Nutripath. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow - you have to have a doctor or naturopath order metametrix tests while with Nutripath you can self order. So I hope my doctor will agree to ordering the Metametrix test. Although I also want to test for IgE allergies and the metametrix test for this is only for 8 foods while NutriPath is for 96 foods of your pick, eg asian, vegetarian, western... etc. ($280). So for food allergy I think NutriPath is best by the looks of it but for sensitivity Metametrix.

Yes I also heard you are meant to eat the food within a certain period of time before the test to make sure antibodies are in the blood.... I have also been gluten free for a very long time. I think with wheat you only need to eat a very small amount to trigger a response. This is according to a gastroenterology Dr I did an online course with recently. Even just a bite of a piece of toast over a few days I think should do it.

I think the Metametrix test is good because it tests for cross-reactivity to gluten.  So you may be sensitive to gluten, for example, but the protein molecules of other foods are similar and your body may react to other foods as if they are gluten.  So just by avoiding gluten, you may still have reactions to other foods that you may not know about. 

For what it's worth, I did the Metametrix test, found the results quite interesting, avoid all my cross-reactive foods like the plague, and still have occasional bleeding and mucous.  Obviously there's more to it than just food, but it seems like a very likely thing to take seriously as part of a healthy solution.

 

Perhaps I should follow your anecdotal success rather than the conclusions of the many reputable published studies? You may well be right!

The conclusion from the study I posted:
"..testing of IgG4 to foods is considered as irrelevant for the laboratory work-up of food allergy or intolerance and should not be performed in case of food-related complaints."

By definition, food intolerance is not considered to involve an immune mediated response. The pathways involved are those of enzyme deficiency or chemical sensitivity. Testing for immunoglobulin levels is therefore baseless for that purpose.
The presence of IgG4 is thought to merely represent exposure to food components. Hence this type of testing will reveal foods that have been eaten the most often. This will generally be; wheat, corn, soy and other staples.
Altering the diet by removing those things does often improves health, but for reasons other than an immune mediated intolerance. I believe that is where the overlap of facts and anecdotes occurs.

Glad you have your health Soystud, however you managed that feat.