How does the test work?

Food extracts are 'printed' onto nitrocellulose 'pads'™ on a glass microscope slide, together with calibration standards and controls.

A blood sample provided by the patient is diluted and dispensed onto each printed microarray. Food IgG antibodies, if present, bind to the food extracts and the results are measured by a high-resolution scanner, before being calibrated against the standards using the reporting software to give quantitative results.

This software then produces a tailor-made printout of the final food IgG antibody result for each food on the requested food panel.

Generally, foods are broken down during digestion into their component parts e.g. amino acids, glycerides etc.

These pass harmlessly through the gut into the bloodstream. However, occasionally small fragments of partially digested or undigested foods are able to pass through the gut wall into the bloodstream where they are recognized by the immune system as being ‘foreign’.

The immune system responds by making IgG antibodies to these foods

When a food causes the body to produce high levels of IgG then these antibodies combine with the protein in the food to form an ‘antigen-antibody complex’.

These complexes are usually eliminated by other cells in the immune system. However, if the immune system is overloaded, these insoluble molecules become deposited in tissues within the body, causing chronic inflammation and the subsequent production of symptoms

The efficacy of a diet based on the measurement of IgG antibodies specific for food components has been demonstrated in a number of conditions, both in independent studies and clinical practice.

Excellent results have been obtained in patients with migraine, IBS and obesity.

IgG stands for Immunoglobulin (type G). Immunoglobulins are a class of proteins that function as antibodies produced by the immune system in response to foreign bodies entering the body.

There are several different types of immunoglobulins with IgA, IgE, IgG, IgM being the most well-known.

Yes, some people do have high IgG levels to certain foods but do not have any symptoms at all. This is most likely due to their immune system being extremely efficient at clearing away the antigen-antibody complexes before they have chance to be deposited in the tissues and cause a problem.