TikTokkers in particular are huge fans of the Everywell food sensitivity test, which is an at-home blood test that lets you know which foods you’re sensitive too. The idea is that by eating these foods without knowing you’re allergic to them, your body is constantly inflamed. As a result, you hold on to unwanted weight and experience other negative symptoms, like stomach problems and headaches, to name a few. But how accurate are these tests, exactly, and are unknown food sensitivities really be prohibiting weight loss? Parade.com talked with nutritionists to find out—here’s what they had to say.
Are food sensitivities really making us hold on to weight?
When you’re trying to lose weight, it can be incredibly frustrating to find that the number on the scale won’t budge despite your best efforts to exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet. So, are these unknown food sensitivities the culprit? Maybe. But Vanessa Rissetto, RD, a registered dietitian and co-founder of Culina Health says there isn’t a ton of data to back this claim up. “Theoretically, we could assume that food sensitivities cause inflammation and that inflammation may prohibit weight loss,” she says. “I’m not sure 100% that this is a theory I would hang my hat on, but it should be explored more. As of now, though, no data confirms this 100%, and on the opposite end of the spectrum some people with celiac disease that’s undiagnosed often have a ton of diarrhea due to malabsorption and are actually losing weight.”
Are at-home lab tests accurate in predicting food sensitivities?
We know the jury’s still out on whether excess inflammation really hinders our weight loss effort. And unfortunately, while there are a ton of benefits to taking care of medical to-dos at home (especially right now!), determining which foods you’re sensitive or allergic to probably isn’t one of them. “All the doctors I know would tell me that at-home testing kits can’t do this accurately,” says Rissetto. “You could use it as a jumping-off point, though, like, ‘Hey I took an at-home test—it produced these results so let me go to my allergist or primary care doctor for further exploration.’” Sarah Thomsen Ferreira, RD, a registered dietitian with Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine, explains that many of these at-home testing kits work by searching for IgG antibodies. “What is challenging about IgG antibody testing, the most common form of antigen response tested for, is that results of an IgG can result in both false-positive and negative responses,” she explains. “We also know that an IgG response is dependent on the degree of exposure to a food since exposure to the food needs to be present to recognize an active immune response.” In other words, if you haven’t eaten the food you’re sensitive to recently or very often, an at-home test might not pick up on it as something you’re sensitive to. She adds that even if this test does pick up on sensitivities, it might not necessarily provide the full picture. “While some evidence does suggest that removing foods which patients have IgG sensitivities to can help with symptoms related to conditions ranging from Irritable Bowel Syndrome to Ulcerative Colitis, to migraine headaches—we also know that food reactions can occur that are not associated with IgG sensitivities,” Ferreira says. “For example, someone may have migraines triggered by phenylethylamine in chocolate or by histamine-rich foods, neither of which would be captured on an IgG food reactivity panel. If someone were relying only on a food sensitivity panel, they might not address the full scope of how food could be influencing their symptoms.” So, is are these at-home food sensitivity tests causing any harm? Probably not—unless the people using them take them as the whole picture, rather than a piece of a more complex puzzle. If you want to get a better grasp on which foods you’re sensitive to in hopes not just of losing weight but improving overall health, it’s probably better to see a doctor and have a more formal test conducted. Next up, are you looking to shed a little bit of weight this year? Here are the best weight loss smoothies of 2021.
Sources
Vanessa Rissetto, RD, registered dietitian and co-founder of Culina HealthSarahThomsen Ferreira, RD, registered dietitian with Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine
