Why Food Sensitivity Testing Is a Recipe For Better Health
‘Tis the season for holiday parties—and that means hefty holiday meals. It’s a time of year when everyone gets together to catch up, celebrate, and (of course) eat. But between get-togethers with friends, potlucks at work and family dinners, this can add up to be a recipe for disaster for your body.
From Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, the holiday season is like a month-long eating marathon. Sweets, starches and fatty treats seem to be around every corner, and somehow, you’re always being offered a glass of wine or eggnog. Even activities like baking sugar cookies and building gingerbread houses are centered around food. Eventually, all that eating results in the same infamous cycle: binge, bloat, nap, repeat.
For some, the bloating and fatigue are symptoms of a larger, underlying issue: a food sensitivity. Unlike food allergies, sensitivities are usually caused by something known as “leaky gut.” This means certain foods can permeate through your cell lining and into the rest of your body.
Approximately 95% of Americans are affected by food sensitivity, yet they’re among the most commonly under-diagnosed areas of clinical medicine. For starters, it can be difficult to correlate your symptoms to a specific food (especially this time of year, when you’re prone to holiday dinner hopping). And the symptoms don’t always show up immediately, making it even harder to pinpoint which ingredient is upsetting your body.
Common culprits include:
● Lactose (milk, ice cream, cheese)
● Gluten (bread, pasta, beer)
● Caffeine (coffee, soda, chocolate)
● Sulfites (wine, apple cider, beer)
● Eggs (eggnog, baked goods)
● Food coloring (sodas, candy, icing)
That’s a laundry list of things you probably encounter on a daily basis. But the good news is that you don’t have to live with with the gas, cramping, headaches or overall “blegh” feeling that food sensitivities can cause. Orlando’s IV Lounge can help you take control of your body again with the Mediator Release Test (MRT®), a patented blood test that takes guesswork out of the equation.
The Iv Lounge personally reviewed more than 10 different tests before deciding to offer MRT—the gold standard for food sensitivity testing that delivers easy-to-digest results. “As a medical doctor, I have a keen understanding of the complexity of science behind food sensitivity tests. There is a plethora of them out there. However, MRT is the most accurate, comprehensive and the only validated test available to determine food sensitivities in patients. For that reason, we don’t guess, we test. We find out and make precise recommendations to patients about their food plans.”
Patient Amanda Soto decided to take the test when her gastrointestinal issues lingered even after she eliminated processed foods from her diet. “A lot of foods like chicken, beef—all those hit on my test. So I learned that even though [something] may be considered healthy and unprocessed, even if it is organic, no hormones, free-range, it still may not work with your body. And that’s something you just have to change in your diet in order to have a healthy lifestyle,” said Soto.
IV Lounge offers MRT in tandem with concierge dietician services, which include personalized recipes, shopping guides, video consultations, and a 30-day food reintroduction plan to help you navigate the holidays—and improve your overall lifestyle.
“I appreciate that [IV Lounge] recognizes that the value of these tests lies in what’s done with the information. Therefore, they partner with dietitians like me, who are trained to not just interpret the tests, but add their experience and knowledge to the test results when planning each patient’s elimination diet,” said Courtney Mosser (RD, CSO, LDN, CLT).
If you’re sitting at home thinking “ignorance with bliss” because you don’t want to risk giving up your favorite foods, think again. Even if the results say you’re sensitive to chocolate or wine, it doesn’t mean you can never have them again. In fact, the overall goal of this process is to reintroduce foods to your diet after you’ve healed your gut.
So, this season, get back to spending time with your loved ones instead of laying on the couch, regretting that last meal. When you take advantage of MRT food sensitivity testing, you’ll know exactly which foods you can double up on, and what you should probably steer clear of. Contact our office today to schedule your appointment. Your taste buds—and your body—will thank you.
