The ER4YT Neighborhood

Allergies versus ER4YT

Posted By: Peter D'Adamo
Date: Wednesday, 5 April 2000, at 7:45 a.m.

In Response To: Re: All blood types, my husband had a food allergy test... (deflep)

Although people would like to see a correlation between their food choices with regard to allergy and ER4YT, this is impossible. First allergies are a completely individualized reaction, mediated by antibodies that are independent of ABO. Second, most food lectins do not have their actions mediated by antibodies at all.

It is important to understand the limitations of most forms of allergy testing. Other than RAST (IgE) testing, most other forms of allergy testing have not been shown to correlate with food sensitivity. Skin scratch testing works well for inhalant allergies, since the mechanism of allergic sensitization is similar between the skin and he respiratory tract. This has not been shown to be true for food allergens. Consequently, desensitization via the skin almost never works for food allergy. In addition, most blood testing for allergies picks up antibodies which merely cross-react with food, but are being made to other innoculants, most commonly colon bacteria. Thus the 'allergy' to food XX is often simply the result that antibody YYY made to microbe ZZZ. When challenged with these foods most people don't have corresponding allergic symptoms (such as release of Interleukin 4 or other mediators) because these pseudo-antobodies are often antidoted in the colon by other 'blocking antibodies.' This can lead to results called 'false positive'.

More troublesome is the fact that since virtually all food intolerance is non-antibody mediated, many people think that the lack of an antibody reaction on a food allergy panel is cause for celebration, when in fact it has only proven that there is no antibody to the food, and nothing more. This is called 'false-negative.'

One can usually tolerate a test or procedure with one bias or the other. The presence of both usually renders the test useless, and indeed the Academy of Allergy and Infectious Disease is quite clear that food allergens should not be determined in this manner, which usually does not stop other doctors and labs from selling high-priced panels to individuals desirous of such information.

Thus for the very small percentage (<.1% population) of people who do have some true form of food intolerance characterized by antibody-mediated reactions, it would do do not good to compare their reactions to food to ER4YT or any other eating plan. I would have to write a copy of ER4YT for each of them.

In the bigger picture though is the fallacy of comparing short-term situational results with a genetically determined long-term blue print such as ER4YT. The former has no ability to influence chronic disease succeptibility, whereas the later is entirely predicated on that premise.

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