If your child has a leaky gut, he will eventually become allergic to everything he ingests. With a leaky gut, undigested food particles enter into the bloodstream prematurely, before they are broken down by stomach acid/digestive enzymes to get to the basic nutrient, at which it is finally ready to enter the blood stream. A food particle, since it cannot be broken down any further in the bloodstream, will be tagged as a pathogen and marked by the immune system for removal. The immune system creates antibodies to the particle so that every time it makes it's way into the blood stream, it attacks it more aggressively, thus causing an allergic reaction.

If you want to reduce your food allergies, you have to fix the holes in the leaky gut. To do this, you have a lot of studying and work to do....mainly eliminate yeast/fungus, parasites, and anaerobic bacteria in the gut. Then you have to add back enzymes every time you eat so that the food actually digests into the most basic nutrient so that the body can actually use it for nutrition.

I hope this helps some of you understand where the problem lies. It's not the food. It's your child's leaky gut. Please, go get some broad-spectrum digestive enzymes and help your kid heal their guts so their bodies can enjoy actual nutrition again.

http://www.enzymestuff.com/conditionleakygut.htm

I too find skin tests for food allergies to be highly unreliable. I find them far ore accurate and consistent over time for environmental / animal type allergies but not for food. I have had food allergy skin testing 4 times and have been told different food allergies each time. My current allergist doesn't even do skin testing for food allergies as she says they are not accurate. I continue to eat all foods I have been told I am allergic to unless I have some kind of symptoms or reactions. I react to many fruits but I am sure those reactions are from Oral Allergy Syndrome rather than 'true' food allergies as I developed them after childhood.

Anonymous wrote:12:23, 09:21 here. I think you're right to avoid peanuts, even though your son has only had two reactions. That was enough. Also, I think 4+ is the biggest reaction possible on a scratch test. Did your doctor follow up with blood tests? Also, peanut and tree nut reactions tend to be more severe than others, so it pays to be extra cautious.

I think OP is in a different situation. It sounds like her son eats these foods all the time without a discernable reaction (except maybe the eczema). If this is the case, I don't see how he is at risk from eating them.

Formal food challenges are done in the doctor's office, with emergency medicines and equipment on hand. In our case, they've been done when the child's RAST (blood) numbers are low enough to suggest that s/he might not react to the food.

Thanks for responding. The allergist didn't do any blood tests- she just said to avoid peanuts and all tree nuts and have the RAST done at age 3 (he was 15 months when diagnosed). Should she have done bloodwork? We're not that happy with her, so I doubt we'll be back to her anyway. Although DS has been around peanuts and treenuts a lot, I believe he reacted to the peanuts the first time he had some, and it was a miniscule amt. He had a tiny pad thai noodle that might've had a small amt of peanut on it.

12:23, 09:21 here. I think you're right to avoid peanuts, even though your son has only had two reactions. That was enough. Also, I think 4+ is the biggest reaction possible on a scratch test. Did your doctor follow up with blood tests? Also, peanut and tree nut reactions tend to be more severe than others, so it pays to be extra cautious.

I think OP is in a different situation. It sounds like her son eats these foods all the time without a discernable reaction (except maybe the eczema). If this is the case, I don't see how he is at risk from eating them.

Formal food challenges are done in the doctor's office, with emergency medicines and equipment on hand. In our case, they've been done when the child's RAST (blood) numbers are low enough to suggest that s/he might not react to the food.

Anonymous wrote:My DS has multiple food allergies. I find the tests (skin and blood) to be highly unreliable. We are told that reactions trump tests and not put too much weight on the tests.

NP here who has a son allergic to peanuts and pecans. From my understanding, peanut allergic reactions aren't linear- so one time could be a mild reaction and the next time could kill you. For all those who are saying that reactions and food challenges are more indicative, how do you even risk feeding your kid their allergens if the reactions can be so varied? I'm new to this world, so forgive me if I'm asking very basic questions. I guess a food challenge is done in the allergist's office?

My kid had two reactions, both when I would deem mild, to peanuts. One was from ingestion and one was just from being kissed by me on the cheek after I had eaten peanuts. He did have a scratch test which showed 4+ for peanuts and 2+ for pecans. Do I have enough info from either/or/both his reactions and the testing to assume he is indeed allergic?

I have two kids with food and environmental allergies, plus eczema. I have to agree that this testing procedure is different from what I'm used to.

For example, whenever the kids or I have had skin tests, each scratch was placed with a fresh, disposable needle. It definitely sounds like there could have been cross-contamination from re-using one needle.

Also, if you already know your child is allergic to peanuts, there is no reason to test for that.

Finally, FAAN literature is pretty consistent in saying that although both skin and blood tests can be helpful, the gold standard is a food challenge. If your son is passing a food challenge regularly (eating the food without a reaction), it sounds like he isn't allergic.

Is this a board-certified allergist who specializes in food allergies? I have run across regular doctors who aren't board certified but who hold themselves out as allergy doctors, as well as board-certified allergists whose knowledge of food allergies is significantly less than the specialists we have seen.

Regarding false positives, our allergists have told us that skin testing can have false positives but not false negatives.

It sounds like a second opinion is in order. FAAN (the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, foodallergy.org) is a great source of information. There's another thread on the General Parenting Forum right now about allergy docs that might be helpful to you, and there have been a lot in the archives.

In the meantime, I think you are right to continue your son on his current diet, as both milk and wheat contain a lot of nutrition that is hard to replace with other sources.

My DS has multiple food allergies. I find the tests (skin and blood) to be highly unreliable. We are told that reactions trump tests and not put too much weight on the tests.

OP here, also the doctor said blood tests, while quantitative, can have false positives / negatives. So I opted for the skin test. My son has a severe allergy to peanuts so that was why we went. The other allergies we werent aware of and are unsure about how to handle.

He's 2. What is 'alternative'? It was an allergist. I've had scratch tests done at another allergy clinic, it was the same except on my back.

Also, how old is your son? Many babies/toddlers have these food sensitivities that they grow out of.

was this an "alternative" practitioner? That's not how my kid had his scratch test. Also blood tests should be done as well b/c they are more accurate.

How is it an allergy if he can eat the food and have no reaction?

Skin test.

The one concern I had was that she put 10 essential oils with peanut in the middle. She used one needle to scratch the spots. She wiped it off every time, but I wondered if the last few may have been partially contaminated by the peanut one.

Was this a blood test or a skin scratch test? The blood tests are often inaccurate.

My son was just diagnosed with multiple food allergies - milk, wheat, eggs, strawberries. He is already an extremely picky eater - he only eats crackers, milk, banana, yogurt, and apple. Three out of the five he is allergic too. The allergist said not to remove any foods since he seems to tolerate them just fine (no digestive issues, mild eczema). We're going to try to slowly substitute, but we feel completely in the dark. There are rice crackers, soy yogurt, (he doesn't like soy milk). Does anyone here have secret foods for picky eaters with multiple food allergies? Help!