Food reactions get lumped into one bucket, which is why so many people end up on a restricted diet that never quite explains their symptoms. There are two distinct immune pathways worth understanding.
IgE reactions
These are immediate. Minutes to two hours. Hives, swelling, itching, wheezing, and in serious cases anaphylaxis. They are what most people picture when they hear the word allergy, and they are typically easy to identify because the timing is obvious.
IgG reactions
These are delayed, showing up hours to three days after exposure. That delay is exactly why they go unnoticed. Symptoms look like bloating, joint pain, headaches, congestion, eczema, fatigue and mood changes. When a food you eat daily is involved, there is no gap to notice a pattern.
Why we test both
Running IgE and IgG panels across more than 100 foods gives a full map instead of a guess. It also prevents the most common mistake we see, which is removing gluten and dairy, feeling slightly better, and never discovering that eggs, almonds or a favorite spice were the larger drivers.
Reading results correctly
A positive IgG result is not a lifetime sentence. It reflects immune exposure and often reflects a gut lining that is letting food proteins through where they do not belong. That is why we test gut function alongside food reactivity. Heal the barrier and many reactions fade.
Removal and reintroduction, structured
- Remove the highest reacting foods for a defined window, usually eight to twelve weeks.
- Support the gut lining and digestion during that window so the barrier can repair.
- Reintroduce one food at a time on a schedule, tracking symptoms for 72 hours before adding the next.
- Retest when appropriate to confirm the immune response has settled.
The goal is a wider diet, not a narrower one. Patients who follow the structured version usually get most of their foods back.