Food Allergies and GERD

Researchers at Northwestern University found that food allergies were a significant cause of esophagitis due to reflux disease. Patients were put on an elimination diet, avoiding common allergic foods, including wheat, milk, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and other fish. Testing of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell that serves as a marker for IGE-mediated allergies, showed a significant improvement with the diet. They were puzzled that very few of the patients showed positive skin tests for allergies to these foods, but they claimed to have the first prospective study that documented food allergies as a cause of this important problem. Certainly, they should have given some credit to integrative physicians who have treated GERD with blood testing of IGG-mediated food allergies, followed by a specific elimination diet, with great success for many years. Apparently the professors did not realize that IGG testing does not show up in skin testing, but instead requires the blood test for antibodies. See Family Practice News, June 15, 2012, p. 15. www.healthcelebration.com