I have been using this technique in practice since 2011 and it has always helped to uncover hidden intolerances or food sensitivities that may be affecting a patient’s wellbeing.

Often these sensitivities are ‘under the radar’ in that they may not be obvious. An outright allergy is usually quite apparent as it produces a reaction within minutes or hours of the offending food or item. This is where conventional medicine locates and diagnoses an allergy using the scratch test which elicits an immediate welt on the skin showing the allergic item. In contrast, what we are looking for are those underlying, slower reactions that may occur hours or days after a particular food has been consumed. This is known as an IgG mediated immune response. Think of it as the 50-80% reaction whereas an outright allergy is measuring the 80-100% reaction. Sometimes a combination of foods eaten may produce the ill-health pattern. The simplest way to find out what the intolerant foods are is to keep a food/symptom diary but even this can show confusing results.

The best way then is to use what’s known as EAV or ‘Electro-Acupuncture according to Voll’ being the German doctor who first developed the instrument. And although it is considered an invalidated technique, it is nevertheless recognised as providing an indication of those foods and environmental toxins that affect health, and it has been around for many decades.

Using a highly sensitive resistance meter, similar to a lie-detector, a food that is incompatible with the body can be detected. This involves the patient holding an electrode while an acupuncture point relating to the lymphatic system is probed. When a food test vial is put into the circuit with the patient and this vial contains a food that is hindering the immune system there will be a noticeable change in the meter reading.

I am often surprised (as are my patients) as to the types of foods that they may be sensitive to, yet time and time again, once these foods are eliminated, health is improved. I rate the meter reaction to the food on a four-point scale and clearly explain this in the consultation. Foods may be eliminated from one week to six months. At the same time as eliminating those troublesome foods, an herbal or homeopathic remedy may be dispensed to assist the body to heal and deal with the allergic sequalae or underlying disorder.

If this basic ‘in-clinic’ test doesn’t provide enough of an answer we can go to the next level which involves sending a hair sample away for testing. Alternatively, a blood sample can also be sent away for more rigourous (scientific) testing. But in most cases the basic test seems to work very well to uncover those troublesome foods.

For more details on these see my testing services page