Eliminating foods for constipation and behavioural issues. How reliable is IgG testing?

[francesruben]

DD (4) was tested for allergies (an IgG) after over a year of constipation/ holding on to poop (it's hard to be sure which is the case) and 6 months with a UTI. She is also a very intense and active child with some challenging behaviour, sometimes aggressive. A blood test showed that she is low in iron and has the gene for coeliac disease but it's unlikely that she has coeliac disease based on these results. The IgG came back showing 13 food sensitivities, all proteins with the exception of wheat.

We have an excellent vegetarian diet and while I am flexible about the introduction of some meat into our diet I haven't included it yet because I don't know how to cook it, buy it etc. I am concerned that if I cut out beans, lentils, soy, cows milk and egg, as well as cashews and peanuts, that she will not get enough protein or iron in her diet. I also wonder whether anyone else has found protein foods to cause constipation or behavioural issues in children? Has eliminating or reducing foods helped? How reliable do you think the IgG test is? I really don't know much about allergies at all.

[riomidwife]

Frances I have started a number of IgG threads here trying to get to the bottom of them, you could search through....Some mamas have found them to be helpful, I really did not. It is my opinion that IgG for food sensitivity is not accurate, and in my experience this test tends to complicate matters for people with all the false-positives and negatives. Results can vary from lab to lab, and the results cannot always be duplicated even within the same lab. I really think IgG measures exposure, and that is why so many people test highly for foods they regularly consume. This was helpful to me in deciding not to repeat the test for my son: http://www.tldp.com/issue/174/IgG%20Food%20Allergy.html

With constipation and UTI, I'd look into a GI flora imbalance and would definitely start probiotics and the like if you are not already doing them.

Just about any combination of food, constitution, lifestyle factors, and food sensitivity can lead to constipation so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to try to pin it on one food unless it is an isolated occurance that you can trace back to a certain food. Dairy will make me constipated for certain.

[kjbrown92]

We did ALCAT testing, which shows an inflammatory response to food, not technically an IgG test. Each one had one false negative (I tested DS and DD2). And they showed reactive to 30-40 foods (and not the same foods). For us, it's not just the protein in the food, it's the entire food. And my kids were just as likely to be sensitive to herbs and fruits and veggies as they were meats and beans. Gluten is a big one and with one gene, I'd take it out personally. And dairy too. Okay, I'd take out the top 4 because it's the most likely ones (dairy, gluten, soy and corn).  And I'd work on the probiotic angle as well.