Anyone tried the pulse-checking version of allergy testing?

[changingseasons]

I happened across this webpage today, which talks about Sally Fallon's instructions for allergy testing mentioned in Nourishing Traditions.

An easy way to ascertain whether you are allergic to a certain food is the following:
Avoid the suspected food for at least 4 days.
Then eat a moderate amount of it on an empty stomach.
Test your pulse before and after eating the food.
If your pulse rises more than a few beats per minute, or if you have any adverse reactions you are probably allergic to it.

Um, yeah... if you have any adverse reactions, you are probably allergic (duh).

But I thought the pulse thing was interesting. Has anyone tried that?

[Wugmama]

I have neither heard of it nor tried it, but it sounds interesting!

[Panserbjorne]

yes, it's pretty reliable but ONLY if done on an empty stomach and ONLY if you are ingesting pure forms.

[mtn.mama]

My chiro told me about this as an alternative to muscle testing and crystal testing, but I haven't tried it.

[Theloose]

I was doing that some, until I tried raw milk kefir and had an awful mental reaction - I was raging and fuming and feeling very out of control. And my pulse was totally calm and normal. So I stopped using it as a gauge.

[~Twighlight~]

I have found it's only effective for protein allergies, not for chemical sensitivities.

That's interesting about the kefir. I wonder what that was all about? Do you do dairy otherwise? Was that the first time you'd had it?

Have any of you ever tested using the pupils? I have just started with that and it seems pretty darned reliable, but you have a finite period so if you need to test 30 foods you may have to do it on 3 or 4 separate occasions.

[~Twighlight~]

oh, what's crystal testing? I've never seen that before. I'm intrigued.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by whoMe

I was doing that some, until I tried raw milk kefir and had an awful mental reaction - I was raging and fuming and feeling very out of control. And my pulse was totally calm and normal. So I stopped using it as a gauge.

Interesting. Do you think it could have been a yeast/toxin die-off reaction? Or is that your normal milk-allergic reaction?

Originally Posted by ~Twighlight~

Have any of you ever tested using the pupils? I have just started with that and it seems pretty darned reliable, but you have a finite period so if you need to test 30 foods you may have to do it on 3 or 4 separate occasions.

Ooh- tell me more about the pupil testing. Never heard of that one either.

Originally Posted by ~Twighlight~

oh, what's crystal testing? I've never seen that before. I'm intrigued.

Mtn.mama has a good thread (with video) around here somewhere... do a search for crystal testing in the allergy forum. Or, I should have a link to it (the video) on my blog, in the allergy testing section.
*oops- she was right behind me with the link.

[mtn.mama]

Here's a link to a video I made about it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsXRonRpFic . There's also an old thread here in the Allergy Forum called "Crystal Testing" if you want to look it up.

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by ~Twighlight~

That's interesting about the kefir. I wonder what that was all about? Do you do dairy otherwise? Was that the first time you'd had it?

I'd been off of dairy for about 5 months at that point and was just testing it - I was doing a glass of kefir in the morning for several days, and was getting similar reactions. I had no symptoms from dairy pre-elimination, but do get a similar reaction to kombucha and raw apple skins. So probably more of a die-off thing than a dairy thing?

[lil_miss_understood]

I believe that my allergist's "cheat sheet" for testing suspect foods includes checking the pulse. I have no idea where it is presently though. We're supposed to be moving in about a month so the house is even more topsy-turvy than normal.