Most people know when something they eat doesn’t sit right. It might not be instant, but hours later you’re dealing with stomach cramps, brain fog, skin flare-ups, or just that sluggish, off feeling you can’t explain. The usual medical tests often come back clear, and you’re left wondering what’s going on. That’s when some folks start looking into food intolerance testing — particularly the IgG food intolerance test.
There’s a lot of noise around it. Some people say it changed everything for them. Others reckon it’s a waste of time. The truth? It’s somewhere in between — and depends a lot on how it’s used.
It’s Not an Allergy Test
Let’s get this out of the way first: IgG testing has nothing to do with food allergies. A food allergy triggers a fast reaction — hives, swelling, or worse. You’ll know straight away and so will your doctor.
The IgG test looks at a different kind of response. It checks if your body might be reacting to certain foods after you’ve eaten them, not straight away. These are slower responses that often build up over time — the kind you don’t always connect to what you ate yesterday or the day before.
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How the Testing Actually Works
Here’s how it usually goes. You get a kit (or go through a clinic), give a small blood sample — it’s not a big deal — and that sample gets tested against a bunch of common foods. The lab looks at your IgG antibody levels for each food and gives you a report showing which ones your body seems to react to more than others.
A high result doesn’t mean you’re “allergic” or that a food is dangerous. It just shows your body’s been exposed to that food and might not be tolerating it well right now. For some people, this lines up with what they’ve been feeling. For others, it helps narrow down foods they wouldn’t have thought to test.
It’s Not a Magic Answer — But It Can Help
Look, it’s not perfect. If you’re expecting a test to fix everything in one go, it’s probably not going to do that. And to be honest, not all doctors think the IgG test is solid science. Some reckon it just shows what you’ve been eating recently, not what’s actually making you sick. That’s fair enough.
But here’s the thing: plenty of people feel better after doing it. You get your results, you cut out the stuff that shows up high, and sometimes the bloating goes down. Or the headaches stop. Or your skin finally clears up. It’s not always night and day, but for a lot of people, it’s enough of a shift to be worth it.
You’re not meant to just look at the list and ditch everything forever. That’s not the goal. It’s more like pressing pause on the stuff your body might be reacting to, giving yourself a bit of a reset, and seeing what changes. Then later — slowly — you bring some things back in. One at a time. Not all at once. That part matters.
And yeah, it helps to have someone who knows what they’re doing to guide you. Otherwise you end up cutting too much and eating the same three things over and over — which isn’t healthy either.
So, Is It Worth Doing?
It depends. If you feel fine most of the time, probably not. But if you’ve been feeling off for months — sluggish, bloated, moody after meals — and you’ve already tried cutting out dairy or gluten or sugar or whatever, and none of it worked, then yeah, maybe it’s worth a shot.
No test is going to fix everything. But if a proper IgG food intolerance test gives you something to go off — something more than just guessing — then that’s already more than what you had before. It’s a tool, not a cure.
And honestly, when you’re feeling crap most of the time and no one’s giving you answers, sometimes having something — even if it’s not perfect — can be a bit of a relief.
