No, MRT is a blood test that looks for food sensitivities, which cause the release of inflammatory chemicals in the body, experienced as inflammatory symptoms, but does not necessarily involve the immune system, like an allergy does.

Yes, after you stop eating foods that cause inflammation, it frees up resources that had been used to deal with that inflammation for years, thus allowing the body to heal itself.

The dietary management strategies used in this program are not the same as those found in fad diets. This is an individually tailored dietary wellness program which can be used for your whole life. Most of our patients find that after a few weeks of sticking to their program, it becomes a habit and becomes a natural part of their day-to-day living. In addition, our patients usually feel so much better they don’t want to return to their old eating habits.

It is important always to avoid foods that cause your immune system to react. The best way to be sure that a reactive food is safe again is to “challenge” it after a period of abstinence, usually three to six months. This should be done under the care of your healthcare provider. In some cases, it may be important to retest to see if reactions have changed, as is often the case with sensitivity reactions; but retesting is usually a matter of clinical need (i.e. you begin to feel sick frequently again, even though you are following your plan carefully).

A rotation diet is a universally accepted dietary approach to treating food sensitivities. A 3-day rotation diet limits one’s exposure to foods from the same food family to once every 3 days. For example, if chicken and eggs were low-reactive foods, you would be able to eat them freely on Monday (the first day of your rotation diet), but you would not eat them again until Thursday. This limits your exposure and thus decreases the chances of developing new sensitivities.

The most commonly reactive foods (such as wheat, cow’s milk, corn, egg, soy, and cane sugar) are thought to be most common because they are eaten the most frequently and in the greatest proportions of any foods. One theory, which explains this phenomenon, states that when we eat the same thing over and over again, we lose the ability to properly break down and assimilate that food. When the improperly broken down food molecule gets absorbed during digestion, our immune system recognizes that food particle as being an enemy, and begins to attack the food whenever it is eaten. This process is called “loss of oral tolerance” as we no longer “tolerate” the food we once did.

The best way to prevent new food sensitivities from arising is to limit our consumption frequency of the foods in our diet. The 3-day rotation diet accomplishes this. We recommend you start your 3-day rotation diet approximately one month AFTER you have started your elimination diet. You may not have tried all the foods listed on your rotation diet at this point, so just rotate the items you have already tried and found you tolerated.

Sometimes, when food sensitivity patients eliminate their reactive foods, they begin to feel temporarily worse than they did before the diet. Maybe they have less energy, more aches and pains, headaches, more irritability, or they just feel that they are getting worse instead of better. If this happens to you during your first week on the program you should actually get excited because that is one of the main signs that you are on the road to recovery.

Food sensitivity has been likened to food addiction, and physicians who treat food sensitivities have observed for years that patients often go through temporary withdrawal symptoms when they avoid their reactive foods. This is thought to be a kind of “cleaning up” of all the allergens in your system, and a simultaneous re- calibration of your biochemical equilibrium.

Withdrawal from caffeine may also cause headache, drowsiness and fatigue. Reducing your caffeine intake PRIOR to Phase 1 of your elimination diet may help limit these symptoms. The most important thing if you are experiencing these withdrawal symptoms is to be in contact with and follow the advice of your doctor. In many cases, a simple OTC pain reliever like Tylenol or Advil can help “take the edge off” so to speak if you are not reactive to any of the ingredients. Also, extra water consumption can also help minimize the temporary symptoms of withdrawal.

You should always follow the advice of your doctor regarding prescription medications you are taking and never stop the medication on your own, as this may have serious side effects. You may however find that after following the MRT results that your symptoms have diminished to the point where you may need to consult with your doctor to adjust the dosage of your medication. Your doctor or pharmacist can help you to check to see if your medications contain any of your reactive ingredients and advise you on any needed changes.

You can stay on the program while eating out; however it will require more planning and a thorough knowledge of hidden sources of your reactive foods. It is also important to ask your waiter or the chef about ingredients in the foods available. Refer to the sections on Common & Hidden Sources of Test Substances and Restaurant and Travel Tips in the booklet you receive, for more information.

When you consume reactive foods, the physiological, immunological, and biochemical effects in some cases can set back your progress by weeks. Therefore, we never advise our patients to eat foods that test reactive or that are known to provoke symptoms. If you are in a situation where it is impossible to follow the specific phase of your program, the next best thing is to be sure to limit your diet to only those foods on your low-reactive list. This may work until you can go back to your original plan. Remember that your results will be compromised the more you stray from your eating plan.

By following your customized diet, your cravings should subside considerably within the first 5-10 days on the program. Remember that cheating on the program cannot bring about any long term benefit and usually results in short, medium, and long term problems. Another thing that may make it easier to give up foods you crave is to understand that in reality, your reactive foods are poisoning you. Many people crave chocolate. But how many people would eat chocolate covered poison? So if you can understand that your reactive foods are poison, it becomes easier to find an alternative.

Yes. Hypoglycemia is a condition in which your blood sugar decreases below normal levels. Dizziness and severe lack of energy are the most common symptoms of this condition. Regular eating patterns are the most important dietary therapy to regulate blood sugar. Smaller more frequent meals eaten every two to three hours can ensure a proper supply of blood sugar.

Yes. This program can be integrated with the diabetic diet very easily and with good results.

It may or may not, depending upon their individual reactivities. Each person responds differently to the foods, chemicals and additives that they are eating. It would be best to have them do MRT and have an eating plan developed for their particular needs.

Food allergies affect only a small percentage of the population and the symptoms typically come on quickly within seconds or an hour or so. You may have already been screened for food allergies by a doctor with an IgE Test (skin prick test). However, most digestive issues and IBS symptoms involve non-allergy delayed hypersensitivities, i.e. Food Sensitivities. Research shows that up to 60% of the population are affected by food sensitivities. These reactions involve several inflammatory mediators that can be released and circulate in your body for up to four days after eating the offending food.

After we get your MRT results, we plan your customized elimination diet. The difference between this approach and a standard elimination diet is that we have an accurate blood test to help us navigate which foods to avoid and which foods are really good for you. You basically begin this eating plan with a clean slate, by eating only the foods that tested safe for you, rather than randomly avoiding foods, based on a standard elimination diet, that may or may not be reactive foods for you (been there, done that). For instance, what if you’re using almond flour to substitute for wheat flour in a recipe, but almonds are highly reactive for you? What if you’re reactive to solanine, a naturally-occurring chemical in the nightshade family, but you’re eating crackers made with potato flour, adding grilled bell peppers to your sandwich, or eating tomato sauce on your meatballs? In essence, if you’re eating foods that trigger inflammation in your body, you are not going to feel well. There really is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to diet. One person’s healing food is another person’s poison. The other benefit of MRT versus following a standard elimination diet, is that you have a wider variety of foods to eat, so you don’t have to worry about becoming nutritionally deficient and imbalanced. It’s always better to test, and not guess.