Food and Digestive Health

More and more Canadians are concerned that the food they are eating may be affecting their digestive health. Every day there seems to be a breaking news story about a food that could be making you sick. This is not only confusing, it could encourage patients to make the wrong decisions about what they eat. By testing for sensitivity to foods such as gluten and lactose you can help your patients find out if there are certain foods they should avoid and help them improve their digestive health.
 

Food sensitivity testing (Not available in Quebec)

We have known for a long time that certain foods can have a profound effect on our health. At the extreme end there are food allergies, which can bring on severe reactions and even death. But people can also have a sensitivity to certain foods. While not life-threatening – these foods can bring on a wide range of unpleasant symptoms such as respiratory or gastrointestinal disorders, migraines, headaches or dermatological problems such as eczema.
 
The good news is that dietary management based on identifying the food sensitivity, is associated with significant and rapid improvement in symptoms for almost 80% of people. But it’s often difficult to pinpoint the offending food as symptoms are often delayed and can appear up to three days after eating the food.
 
Since food-specific IgG antibodies (produced by the body’s immune system) and symptoms of food intolerance are closely linked, the Dynacare Food Intolerance Test uses a microarray-based test that can detect IgG antibodies to more than 200 different foods to help identify the foods which may be causing symptoms. In addition to the test report, we also provide you with a web-based personalized report consisting of easy-to-understand charts and graphs to share with your patients to help them manage their diet.
 

Find out more

Dynacare Food Intolerance Brochure
Dynacare Food Intolerance Test Panels

 

Testing for Celiac Disease

For some people, eating gluten – a protein found in wheat, rye and barley – can damage or destroy the villi, the tiny protrusions lining the small intestine that allow nutrients from food to be absorbed. Since the person cannot absorb nutrients properly, they can become malnourished and experience abdominal bloating, pain, gas and diarrhea. Although gluten is found mainly in foods, it can also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins and lip balms.
 
Called celiac disease (CD), this is a relatively common autoimmune disease that has both a genetic component and an environmental trigger. Diagnosis of celiac disease can be difficult as the symptoms can be varied and are similar to those of other diseases. As a result, celiac disease has often been under or misdiagnosed.
 
To find out if gluten is affecting your patients, Dynacare tests for celiac disease by using IgA Tissue Transglutaminase, Endomysial and Gliadin IgA / IgG antibodies. Before testing your patients, they must continue to eat a normal, gluten-containing diet. If symptoms and blood tests are suggestive of celiac disease, a small biopsy of the small intestine is performed to confirm diagnosis.
 

Lactose Tolerance Test

When patients become bloated or have stomach pains after drinking milk or eating dairy products, they may be lactose intolerant. When a person is lactose intolerant, they don’t make enough of the lactase enzyme to fully digest lactose, the main sugar found in milk and most other dairy products.
 
The Dynacare lactose tolerance test gauges the body’s reaction to a liquid that contains high levels of lactose. Two hours after drinking the liquid the patient undergoes blood tests to measure the amount of glucose in their bloodstream. If their glucose level doesn’t rise, it means their body isn’t properly digesting and absorbing the lactose-filled drink and they are lactose intolerant.