Food Sensitivity Testing in Orem, Utah | Functional Medicine
Bloating, fatigue, joint pain, skin breakouts, and headaches that seem to come and go without explanation. If you suspect food is part of the problem but you can't figure out which food or why, Dr. Drussel uses functional medicine testing and elimination protocols to identify your triggers and build a plan that ends the guessing game.
Does this sound like you?
If any of these hit close to home, you're not imagining the connection between what you eat and how you feel. The problem is that food sensitivities are delayed reactions, so by the time the symptom shows up, you've already eaten three more meals and lost the trail.
- Bloating after meals that seems random, sometimes triggered by foods you eat every day without issue
- Fatigue that hits 1 to 2 hours after eating, like your body is spending all its energy fighting what you just consumed
- Joint pain or stiffness that has no structural explanation and seems to flare without a pattern
- Skin issues like eczema, acne, or rashes that creams can't fully control
- Headaches or brain fog that you can't trace to sleep, stress, or any obvious trigger
- You've tried elimination diets on your own but couldn't stick with them or didn't know what to reintroduce first
- Your allergy test came back negative, so you were told food isn't the problem
Allergies vs. sensitivities vs. intolerances
Most people use these terms interchangeably, but they are three different mechanisms, and understanding the difference changes everything about how you identify and treat the problem.
- Food allergies (IgE reactions) are immediate. Your immune system produces IgE antibodies that trigger a rapid response within minutes: hives, swelling, throat tightening, anaphylaxis. These are what standard allergy tests detect. If your allergy test was negative, it means you don't have an IgE-mediated allergy. But that's only one piece of the puzzle.
- Food sensitivities (IgG/IgA reactions) are delayed, sometimes by 24 to 72 hours. Your immune system produces different antibodies (IgG and IgA) that create a low-grade inflammatory response. Because the reaction is delayed, you eat the food on Monday, feel terrible on Wednesday, and never connect the two. These reactions cause bloating, fatigue, joint pain, headaches, brain fog, and skin problems. Standard allergy testing doesn't look for them.
- Food intolerances are not immune-mediated at all. They're enzymatic. Lactose intolerance happens because you lack the enzyme to break down lactose. Histamine intolerance happens when you can't clear histamine efficiently. The symptoms overlap with sensitivities, but the mechanism and the treatment approach are different.
The reason food sensitivities are so hard to identify on your own is the delayed reaction window. If you eat eggs on Monday morning and get a headache Tuesday evening, you'll blame Tuesday's lunch, not Monday's breakfast. Dr. Drussel at Integrative Motion in Orem, Utah uses a combination of testing and structured elimination protocols to cut through the noise and identify your actual triggers.
It's also important to understand that food sensitivities are often a symptom, not just a cause. When the gut lining is compromised (intestinal permeability or leaky gut), food particles cross into the bloodstream that shouldn't be there, and the immune system reacts. Fix the gut, and many food sensitivities resolve over time. This is why Dr. Drussel always looks at the bigger picture.
How we identify food sensitivities
Dr. Drussel doesn't start with a test. He starts with your story. A detailed health history reveals patterns that no lab can: when symptoms started, whether they correlate with dietary changes, how your digestion functions, what you've already tried, and what made things better or worse.
Symptom surveys map how food-related inflammation is showing up across your entire body, because the effects aren't limited to the gut. Food sensitivities can drive joint pain, skin conditions, fatigue, mood changes, and cognitive issues. Those connections matter.
From there, the investigation may include:
- Food diary analysis to identify patterns between what you're eating and when symptoms flare. Even with delayed reactions, certain patterns become visible when you track consistently over 2 to 4 weeks.
- IgG/IgA food sensitivity panels that measure immune-mediated reactions to dozens of common foods. These identify which foods your immune system is reacting to, which is different from what a standard allergy test measures.
- Structured elimination protocol where you remove the most likely trigger foods for a defined period, then reintroduce them one at a time to observe your body's response. This is the gold standard for confirming food sensitivities.
- Comprehensive blood work including inflammatory markers that reveal how much systemic inflammation the food reactions are creating
- Gut health assessment because food sensitivities and gut dysfunction are almost always connected. If the gut lining is compromised, identifying and removing trigger foods is only half the job.
Dr. Drussel is selective about testing. IgG food sensitivity panels are useful, but they aren't always necessary. If your history clearly points to a handful of suspect foods, a well-designed elimination protocol can provide the same answers without the expense of lab work. Testing is ordered when it will confirm a suspicion or change the treatment direction.
What treatment looks like
The goal isn't to hand you a list of foods you can never eat again. The goal is to identify what's driving the reactions, remove the triggers long enough for inflammation to cool down and the gut to heal, and then systematically reintroduce foods to find out what your body can actually tolerate.
Depending on what the investigation reveals, your food sensitivity protocol at Integrative Motion may include:
- Personalized elimination diet based on your test results and health history, not a generic list from the internet. Dr. Drussel tells you exactly what to remove, for how long, and in what order to reintroduce. Structure matters because a poorly designed elimination diet is just a restrictive diet that teaches you nothing.
- Systematic reintroduction protocol where foods are added back one at a time with clear symptom tracking. This confirms which foods are true triggers and which ones were just along for the ride.
- Gut-healing support to repair the intestinal lining and reduce the immune reactivity that's making you sensitive to foods in the first place. This may include targeted supplements, anti-inflammatory nutrients, and probiotic support.
- Anti-inflammatory nutrition guidance that ensures you're still eating a nutrient-dense, satisfying diet while avoiding your triggers. Elimination doesn't mean deprivation.
- Regular monitoring and adjustment with check-ins every 4 to 8 weeks to track symptom resolution, guide reintroduction timing, and adjust the protocol as your gut heals
- Long-term food strategy so you know what to eat going forward without being afraid of food. Most patients find that after healing the gut and reducing inflammation, many foods they once reacted to can be reintroduced without symptoms.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. Identifying triggers usually takes 4 to 8 weeks. Healing the gut and reducing overall reactivity can take 3 to 6 months. But most patients notice significant improvement in bloating, energy, and brain fog within the first few weeks of removing their major triggers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Food allergies are IgE-mediated immune reactions that happen within minutes and can be severe (hives, anaphylaxis). Food sensitivities are IgG/IgA-mediated immune reactions that are delayed by 24 to 72 hours and cause lower-grade symptoms like bloating, fatigue, headaches, joint pain, and skin issues. Standard allergy tests only measure IgE, which is why food sensitivities go undiagnosed. A negative allergy test does not rule out food sensitivities.
IgG food sensitivity panels measure real immune reactions and can be a helpful tool when used in the right context. However, Dr. Drussel doesn't rely on testing alone. A positive IgG result means your immune system is responding to that food, but it needs to be interpreted alongside your symptoms and health history. That's why Dr. Drussel combines testing with structured elimination and reintroduction protocols, which are the gold standard for confirming food sensitivities.
Absolutely. When your immune system reacts to a food, it creates systemic inflammation that can show up far from the gut. Joint pain, fatigue, brain fog, headaches, skin breakouts, and mood changes are all common manifestations of food-driven inflammation. Because the reactions are delayed, most people never connect these symptoms to what they're eating. Once trigger foods are identified and removed, many patients see these symptoms resolve within weeks.
Not necessarily. Many food sensitivities are driven by gut dysfunction, particularly intestinal permeability (leaky gut). When the gut lining is repaired and inflammation is reduced, the immune system often stops reacting to foods that were previously triggers. Dr. Drussel's approach includes gut healing as a core part of treatment, with the goal of expanding your diet over time. Some foods may need to remain limited, but most patients find they can reintroduce many foods after 3 to 6 months of gut-focused treatment.
The difference is structure, guidance, and the bigger picture. A DIY elimination diet often fails because people don't know which foods to target, how long to eliminate them, or how to properly reintroduce. They also miss the gut-healing component, which means the sensitivities keep coming back. Dr. Drussel designs a protocol specific to your test results and health history, guides the reintroduction process, addresses the underlying gut dysfunction, and monitors your progress. It's the difference between guessing and having a plan.
The most commonly reactive foods Dr. Drussel sees are gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, and sugar. However, anyone can react to anything. Some patients are sensitive to foods generally considered healthy, like almonds, avocados, or certain vegetables. That's why testing and elimination protocols are personalized. A food that causes problems for one person may be perfectly fine for another. Your protocol is based on your immune response, not a generic list.
Related conditions
Food sensitivities are closely connected to gut health, autoimmune conditions, and chronic inflammation. If you're dealing with food reactions, these related conditions may also be part of the picture.
Start with a Functional Medicine Consultation
Call Integrative Motion in Orem, Utah to schedule your consultation with Dr. Drussel. If you're tired of guessing which foods are making you sick, it's time for a real answer.