Tag: MRT test

The Value of Food Sensitivity Testing

February 4, 2013

When I came across your website I was so relieved to find that there may be hope for me, but then saw what you charge and I realised that you are just out to make a huge profit off of others pain and illness. Who do you think can actually afford almost $1000 for a blood test?
~ Kate, New York

Hi Kate,

I’m glad to hear you are looking for non-medicinal ways to help alleviate your chronic physical distress. I’m happy that you found me and I hear your concerns about fees and why they might seem high. Let me assure you that even though it might seem like a lot of money up front, you get a lot for your money, including about four months of follow-up visits and an education in food sensitivities and your body.

Here are why it costs a little bit of money to get this kind of health care and support:

1. The Mediator Release Test. The MRT is cutting-edge science that uses state-of-the-art machinery to perform exact calibrations and procedures. Developed by Oxford Biomedical Labs (formerly Signet Diagnostic), the MRT is at the forefront of the food sensitivities field with the highest rates of reproducibility and reliability and offering the most accurate identification of inflammatory markers in the blood. Only a few laboratories around the globe are equipped to perform this test as it is highly specialized. I receive a discount off the list price of $995 which I pass along to my clients.

2. Implementation. You don’t just receive your MRT results and be left wondering how to implement them effectively. Modern test results are technical and require some interpretation; simply receiving test results is a poor predictor for success. Certified LEAP (Lifestyle Eating and Performance) Therapists (CLTs) receive more than forty hours of training on understanding the physiology, interpreting the results, and designing modern, customized, anti-inflammatory dietary protocols based on science to facilitate positive outcomes. In other words, you’ll experience better results if you work with a CLT to interpret the results.

3. A Sustainable Diet. Not only will you receive your personalized “safe” diet designed to remove inflammation from your body quickly and to speed relief from symptoms, but you’ll also receive a week-by-week food re-introduction schedule to help get you to a comfortable place where you can have an easy lifestyle with a sustainable and enjoyable diet that doesn’t make you sick. You will get help with menu plans and food products as well as recipes that work with your allowed foods to help implement a new, balanced and nutritious eating style over the long haul.

4. Healing. The focus is on healing so that, as time goes on, some foods may be successfully re-integrated without inducing symptoms. Additional herbal, probiotic, or homeopathic remedies may be recommended, depending on your symptoms. Years of schooling and clinical practice have given me the knowledge to work holistically with your particular body.

5. Coaching. You receive coaching for how to recover quickly from mis-steps and keep control of your health for the long-haul. My goal is to send my clients out into the world symptom-free with the knowledge of how to stay there.

6. Expertise. Lastly, these are professional services. Not only do I have a doctorate in naturopathic medicine, and am a Certified Nutritional Consultant and a Certified LEAP Therapist, I’m also an award-winning, best-selling cookbook author and the director of the Fight MS with Food project. I get paid to speak around the country on health, nutrition, and autoimmune issues related to diet.

Please feel free to contact me for more information or to schedule a free consultation.

No Sodium Metabisulfites in 365 Dried Fruits at Whole Foods

July 11, 2012

Sodium metabisulfite is a chemical preservative added to prevent foods from browning and molding. It is often used in preserving fresh and dried fruits, and in home brewing wines and ales. Unfortunately, for those people who are sensitive to sulfites, it can cause uncomfortable hypersensitivity reactions that may include anything from wheezing to eczema to IBS to migraines and more.

While the additive may or may not be identified, based on the amount used to preserve the food, sulfites do occur naturally in wines and meads. Here is a list of sulfite-containing foods that sulfite-sensitive people may want to avoid.

Recently, I have been working with the mother of an 18-month old boy to help bring the child some relief inside his own body. Chronic runny nose that would turn into sinus and ear infections, eczema, rash, constipation, difficulty sleeping through the night, and more were the kinds of symptoms he had been exhibiting. Upon receiving the results of his MRT food sensitivity test, we learned that one of his many sensitivities was to sodium metabisulfite.

In this mom’s quest to find sodium metabisulfite-free dried fruits, she used the online form at Whole Foods Market to ask the question:

Hello, I am looking for dried cranberries, dried pineapple, or dried bananas that are free of sodium metabisulfite. Do your 365 dried fruits contain sodium metabisulfite for color preservation? My local store could not answer the question. From what I understand, it is not something that is required to be listed on the package in small amounts. However, it causes my son to wheeze so I need to avoid it with certainty. Can you help? Thanks, Camille W.

Whole Foods came back quickly with this response:

Hi Camille,

Thanks for reaching out to us. Sodium metabisulphite is on our list of unacceptable ingredients for food, so none of our dried fruits contain it. I doubt that this an issue for your son, but just as an FYI we do allow it in some wines and meads.

Thanks for reaching out to us. I hope that information is helpful, please let me know if there is anything else I can do!
If you have any further questions please use our on-line response form.

Best regards,
Julie Brown
Global Customer Information Specialist | Whole Foods Market | 550 Bowie Street | Austin, Texas 78703

It’s good to know that Whole Foods feels the same way about sodium metabisulfite as I do, and that I can trust the 365 store brand of dried fruits to be sulfite-free.

Gluten-free / Wheat-free Banana Bread Muffin Recipe

May 25, 2010

Gluten-free baking success at last!

BananaBreadAmaranth — Banana Amaranth mini muffins

If you’ve followed my blog you know that while I’m not the greatest of bakers it’s mostly because I have a hard time following a recipe “as written”. With baking, not following the directions to the letter can often end with inedible results.

But not today. Today I translated a regular recipe for banana bread into something that is gluten-free, wheat-free, tapioca-free, rice-free, dairy-free, and lower in fat than the original to boot.

And it’s a delicious recipe. I think my kids each ate 9 of them already.

So then I made another version that is wheat-free but not entirely gluten-free (it uses spelt flour), that is perhaps even a tad bit better, though the jury is still out. Since my son is sensitive to wheat but tolerant of spelt, it’s one of my favorite alternative flours to use.

I needed to make a lot of banana bread because Door-to-Door Organics produce delivery service was kind enough to sponsor my presence at the Land of Nutrition at the Denver and Boulder Walk MS events this month with beautiful crates of organic apples, strawberries, and bananas to distribute to hungry walkers. Most were eaten at the event, but a week later I was still looking at more than a dozen organic bananas getting browner by the day. To me, that says “banana bread.”

Or rather, mini-muffins this time. So much fun to eat!

Ever since we discovered my son was sensitive to wheat through the MRT test, we have gone wheat-free in our household. It’s really wonderful that there are so many wheat-free products on the market these days that cater to those with problems digesting gluten (Celiac’s disease). It makes it easier than ever to find wheat-free alternatives to many packaged foods.

BananaBreadSpelt — Banana Spelt mini muffins with chocolate chips or cashews

Unfortunately for us, my son is also sensitive to the most common substitutions for wheat in baked goods, namely tapioca flour, corn flour, and potato starch, which puts a lot of those products off limits to us and makes successful baking that much more challenging.

Spelt has some gluten since it is related to wheat, but in much smaller doses. Because it does have some gluten, it is one of the easiest non-wheat flours to bake with. I often add a little xanthan gum and arrowroot starch to my non-wheat flours when baking to give the dough that stickiness that gives baked goods structure.

While my son used to be sensitive to eggs, we eliminated them for a while and have been able to add them back in for baked goods. To make this recipe egg-free, see my egg-free egg-substitute post.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Banana Bread or Mini Muffins
makes 1 loaf or about 48 mini muffins

1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup safflower oil (or other oil)
1 cup sugar (or other sweetener)
2 eggs (or egg substitutes)
1/4 cup coconut milk (or other dairy or dairy alternative)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (not “flavoring”)
3 bananas
1 cup amaranth flour or spelt flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour (name notwithstanding, buckwheat is not related to wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot starch
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum powder
Optional add ins: 1/2 cup nuts, chocolate chips, coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream applesauce, oil, sugar, and eggs together.

Add milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas and blend.

Mix remaining dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then add to bananas and mix well.

Grease loaf pan or mini muffin tins well and bake for approximately 20 – 50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Tag: MRT test

The Value of Food Sensitivity Testing

No Sodium Metabisulfites in 365 Dried Fruits at Whole Foods

Gluten-free / Wheat-free Banana Bread Muffin Recipe

Check out my Book!

Effortless Topics

Recent Posts