Not all intolerance tests for food are the same. Some test things that have nothing to do with your immune system. Some produce results that can’t be reproduced. Some are done at health food markets and cost thirty dollars. The gap between those and clinically validated testing is enormous.
If you’re considering intolerance tests for food and want to understand what a properly conducted test actually involves, here’s how ImuPro approaches it.
The Immune System Mechanism Matters
Food intolerances in the IgG sense are immune-mediated. Your body produces IgG antibodies to specific food proteins. These antibodies trigger inflammatory processes that create symptoms, but slowly. Hours or days after eating the offending food, not immediately.
This is completely different from a classic IgE allergy, where reaction is fast and obvious. It’s also different from enzyme-based intolerances like lactose intolerance, where the issue is your body’s inability to digest a specific sugar.
ImuPro tests specifically for IgG antibody reactivity. Not hair analysis. Not breath. Not skin testing. Blood serum IgG testing, which is the appropriate method for this mechanism.
The Foods That Get Tested
A lot of intolerance tests focus on the usual suspects. Wheat, dairy, eggs. ImuPro’s Complete 270 test goes considerably further.
The 270 foods tested include meat varieties, gluten and non-gluten grains, fruit, vegetables, legumes, seafood, dairy, eggs, seeds, nuts, mushrooms, algae, herbs and spices, sweeteners, preservatives, thickening agents, tea, coffee, wine, yeast, and Candida albicans.
Importantly, alternatives to common allergens are tested alongside the allergens themselves. If you’re reacting to cow’s milk, the test shows whether goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, or soy milk are safe alternatives for you specifically. This matters because individual responses vary and assumptions can be wrong.
How the Testing Process Works
Order your preferred test from ImuPro’s website. A kit arrives with a pathology request form, collection instructions, and a transport tube. Take the kit to your nearest pathology centre for a standard blood draw. The pathology centre centrifuges the blood to extract the serum. You send the serum back.
No GP referral required. The paperwork is handled by ImuPro. The serum is stable enough to transport safely.
Analysis happens in ImuPro’s certified German laboratory using the ELISA method, the clinically established immunoassay approach for antibody detection.
Reading the Results
Your report categorises every tested food into three groups. Not elevated, elevated, and highly elevated. Elevated and highly elevated foods are prioritised for elimination during the initial phase.
This is more useful than a binary positive or negative result because it shows you the degree of your immune response. Not all elevated foods need permanent elimination. The provocation phase later identifies which elevated foods are genuine triggers for your specific symptoms.
Support Beyond the Test
One of the things that separates ImuPro from testing-only services is the post-result support. Personalised nutritional guidelines walk you through the elimination, provocation, and stabilisation phases. The Complete and Vegetarian tests include a recipe booklet specifically built around your non-reactive foods.
The ImuPro team is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AEST on 1300 481 151 if you have questions during the process.
Children and Special Circumstances
Children over 12 months can be tested. For children under 12 months showing symptoms, ImuPro recommends testing the mother instead, since IgG antibodies can pass through breast milk.
Vaccinations within nine months affect results, so this needs to be flagged before ordering.
ImuPro has been running this service for Australians since 2005. If chronic symptoms have been your normal for too long, intolerance testing done properly is a reasonable next step.
