Many people order IgG food sensitivity tests to get to the bottom of chronic symptoms like bloating, fatigue, headaches or joint pain. Others will be recommended to do the test by their health practitioner as part of an anti-inflammatory protocol for chronic health conditions like auto-immune conditions, leaky gut, chronic fatigue, weight gain, migraines, inflammatory bowel disease or even hormonal conditions like PCOS which is the leading cause of female infertility. Then still others will test with us out of curiosity, or to optimise their health and fitness goals. This article will cover how to interpret the results in a practical way.
Firstly, the ImuPro results are designed to be easy to follow, with no medical interpretation required. Since ImuPro offers the largest IgG test globally, analysing up to 270 individual foods, inevitably some people will have many foods to avoid that can be initially overwhelming. It’s important to keep in mind that, the elimination phase is not forever – it’s 5-8 weeks of avoiding these foods. In the meantime, there will generally be at least 250 or so remaining foods for you to plan meals around.
- What an IgG food sensitivity test shows
Contrary to common knowledge, there are several types of allergic reactions. Most people are familiar with Type 1 allergies—the classic immediate reactions like swollen lips, closed throat, or sneezing, mediated by IgE antibodies that trigger rapid histamine release and potentially life-threatening symptoms within minutes.
Type 3 allergies work very differently: they’re mediated by IgG antibodies and cause delayed reactions occurring hours to days after exposure. When IgG antibodies bind to food proteins, they form immune complexes that deposit in tissues throughout the body, triggering chronic low-grade inflammation rather than acute symptoms. These Type 3 food sensitivities often develop through compromised intestinal permeability, or “leaky gut,” where intestinal barrier damage—from chronic stress, processed foods, medications, or infections—allows larger, partially digested food proteins to pass into the bloodstream. When these protein molecules enter circulation, the immune system recognises them as foreign invaders and mounts an IgG antibody response. Over time, repeated exposure to these leaked proteins drives persistent IgG-mediated reactions and systemic low-grade inflammation that manifests as diverse symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, digestive issues, or skin problems, making the connection to specific foods difficult to identify.
The ImuPro IgG food sensitivity test results are unique to each person and, as with any allergy test, needs to be interpreted in the context of the person doing the test. This is called “clinical relevance”. For example, sometimes a few foods will show that the person has never eaten before. This does not mean the test is inaccurate, as this could be due to a phenomenon called cross reactions, which occur in both IgG and IgE testing. For example, maybe you have never eaten. For example, you have tested positive to oysters, but you are sure that you have never eaten oysters before. This could be a cross-reaction to dust mites. Dust mites and all invertebrates – like mussels, oysters, lobster, crab, scampi etc. – have a common antigenic protein, called tropomyosin; the quantity of tropomyosin differs from species to species. So if you are sensitised to dust mites, you might have a positive test result to one or several of the seafoods mentioned above.
In these cases, it is important to consider your diet – it is generally the foods you were eating that can be a cause of inflammation – rather than foods you were not eating. All allergies are a response to some form of environmental exposure.
- Common IgG Food Sensitivity Symptoms:
Gut: Bloating, gas, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), nausea
Skin: Eczema, acne, rashes, hives, psoriasis, dry or itchy skin, dark circles under eyes
Energy & Mood: Chronic fatigue, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, mood swings, anxiety, depression
Headache/Migraine: Recurring headaches, migraines, sinus pressure
Weight & Fitness: Unexplained weight gain or difficulty losing weight, poor exercise recovery, reduced athletic performance, muscle or joint pain
Hormonal & Reproductive: Fertility issues, irregular menstrual cycles, hormonal imbalances
Immune System: Exacerbation of autoimmune conditions, frequent infections, chronic inflammation
Important Note: These symptoms are non-specific and can result from many other causes including other medical conditions, nutritional deficiencies, stress, sleep issues, or hormonal imbalances. IgG food sensitivity testing is just one piece of the diagnostic puzzle and should be interpreted alongside your complete health picture.
- Food sensitivity test results explained
Your ImuPro report organises tested foods into three distinct categories based on your IgG antibody levels: “not elevated,” “elevated,” and “highly elevated.” The report presents your results with foods ranked by the strength of your IgG antibody reaction, making it easy to identify which foods showed the highest responses at a glance.
What do these levels mean?
- Not elevated: No significant IgG antibodies detected to this food. These foods can be consumed following a rotation principle (eating them no more than once every 4 days to prevent new sensitivities from developing).
- Elevated: Moderately raised IgG antibody levels detected. These foods should be strictly avoided for 5-8 weeks during the initial elimination phase.
- Highly elevated: High levels of IgG antibodies detected. Like elevated foods, these must also be strictly avoided for 5-8 weeks, with no difference made between elevated and highly elevated foods regarding the strictness of avoidance.
It’s important to understand that the specific IgG concentrations don’t necessarily reflect the severity of your symptoms. The levels indicate immune system activity toward these foods, but clinical significance can only be determined through the structured elimination and reintroduction process.
- How to Approach Your IgG Food Sensitivity Test Results
ImuPro guides you through a three-phase nutritional strategy: elimination, provocation, and stabilisation. Here’s a simple, step-by-step approach:
Step 1: Start with the Elimination Phase (5-8 weeks)
Focus on your symptoms and the foods showing elevated or highly elevated IgG levels. Strictly avoid all foods with positive IgG results during this phase, treating elevated and highly elevated foods equally. Continue eating foods with no elevated IgG levels on a 4-day rotation cycle to help prevent developing new sensitivities and avoid nutritional deficiencies. By avoiding reactive foods, inflammatory processes can be reduced or stopped, allowing your body to recover.
Step 2: Move to the Provocation Phase
After 5-8 weeks of strict elimination, when your symptoms have improved or disappeared, begin the provocation phase. Reintroduce eliminated foods one at a time, starting with foods showing elevated levels (you might want to begin with foods you’ve missed most). Eat a sufficient amount of the pure form of the food and monitor for any symptoms or weight gain of approximately 1 kg or more overnight. Allow a wash-out period of a couple of days between testing different foods to let your body recover.
If symptoms return or you experience overnight weight gain, that food is a confirmed trigger and should be avoided for at least one year. If no symptoms occur, you may continue eating this food once a week.
Step 3: Enter the Stabilisation Phase
During stabilisation, avoid confirmed trigger foods for at least one year so IgG antibodies can degrade and your body can fully recover. After one year, reintroduce the food again using the same provocation test to see if it still triggers a response.
Critical reminder: Don’t eliminate everything at once or make assumptions without testing. The provocation phase is essential to establish whether a positive IgG reaction is clinically significant for you—this is considered the gold standard approach in allergy diagnostics. This systematic approach is much more effective than simply avoiding all reactive foods indefinitely.
- Next Steps
Remember that IgG food sensitivity test results offer the basis for an elimination and provocation diet, but don’t necessarily reflect the occurrence or severity of clinical symptoms on their own. Your ImuPro report is a valuable guide that helps identify potential trigger foods, but it’s just one piece of your health puzzle. The true value comes from systematically working through the three-phase approach to identify your personal triggers.
For personalised guidance on interpreting your results and implementing your elimination and reintroduction protocol safely and effectively, consider consulting with a qualified nutritionist, dietician, or healthcare practitioner experienced in food sensitivities. They can help you maintain nutritional balance while investigating your trigger foods and support you in achieving lasting improvements in your health and wellbeing.