Personalized Food Elimination Diet: A Clinical Trial based on Food sensitivity assessment

Abstract

Food sensitivity, a common but overlooked condition, has been associated with a variety of gastrointestinal symptoms. Typically, patients suffering from food sensitivity are placed on elimination diets, although the success of this approach has not been sufficiently validated. We aimed to assess whether effective serological assessment for food sensitivity and the implementation of a subsequent elimination diet improved patients’ symptoms and overall well-being. In this study, 52 participants were tested for serum IgG and IgA levels against 262 food antigens. Based on the results, participants followed personalized elimination diets excluding foods they were reactive to, for a period of 4 weeks. Symptoms were assessed weekly using the ‘Food Sensitivity-Symptom Severity Scale’ (FS-SSS), which was seen to decrease in 88.46% of participants from baseline to week 4 (p < 0.05). The physician’s evaluation of participants' responses was analyzed using the ‘Food Sensitivity-Global Improvement Scale’ (FS-GIS), where 84.61% of participants saw notable improvements. Antibody titers post-intervention showed improved IgG levels in 96.15% of the participants while IgA levels showed improvement in 84.61% of the participants. Serological assessment followed by a personalized elimination diet effectively addressed food sensitivity, evidenced by reduced symptoms, improved antibody titers, and favorable physician assessments of patient response.