Instant and Free Food Sensitivity Testing
Why is it so important to identify and avoid foods to which we are sensitive? In a nutshell, food sensitivities equal stress and stress slows the metabolic rate, interferes with digestion and leads to a host of health issues.
Alternative medicine practitioners utilize numerous approaches to determine if an individual is sensitive or allergic to a substance. Common techniques include muscle testing and electrodermal biofeedback. All these approaches are based on the concept that the body exibits a stress response when a substance is not right for the individual at that time.
Unfortunately, it can be pricey and time consuming to get tested for food sensitivities by these practitioners. I’m excited to share with you an easy and FREE method for determining food sensitivities/allergies/intolerances at home.
The Coca Pulse Test for Food Sensitivities, Allergies, and Intolerances
One of the easiest methods of food sensitivity testing without special training or expensive equipment is the Coca Pulse Test. Prestigious immunologist Dr. Arthur Coca published this test in 1956, and it provides an accessible way to trace a stress response to a certain food. It is based on the phenomena of how stress affects your pulse rate: if you are sensitive or allergic to a food, ingesting that food will immediately cause stress, which is manifested as an increased pulse rate.
Dr. Coca’s book is now public domain and available free on the internet. He directs you to record your diet for 5-7 days and record your pulse 14 times per day (before rising, before retiring, before each meal and at 30 minute intervals after each meal).
If you eat a food you are allergic/sensitive to, you will caluclate a quickened pulse after the meal at which you at it. Then, you can analyze your food journal with the recorded pulses and determine the foods to which you react.
Although the Coca Pulse test is free (no pricey food intolerance lab tests), I find it a bit time consuming and it can be hard to remember when to take your pulse. I prefer The LNT Coca Pulse Test.
The LNT Coca Pulse Test for Food Sensitivities
This is a modified version of the Pulse Test that I find quicker, easier and altogether more preferable. I learned this tool as part of the curriculum at Nutritional Therapy Association.
“LNT” stands for Neuro-Lingual Testing, which utilizes the communication pathways between the mouth and the central nervous system. Simply tasting a food sends messages throughout the body, and the body will communicate through a quickened pulse if this food is not ideal for you.
This version of the pulse test allows you specifically test one food at a time and immediately learn if the food is beneficial or stressful to your body. It is like the instant-gratification method of Dr. Coca’s original test.
Food Sensitivity Testing with the LNT Coca Pulse Test
- Do this test 1-2 hours after eating or drinking anything. Start when you are mentally, emotionally and physically relaxed. Always take your pulse for one full minute… don’t take it for 30 seconds and multiply it by two.
- While sitting, take a deep breath and slowly exhale. Take your pulse by counting how many times your heart beats in one exact minute. It may be easiest to feel your pulse by placing two fingers on the upper right side of your neck. Record this pulse rate.
- Next, put a piece of the food in question in your mouth. It is okay to chew, but don’t swallow. Taste the food for at least 30 seconds. Then, take your pulse again for a full minute with the food in your mouth. Spit out the food and rinse your mouth with filtered water. If the pulse rate rises 6 or more points with a food, it indicates a stress reaction and that food should be avoided. Remember, food sensitivities can heal through diet and lifestyle changes, so it will be possible to re-test and reintroduce these foods after a period of healing.
- Let the pulse return to the baseline before testing with a different food.
NOTE: If testing eggs, test the egg yolk and the egg white separately. Egg yolks are often better tolerated than egg whites.
Food sensitivities don’t need to be permanent
Food sensitivities and even some food allergies can heal with time and a nourishing diet. Food sensitivities occur due to leaky gut, reference in scientific literature as intestinal permeability. because the tight junctions between the cells in the small intestine begin to dissolve. As a result, undigested proteins or partially-digested food particles to escape into the bloodstream. This triggers antibodies to attack the foreign particles in the blood.
Sometimes when addressing a food sensitivity, all it requires is temporarily eliminating the food in question for a few months. Re-test the foods at intervals of 3 months to see if you can re-introduce them.
In more serious cases, a comprehensive protocol may be required to heal the gut, so the food can be ingested without triggering those antibodies. Please read my comprehensive post The Leaky Gut Guide for steps and resources.
Have you been tested for food sensitivities? Have you noticed a difference when you avoid eating foods to which you are sensitive?
I have some questions regarding candida diet, leaky gut diet, and food sensitivities. Is there an address I can contact you? Thanks 🙂
Muscle testing, with the foods in question, would be faster and easier without consuming it.
What is the definition of a “point”?
In the original paper it mentions the “6 point” increase but never defines what a “point” is.
I’m assuming they mean percentage point — is this correct?
Or, is there a different definition of “point”?
A “point” is one pulse beat in a minute. So a “6 point increase” is the pulse increasing by six beats in a minute.
Hi there – any suggestion for me trying this out on my two year old? How should I keep her relaxed while I’m doing all this weird pulse stuff with her? How do I get her to leave the food in her mouth for 30 sec or longer? Any experiences?
I’d appreciate any help I can get before I try it out.
Thanks!
There is a way to do this via muscle testing where you have a para-I forget the proper phrase — but you touch/hold your child or their hand/arm while the tester/ the administrator muscle tests you, in lieu of her, your child.
It’s called “surrogate testing” and it’s a great way to test animals too!
So is the surrogate testing a better test? What are the pros and cons of both tests?
Thanx for time in this matter.
That’s a discussion for another blog post, but I recommend both methods. Use what you prefer.
Can I use my fitbit to measure my heart rate
Sure. You can use a smart phone too.
Sounds awesome! I’m gonna test this with a few foods tomorrow! This will be really good for me because I do not do well with elimination diets and can’t handle being in a restrictive mindset.
What if I have a reaction to just about anything? I can’t just stop eating for a month…
well you’re likely a universal reactor like me- have fun with it LOL
actually, there is something you can do about that=> You could read and follow Dr. Henry J. Rinkle’s Rotary Diversified Food Diet- a book he published in 1934 [?] after many long years of researching what brought relief to his clients. It too is amazing how what heals us doesn’t cost us money; it costs us our attentions. So PAY attention Y’all! You’re welcome. It was fun to make total utter complete changes while everyone around me was clearly mind boggled.
Where can I find this book for either download or buying? Please let me know. Thanks.
This test is quite different from Coca’s pulse test. He requires both a wake up pulse and another before going to bed. He also wants you to consume the food being tested not spit it out then test 2 more times. Has this LNT test been clinically proven? Is it in fact just as effective?
Thank you,
Robin