MY MRT Results - verrrrry interesting!

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:59 am

Good Morning!

Most of you know that I have managed my MC with diet alone for the past 10 years. I had long figured out my major sensitivities to gluten, dairy, soy, chocolate, yeast, and corn and had eliminated them. However, given my recent flare (first in many years), I decided to do the MRT (mediated release test) introduced to us by Mary Beth. I know that she, Gloria, and Kari have all done this test, which tests your blood for sensitivity to 150 different foods, spices, and chemicals. Also, I figured the more info the better to use in fine-tuning my diet.

The results are fascinating! I had a significant reaction to 35 of the test items. The MRT did confirm my already-identified sensitivities plus many others. The GOOD news: I can still have coffee, tea, garlic, onions, wine (WAHOO - I am OK with both grapes and sulfites), all seafood, olives and olive oil, blueberries, bananas, avocado, broccoli, and sweet potatoes (all staples for me).

There were several big surprises, however! My 4 most reactive foods were celery, yellow squash, sesame, and pinto bean. Also significantly reactive for me are tomatoes, white potatoes, carrot, cucumber, cauliflower, plum, strawberry, mango, grapefruit, mustard (the main condiment I have been using - yikes!), vanilla, almond, cashew, and hazelnut. Luckily, my two favorite nuts are walnuts and pecans, which I do appear to tolerate. Sunflower seed is my least reactive seed, and Mary Beth has introduced me to Sunbutter, a wonderful spread (better than peanut butter!) made with sunflower seeds.

Here was another big surprise! My 2 most reactive meats are pork and lamb! I find this so interesting in that many here have found pork and lamb to be the easiest on the gut. Just another prime example of how different we all are. Turkey was my best-tolerated meat.

And here is an example of true fine-tuning: I keep a tin of spearmint Altoids in my car and occasionally eat one just to refresh my mouth. Well, I learned I react to yellow dye #5, which they contain! Also, all these years I thought a salad was the safest bet for me when eating out. NOT! Although I do not react significantly to lettuce, I am not OK with all of the other ingredients - carrot, cucumber, celery, tomato, dressing with mustard in it, etc. I guess I’ll be ordering fruit salads now. Or just a hunk of lettuce with my own dressing. My favorite order of a plain grilled pork chop, baked potato, and salad when eating out needs to be changed!

I am so happy I have learned all of this……it is valuable for a multiply-sensitive person like me. I have done very well with diet over the years, but probably reached a tipping point last summer. I had been gradually adding back in foods I thought were OK , that I could now tolerate, like tomatoes and white potatoes, occasional popcorn, etc. I will still be eating mostly paleo (no grains or dairy or legumes) but it is good to be able to fine tune my meats, veggies, fruits, and nuts.

Love,

Polly

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:14 am

Man, I HAVE TO get MRT testing. Remind me how you order it? Your list of staples and list of reactive foods looks alot like the ones I suspect. I wish I had proof to steer me in the right direction! Do you plan to follow this to the letter or just reduce your intake of reactive foods?

Celie · Post by **Celie** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:39 am

Thank you Polly. Wow, it is amazing to think about how many land mines might be out there for all of us.

Celie

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:44 am

Hi Zizzle!

You do the MRT through a nutritionist qualified in the MRT/LEAP program. Mary Beth can give you a referral for someone in your area.

Good question. I am planning to follow the recommendations to the letter for now, since I want to go back to basics, and there is always a small chance of a false positive or negative on the MRT. By introducing a new food each day, I will hopefully pick this up. But I think another valid option is to just eliminate your most reactive foods. I'm sure Mary Beth will pop in to provide more info.

Love,

Polly

P.S. Hi Celie! Land mines, indeed!!!

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:28 am

Hi Polly,

I've been so curious to hear about your MRT results and thought of sending you a PM this morning, but there you were when I logged on :). Sounds like you'll still be able to keep many of your favorites - yeah!!! I truly believe in this fine tuning - taking out the guess work, eliminates a large source of stress, and it is amazing how adaptable our palates are.

It's a little over a month now since I got my results, and (knock on wood) it has made a HUGE difference for me. Even though I had to eliminate more of my favorite foods, feeling well is so much more important. My weight has stabilized and my strength and stamina are coming back.

Lots of luck to you with your "fine tuning" - I'm sure you'll feel a lot more relaxed about eating now that you know more about your sensitivities.

Love,
Kari

Ginny · Post by **Ginny** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:36 am

Polly, this is so informative. I have not been posting much with my last setback, high stress at work and depression, however, I am now waiting on my MRT results and Mary Beth will be my dietician. I feel fortunate to have someone to consult with that has our disease. This is just so encouraging and I am now more than ever looking forward to the results. I am barely maintaining on 2 Imodium a day and 2 Entocort a day.

Kari, finally got around to reading about your good results with the MRT; that is great.

Wishing everyone wellness! Ginny

Pat · Post by **Pat** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:04 pm

Polly,

This is so cool! I have been talking with Mary Beth and I am going to do this testing as well. I can't wait! I am so hoping for the results Kari has had.

Pat

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:39 pm

Very interesting, Polly. You seem to look at the MRT testing in the same way that I do - it is another tool to help us on our way to wellness. It's not the complete solution, but it reveals additional food intolerances that we might not have suspected. I have found the highly reactive and moderately reactive scores to be reliable. The non-reactive scores are not as dependable, and should be treated as any other suspect food.

You had asked me to post my results in an earlier post when I was visiting my daughter. Here are my highly- reactive and moderately-reactive results:

Highly Reactive
Phenylethylamine
Goat's milk
Grapefruit
Cranberry
Cucumber
Codfish
Chicken
Green Pea

Moderately Reactive
FD&C Red #40
Benzoic Acid
FD&C Yellow #6
FD&C Blue #1
Cottage cheese
Cinnamon
Vanilla
Oregano
Cherry
Pear
Cantelope
White potato
Beet
Eggplant
Oat
Tuna
Scallop
Tilapia
Egg
Beef
Peanut
Lima bean
Pecan

I hope your test results help you to fine-tune your diet.

Gloria

Post by **tex** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:10 pm

Polly,

A couple of random thoughts:

Could there be a connection between yellow squash and yellow dye #5? Otherwise, yellow squash is a pretty unusual item to be sensitive to. I'm guessing that reactions to items such as this are not in the autoimmune category. Am I right?

I don't see any mention of the results on grains. Were they even mentioned? Will results show up accurately, even if you have never eaten a certain food, or have not eaten it in, say, 10 years?

Interesting, indeed.

Love,
Tex

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:14 pm

Polly this is really exciting that this test covers so many and apparently somewhat accurately various food and pharmaceutical items. I had talked to Mary Beth when we had lunch last month and I believe this is the next step for me as well

Thanks for posting the results

--Joe

JLH · Post by **JLH** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:25 pm

Does Medicare cover MRT testing?

harma · Post by **harma** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:03 pm

and can this testing be done overseas?

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:44 pm

Tex wrote:yellow squash is a pretty unusual item to be sensitive to.

I tested non-reactive on the MRT test for yellow squash, but I react pretty violently to it within a short time. It was one of the food items that the dietician encouraged me to eat, but after several reactions, I eliminated it, along with all other squash which also gave me reactions.

Tex wrote:Will results show up accurately, even if you have never eaten a certain food, or have not eaten it in, say, 10 years?

I have never eaten the following foods in my reactive lists:
goat's milk, codfish, scallop and tilapia

I haven't eaten grapefruit (due to statin), lima beans or peas in years.

Polly,

I believe you also asked me if the intolerant foods listed under my avitar were from the MRT testing or due to my own findings. The only ones identified strictly from the MRT test are chicken and cucumbers. I was suspicious of potatoes and beef, and the MRT test confirmed my suspicions.

Gloria

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:34 pm

Wow
what a reveal....
whether it is 50% correct or 80% correct, anything that gives us extra information to help us out of the MC management maze is worth it!

enjoy that glass of wine

Mary Beth question - do our reactions to MRT change over time? ie the results that gloria and polly have, if they did the test again in 5 years would the results be different?

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 5:21 pm

Let me tackle a few of the questions . . . .

It is best to work with a Cetified LEAP Therapist and I can help you locate one in your area. I restrict my work to residents of Texas but I can help you find someone if you PM me with your info.

Harma, there is a sister lab in Poland and if you want info on that I can get it for you.

Tex, these are considered non IgE mediated immune reactions and they can occur with any food or food additive. I don't think the dye and squash are related in any way (the squash and reactivity to cucumber and cantaloupe may be related though, since they are in the same botanical family). The test, like any test, can't capture all types of reactions but is a crude tool to help build a safe diet. The dietitian looks at the patients history and tries to predict the safest foods. For example, with my results I take my LEAP results and add low histamine restrictions and that works best for me. Sometimes sensitivites ar forever and sometimes not. Sometimes we can gain tolerance back after restricting food for a period of time. I beleive Polly had a loss of oral tolerance to some foods with her recent flare - these foods may be different than what they were 10 years ago. When I retest in a few months I expect to see some of the same foods as reactive and I also expect to see better tolerance to some. Grainsa re addressed in the test. If I only did MRT and not Enterolab I would have still figured out my gluten, dairy and soy reactions. When I work with people I almost always restrict those things in the early phases and measure their response to adding it back - you get a clearer picture that way.

Kari, I am so glad you had such a great response and you are feeling good. I beleive you will eventually be able to add foods back but don't rush it.

Polly, hopefully within 7-10 days you will start to notice the effects of the diet. I know everyone will be waiting for a progress report.

Mary Beth