Find answers to your gut health issues and finally feel better with a Food Intolerance Evaluation
Address your gas, bloating, reflux, IBS, gut inflammation, food issues, and more with a traditional naturopathic technique
Digestive issues due to food intolerances can be uncomfortable and embarrassing.
Being at a party and then suddenly rushing to the bathroom isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time.
Neither is asking friends to cook a certain way so you can avoid hours of pain.
Even if you’re at home by yourself trying to create a nice meal, it’s common to find that all the joy has been sapped out of cooking because you’re not sure what sets you off.
Food can start to become an enemy and a burden.
You might isolate yourself because of your symptoms like:
- gas
- bloating
- loose or urgent stools
- acid reflux
- nausea
- painful cramping or constipation
And then feel guilty and depressed for avoiding people and situations you’d otherwise enjoy.
Getting your gut back on track might seem impossible.
Especially if you’ve been dealing with your discomfort for a long time.
You may have tried acid blockers, stool softeners, stool binders, gas reducers and found that they sometimes work but not always.
Digestive problems are very common and tend to be difficult to resolve because you can’t just cut out food entirely.
So you soldier on, trying to figure out what’s setting you off by reading a thousand blogs and health articles, trying different diets and supplements, and you STILL have trouble pinning down exactly what the issue is.
What if I told you there was a way to get the clarity you need in order to truly make progress with your gut health?
To not only reduce your symptoms, but also help to find the root cause of what’s creating them in the first place.
And that it might positively impact several of your other chronic, annoying symptoms like…
allergies
skin issues (eczema, psoriasis, acne)
joint pain
thyroid issues
low energy
brain fog
headaches and migraines
anxiety and depression
sinus congestion or post nasal drip
heavy or painful periods
asthma
and more
You could start to love food and cooking again because you’d feel normal after eating.
You could say yes to more social engagements without fear, hesitation, and uncertainty around how you’ll feel.
You won’t always have to know where a bathroom is wherever you go.
All of this is possible.
After 13+ years in the health industry, I’ve found that one approach stands out for its consistent effectiveness in easing gut issues.
Introducing
The Food Intolerance Evaluation
A food intolerance evaluation is a traditional naturopathic technique that’s been around for over 100 years.
Only licensed naturopathic doctors with specific advanced training are allowed to use the technique.
Through a small dried blood sample it identifies foods that you’re not biologically adapted to digest.
This is important because if your food isn’t broken down properly it sits in your gut and ferments, creating irritation, inflammation, and many of your digestive and non-digestive symptoms.
By removing your intolerances you’ll:
- lower your inflammation levels and start to heal up your gut
- significantly improve your ability to digest and absorb nutrients from your food which will help you feel more energetic and nourished
- start to resolve long standing chronic health issues that wouldn’t budge before because so much of your health is tied to the health of your gut
The goal of working with your food intolerances isn’t to remove everything that you love and feel deprived and resentful.
The goal is to find foods that love you back and that support your health.
Your food intolerances aren’t like anything else in the nutrition world.
Most diets have you removing foods you don’t need to remove.
As a result, these diets can feel overly restrictive because they limit your intake of foods that you actually digest well. Over time the limitations can make you feel desperate, rebellious, and more likely to emotionally eat or “fall off the wagon”.
Your Food Intolerance Evaluation is personalized, focused, and designed to help you get feedback from your body about what’s supportive for your health and what’s not.
Nothing extraneous is removed which decreases the likelihood of emotional eating and feeling overly restricted.
And instead of feeling more depleted and frustrated, removing your food intolerances allows you to deeply nourish and replenish your body with foods that are biocompatible with its specific make up.
You’ll be helping your body to heal, repair, and recover at a deep level.
Many times this process makes it possible to bring back things that you previously cut out of your diet as you’ve finally identified the root food issues that have been holding up your healing for years.
“I had tried every diet out there to help get my chronic acid reflux under control. The usual suggestions just weren’t cutting it (removing acidic foods, etc.). The food intolerance evaluation completely changed the game for me. In a matter of weeks my reflux had significantly decreased. I still have flare ups but now I know where they’re coming from and I can manage them. I was overjoyed when I added citrus and peppers back into my diet and they barely affected my heartburn!”
To get started choose the option below that works the best for you:
$160 for humans
$85 for pets
West Seattle, WA
$160 for humans
I’m passionate about the food intolerance evaluation not only because it’s helped countless patients when they weren’t making progress with other methods, but also because it helped me.
How the food intolerance evaluation helped me overcome digestive and disordered eating issues
Food intolerances are a huge part of my practice because they’re personalized, accurate, focused, and effective.
I’ve been practicing as a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist since 2011 and early in my career, I used food sensitivity testing (similar to Viome or EverlyWell) and elimination diet protocols in order to help my patients resolve their gut issues.
My patients and I were rarely happy with the results as most of the time it didn’t seem like we got to the root issue. People would feel better for a short period of time, then symptoms would flare again.
I also disliked the emotional and logistical difficulty of asking people to remove 6-10 foods at a time then got through the process of trying to figure out which were creating health issues by slowly and methodically adding them back in.
The time and energy that process demanded was often too much for people to actually execute and they would end up adding in multiple things at once. As a result, we wouldn’t have a clear idea what they reacted to so we’d have to start over again.
5 years ago I switched to using food intolerance evaluations and it’s made a night and day difference for my patients in terms of ease of implementation and long term health benefits.
“Before doing the food intolerance evaluation, I knew I had some issues with dairy and a few other things due to the various symptoms that would happen after eating. I would experience stomach upset, acid reflux, hives, and stuffy nose at times.
When I did the evaluation, I was surprised to see that it included some foods not even on my radar as troublesome! The results you receive are prioritized in a way that helps you focus on the top things you need to avoid to feel better sooner.
Dr. Liz does a great job in also helping you understand your results, possible alternatives to try, and ways to help lessen a flare up from your intolerances. I think most importantly the evaluation gave me knowledge, the power of choice, and the ability to give myself grace that this is an imperfect journey.”
Here’s why the Food Intolerance Evaluation offers long term health benefits:
Intolerances focus on 1-2 main foods or food groups that need to be removed, not 6-10.
This makes switching up your diet much more manageable and less emotionally triggering.
Intolerances are better at getting to the root of gut issues.
Immune based tests like sensitivity and allergy tests are great at showing you what you’re reacting to in the moment (most of the time – some folks have nothing show up) but they’re not great at telling you which of those foods you’re reacting to is the root issue.
Intolerances cut through that confusion and show you what you’re not biologically adapted to eat and removing them can decrease your reactivity overall.
When you eat your intolerances you create inflammation in your gut that increases your sensitivity to other foods. Many times when intolerances are removed, food sensitivities decrease.
No repeat testing.
With allergy and sensitivity tests the results will reflect how much of a food you’re eating and the state of your gut health (aka how inflamed you are).
If you want accurate results you must eat the foods you might be sensitive to. This is a big deal if you’ve cut something out and have to add it back in for the purpose of testing.
Because intolerances are based on your biological adaptation, not your immune system, it doesn’t matter what you’re eating and your results don’t change over time. This leads to a more reliable and cost effective solution than sensitivity testing which requires retesting every 6-12 months.
I’ve seen many longstanding chronic conditions like hormone imbalance, skin issues, allergies, autoimmune conditions, and more, significantly improve or resolve when the gut is addressed with food intolerances.
“Very thankful for Dr. Liz! Starting with the root issue of food intolerance and healing the gut has proven to be really effective for me. It was a tough transition, but after a month or so of adjusting to this new approach to my nutrition, I am experiencing much better sleep and my seasonal allergies are significantly minimized, if not gone altogether!
Most importantly, I have a deeper knowledge of my body and its needs, which allows me to be in better relationship with my body and to make choices that facilitate my own happy, healthy experience. This came at the perfect time for me, when I was ready to make some lifestyle shifts — happy to be where I’m at today. Recommend!”
Finally Find Answers with a Food
Intolerance Evaluation with Dr. Liz Carter
More information about the evaluation:
What’s the history of this evaluation?
The food intolerance evaluation is a traditional naturopathic technique that’s been around for over 100 years. It was developed by O.G. Carroll in the early 1900s. Only licensed naturopathic doctors with specific advanced training are allowed to use the technique.
Clinically over 500,000 people have been evaluated by hundreds of naturopathic doctors.
How are my intolerances determined?
For humans a small dried blood sample, less than the size of a dime is needed. Collection materials of a retractable lancet and an absorbent paper disc are included in your kit.
The evaluation can also be done for pets. A small amount of fur, about the size of a quarter is needed. This fur can be brushed off or loose, it doesn’t need to be cut from your pet’s coat.
How many intolerances does someone usually have?
1-2 what are called primary intolerances. These foods need to be completely avoided.
And 1 combination intolerance where 1 of the 2 foods needs to be avoided.
How long does it take to get results?
Once I’ve received your sample, please allow 2 weeks for processing time.
Please note that your results are emailed to you and if you haven’t received them they may be in your spam folder.
How long before I feel better?
Most people notice improvements within 2-4 weeks. If you’re removing your intolerances more slowly, it will take more time to see a benefit. But that’s totally ok because these changes are for the long haul!
After about 3 months your symptoms should be greatly reduced if they’re related to your intolerances. After 6 months of digesting and absorbing your food better you’ll likely experience more energy and a better mood.
What’s included in my results?
You’ll receive your results via email after your sample has been analyzed.
Dr. Liz provides:
- A quick overview of your results to help you get the big picture
- Detailed explanations of your food intolerances in convenient downloadable PDFs
- Helpful videos that focus on navigating and implementing your intolerances
Your results also included a cell salt recommendation to help replete a deficiency in a mineral complex your body needs to function optimally.
Your results can sometimes be a lot to process. Dr. Liz personally struggled with multiple eating disorders so she’s sensitive to the overwhelm, guilt, and shame that can come with diet changes. She includes guidance on how to navigate medical food restrictions from an emotional perspective using intuitive eating principles.
If you’d like to review your results one on one with her, she offers 30 min online consults for $85. Please note that the online consult is not a full medical appointment and is limited to reviewing your results only.
Is this the same as food allergy or food sensitivity testing?
Nope. Let’s break down the differences!
Food allergy, food sensitivity and food intolerance each have different evaluation methods. And it’s possible to have all three issues. In my clinical experience, I recommend starting with figuring out your food intolerances as they can often decrease your immune reactivity making any sensitivities and allergies less severe.
The food intolerance evaluation is not a substitute for food allergy testing. If you have severe histamine reactions to foods with throat and tongue swelling, wheezing, facial swelling, and hives you should talk to your doctor about food allergy testing.
Food Allergy |
Food Sensitivity |
Food Intolerance |
|
|
Type of response |
Severe immune response (IgE) |
Less severe immune response (IgG) |
Your inability to digest and break down certain food groups properly (not immune based) |
|
Timing |
Immediate |
Delayed (24-72hrs) |
Typically within 1-24 hours |
|
Symptoms |
Throat and tongue swelling, facial swelling, wheezing, hives (many people carry an epi pen with them for these reactions) |
Chronic health concerns like congestion, constipation, hormonal imbalances, and more |
Loose stools, headache, fatigue, nausea are the most immediate. Can also be the root of long term chronic issues like blood pressure, constipation, acid reflux, autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalance, and more |
|
Example foods |
Peanuts |
Gluten, dairy, sugar |
Egg, potato, grains, fruit |
How does the evaluation determine my intolerances?
The foods and your blood sample are placed in an electrical circuit created by a machine designed in the early 1900s by O.G. Carroll, a naturopathic doctor and the founder of The Carroll Food Intolerance Method. The current created by the machine is monitored and the fluctuations produced when a food is being challenged determines whether or not it’s compatible with the blood sample.
Which foods are evaluated?
Dairy, egg, potato, fruit, meat, mine salt, honey, soy, seafood, grains, and sugar.
Will this evaluation tell me if I’m intolerant to gluten or lactose?
The evaluation looks at whole foods only, so it does not directly test for gluten or lactose. The evaluation does include a grains category and a dairy category. If your results come back with dairy or grain, please note that those intolerances are much broader than lactose or gluten. For example, a dairy intolerance includes all aspects of the food, not just the lactose enzyme.
How reliable and accurate is this evaluation?
Earlier in my practice I tried food sensitivity testing and elimination diets. I switched to this evaluation and found it to be significantly more reliable, accurate, and effective than the other options I’d recommended for my patients.
Clinically over 500,000 people have been evaluated by hundreds of naturopathic doctors.
Those who are trained in the technique use it almost exclusively to help their patients work with food issues.
Its accuracy and reliability is why it has stood the test of time for over 100 years.
If you’d like to read more, here’s one small study about how the food intolerance evaluation measures up to food sensitivity testing. The study found that it was just as accurate, and in my clinical experience (as well as many other naturopathic doctors) the food intolerance evaluation is much more accurate.
Why can so many non-gut related symptoms improve when my gut is addressed?
Because of something called leaky gut syndrome.
Your guts literally leaks bacteria, toxins, and food particles into your bloodstream.
Normally your gut cells are linked together by what are called tight junctions. When those tight junctions are compromised through chronic inflammation your gut barrier allows substances through.
Once in your bloodstream, they can be distributed throughout your body and land in any type of tissue, causing inflammation.
It’s kind of like having a leaky roof. Water should stay outside of your house, but if a few shingles are broken, water will move into places where it shouldn’t and start causing issues.
This is why gut issues don’t always stay in the gut!
Removing your food intolerances can help to reduce leaky gut because you’re decreasing the substances that cause irritation and degrade the cellular barrier that separates your gut from the rest of your body.
Is this ok for kids?
Yes and it can be very helpful for many childhood health issues like ear infections, tummy troubles, sleep issues, and more.
Can you do an evaluation for my pet?
Yes! Only a small quarter-sized sample of their fur is needed. Pet evaluations are $85.
“I just wanted to say thank you!!! Since starting to be aware of my intolerances and taking the cell salt, I’ve only had a few headaches. A HUGE improvement!! Looking forward to continuing to see how the changes show in my body.”
“I’ve been struggling to get my digestive issues under control for years, and Dr. Liz’s food intolerance evaluation has proven to be invaluable. Cannot recommend it enough!”
Take back your relationship with food and your health.
No more general protocols that ask you to remove 10+ things.
No more confusing results that need to be re-evaluated every year because they can change.
One evaluation for personalized, focused, and effective advice.
Get Your Food Intolerance Evaluation Started Today
Disclaimer:
The food intolerance evaluation, also known as the The Carroll Food Intolerance Method, is not a diagnostic test and no diagnostic claims can be made based upon the use of this technique or the use of its equipment. It is not a technique for the diagnosis of allergy or allergic reaction. It is simply a method of understanding personal digestive and metabolic capacities to aid in providing dietary advice.
The food intolerance evaluation is an old technique developed by one of our most respected naturopathic physicians of the past century (Dr. O.G. Carroll), and has continued in the profession as one of the techniques particular to the naturopathic way of thinking about health and illness in the context of traditional naturopathic medicine. This technique is used in this spirit.