Cyrex Array 10 Test: Measuring Food Sensitivities
Getting diagnosed with serious food allergies is no fun. You won’t get to eat all the food you want. You may even experience anxiety whenever you try something new or when you eat out.
This is when the Cyrex Array 10 test may help you.
If food allergies have been ruled out, but you still experience bloating, stomach ache, migraines, and irritable bowel, it can be twice as frustrating. And the worse part? Food sensitivities can take hours or days to begin, making them twice as hard to diagnose.
One option is to do an elimination diet, and this can be very effective, but at the same time difficult to do and pinpoint the exact problem.
This is why it’s important to to the right food intolerance testing, as some options like hair testing are not reliable. Cyrex Labs has developed the Array 10 Test for that reason.
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What Is Cyrex Array 10 Test??
Cyrex Array 10 test, otherwise known as Multiple Food Immune Reactivity Screen, is based on the most current food sensitivity testing research.
This enables the Cyrex array 10 to test sensitivities to a wide range of possible trigger foods.
Imagine this:
When you’re diagnosed with a food allergy, it only takes a tiny amount of food to trigger an adverse reaction. However, when you have food sensitivities, you may need to consume a larger dose of the trigger to elicit a reaction. The problem is that it doesn’t always happen right away. At times, it takes hours or even days.
Now, what are those possible triggers?
While most people show allergic reactions to grains, nuts, dairy products, and eggs, some people react negatively to artificial food additives and food colours.
Additionally, there are people who develop sensitivities to food depending on their preparation. Some react to cooked and processed food but not when it’s raw.
The symptoms of food intolerance can be confusing as some days you may react and other times you may not, this can depend on the amount of food but also other factors like stress.
Some of the symptoms include:
What Does The Cyrex Array 10 Test For?
The list of potential antigens Cyrex Array 10 test is quite comprehensive. In fact, the panel tests for more than 180 proteins that can potentially trigger your immune system.
Compared with other food sensitivity panels, Cyrex Array 10 tests both cooked and raw forms of common and real foods. It also checks for cross-reactive antigens like shrimp tropomyosin and food aquaporin. These two are popular for cross-reacting with human tissues.
Binding isolates are considered common culprits for food sensitivity as well. Because of that, agglutinins and plant-derived lectins are also checked since they possess an affinity for certain human tissues.
Large gum molecules are tested as well. A huge number of processed food products use gums to hold ingredients together, this includes meat glue found in processed meats.
Artificial food coloring is a widely used additive in many processed foods, and its presence can cause adverse reactions in some people. To better understand how these chemicals affect individuals, Cyrex Laboratories has developed a test to measure the reactivity of patients to artificial food coloring. The test measures levels of antibodies that are bound to human tissue when exposed to these small-molecule chemicals. This allows for a more accurate assessment of an individual’s sensitivity or intolerance to artificial food coloring than traditional methods.
Gum molecules are large, complex molecules used in various food products to help bind ingredients together. They are especially popular in gluten-free products as a substitute for gluten, often the primary binding agent in traditional recipes. As such, it is important to know about any potential reactivity to these large gum molecules.
Who Is This Test For?
Cyrex Array 10 is a good test for anyone experiencing symptoms with no explanations, particularly gastrointestinal, neurological, and behavioural symptoms, immune reactions or autoimmune conditions.
If you have an autoimmune disease, this is a test that may be helpful so you understand foods that may trigger an immune reaction.
While the test does measure for gluten sensitivity it is not a test for celiac disease, if this is something you are interested in testing, check out the Cyrex laboratory Array 3X Test.
How To Prepare For Cyrex Array 10 Test
Since the test is helpful in pointing out possible sensitivity to food, you need to ensure your immunity is good enough to test. This helps ensure that you won’t get a false positive.
Now, how do you improve immunity?
Get plenty of sleep, do regular physical exercise and practice stress management techniques like meditation or breathing exercises.
It’s also important for you to recheck your medications. Drugs containing steroids can lower your immune system, triggering false negative results.
If you can’t stop taking them, it’s best to wait a couple of months before getting tested.
When it comes to food, it’s best to include the food items you want to test.
In the month before the test include a wide range of foods in your diet, if you want to know if you are reactive to eggs, nuts, dairy etc you need to be eating these foods before testing.
For example, if you think you may react to egg white, then you need to consume this food to stimulate the immune system to react to the food proteins in egg white.
Another example:
If you were having your blood sample drawn on September 1, you would need to take a few bites of each food item you want to be checked from August 1st to August 14th.
Now, don’t worry if you forget to eat a certain food one of those days or only had one bite. The most important thing is that you get exposed to the food items within the required time frame which is about 20 to 30 days. During such time, your body should be able to form antibodies against the food proteins.
If you know that you have a reaction to a particular food, like dairy or nuts, for example, then you don’t have to consume these foods and make yourself feel terrible – as you have already determined that these are kryptonite for you.
The aim of the test is to find out what other foods you are reacting to.
Another thing to be careful of is fats. As much as possible, avoid consuming a lot of high-fat meals before your blood draw. This kind of meal can cause your specimen to be lipemic, and Cyrex Labs may reject specimens like that.
The Actual Test
Cyrex Array 10 requires a blood draw. Cyrex Labs can suggest your draw location. However, if you prefer to get it done at home, you may be required to pay extra for the draw fees.
Additionally, it’s not available in New York. If you live in New York you can complete your specimen draw in nearby states.
International orders are accepted. Just make sure that the sample is sent back within ten days. Depending on your location, additional fees for return shipping will apply.
The results will be ready about two weeks after the lab receives the sample from you. You will be emailed a pdf copy of your results, and I recommend scheduling a consultation with your functional medicine practitioner to review the results.
Now, what happens when your triggers are identified?
You may be advised to minimize the consumption of your food triggers. Your clinician may also put a customized dietary protocol to address the cause of your reactions.
They may recommend assessing both your gut barrier and digestive functions.
Doing the Cyrex array 10 in combination with the array 2 test is a good idea. If you have a lot of positive results, this may indicate intestinal permeability, which the Cyrex Array 2 test measures.
If you have a lot of food sensitivities, autoimmune reactivity or digestive symptoms, it may also be a good idea to do the GI Map stool test.
For the best value I would recommend doing the Cyrex Array 2 & 3 & 4 combination.
