Millions of people use herbs and functional foods to treat countless ailments, from hiccups and hemorrhoids, to balance hormones and stimulate libido. They may work well as natural remedies, but are they safe for everyone?
The ALCAT Laboratory has introduced compatibility testing to over 130 new functional foods and medicinal herbs to already industry-leading lineup of items available for testing.
The ALCAT Test, a functional blood test, measures white blood cell responses to different foods, chemicals, functional foods, herbs, molds, food colorings and food additives, and other substances. These cellular responses have been linked to a multitude of different chronic inflammatory diseases, such as migraines, digestive disorders, obesity, chronic fatigue, aching joints, skin disorders, autism and many more.
"These new herb and functional food panels represent a response to a demand for such testing arising from the shift in the diets of people in the United States and abroad," said Roger Deutsch, President and CEO of Cell Science Systems and author of the book Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat. "With more people looking to use these items to treat and prevent ailments, we thought it was imperative to expand the number of items we test for to make sure the things we are taking to help us are not actually harming us."