It's time to test your sensitivity to food chemicals, specifically histamine and salicylates.

As you know, oxalate is another food chemical which can cause a lot of issues for many people. However, because oxalate is a 'toxin', we can't test it in the same way. For more information on oxalate, read this section.

Some of you might already have noticed that you felt a lot better when reducing your consumption of food chemicals during the Supersafe and Safe diets, while others might not be quite sure.

Here you'll find a process that will help you clearly identify which, if any, food chemicals may be a problem for you.

If you already know that they are a problem for you.... then there is no need to do the testing which we describe below. You can jump straight to this section on how to manage food chemical sensitivities.

HOW TO TEST FOR FOOD CHEMICAL SENSITIVITIES

Because many people only have an issue with either histamine or salicylate, it's helpful to test each one separately.

However, for some people, it can be a combination of both... you'll find this out during the testing!

Each test will continue for up to seven days. You will basically load your body with histamine for the first test and then with salicylates for the second.

You may experience no symptoms on day one or two, but then start to experience symptoms as the naturally occurring food chemicals accumulate in your body. Remember the bucket analogy (if you need a refresher...go here)!

* Download the 'Food Chemical Sensitivities Test tracker' below to help you track your symptoms during the tests.

If your symptoms worsen (see lists of symptoms below) or become intolerable, stop immediately. Do not push yourself through the whole seven days if you feel terrible. Return to the Supersafe or Safe diet until you feel better.

If there is no reaction to the histamine test after seven days, then you don't have an issue with histamine. Woohoo!

Before proceeding to the salicylates test, it's very important to return to the Supersafe or Safe diet for at least 3 days. If you've experienced a return in your symptoms during the histamine test, than wait until your symptoms have settled down for a few days.

1 - HISTAMINE TEST

The aim is to consume as much natural histamine as possible from a variety of food sources, without consuming any salicylates. :-O

We recommend continuing to eat from the Supersafe and Safe diets during testing... but add in foods from the following list, which are high in histamine, but low in salicylates, FODMAPs and trigger foods. This will ensure that your reactions will be from the histamine and nothing else.

• Nitrate free, organic bacon
• Smoked salmon
• Bananas
• Dark chocolate/Cacao
• Bone broth cooked for more than 6 hours
• Canned tuna
• Fermented foods
• Leftovers that have been left in the fridge for more than 1 day

* Don't use any herbs or spices during the histamine test as these are high in salicylates (not even black pepper). Use high quality salt instead.

2 - SALICYLATE TEST

Remember that before proceeding to the salicylates test, it's very important to return to the Supersafe or Safe diet for at least 3 days. If you've experienced a return in your symptoms during the histamine test, than wait until your symptoms have settled for a few days.

The aim is to consume as much natural salicylates as possible from a variety of food sources, without consuming any histamines. :-O

We recommend continuing to eat from the Supersafe and Safe diets during testing... but add in foods from the following list, which are high in salicylates, but low in histamines, FODMAPs and trigger foods. This will ensure that your reactions will be from the salicylates and nothing else.

We recommend eating a few of these foods in one sitting to ensure that it contains enough salicylates to trigger a reaction.

• Blueberries (more than 1/3 cup is high FODMAPs.... the reaction to FODMAPs is likely to be different (more digestive) than if it's a salicylate issue.)
• Passionfruit
• Any herbs, dried or fresh
• Black pepper
• Ginger
• Herbal tea
• Black tea
• Coconut milk (1/4 cup only as more is high FODMAPs)
• Coconut oil
• Olive oil
• Zucchini with peel on

* Don't use any spices as these are also high in histamine (including chai tea)

SYMPTOMS YOU MAY EXPERIENCE DURING TESTING

Any symptoms you had before doing the Supersafe and Safe diets coming back is a good indication that you might be sensitive to the food chemical you're testing. Anything from fatigue, headaches/migraines, pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, reflux, anxiety and/or any other mood changes, food cravings, skin rashes/hives/itching, congestion/runny nose, swelling, breathlessness etc.

A racing heart and/or heart palpitations shortly after eating is another sign that you might be sensitive to that food chemical.

It’s important to note that symptoms may not appear until your bucket is full... which can take up to 7 days, depending on the size of your bucket (aka your personal tolerance/threshold).

IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER DURING TESTING

It’s also important to realise things other than food can also influence your testing. For this reason, we recommend testing when your symptoms are at their lowest. For instance, if you're going through a very stressful time (more than your usual stress levels), it might not be the best time to test.

Another thing to consider is that the menstrual cycle has a big impact on histamine tolerance, so we recommend testing just after your period.

One last thing.... do your best to not change anything else while testing (such as supplements, your environment, personal care products, etc).

WHAT DO YOUR RESULTS MEAN

A symptom flare-up is an obvious sign that your body has a sensitivity/intolerance to this particular naturally occurring food chemical at this time. You might react to one or both tests.

By completing both challenges, you will have discovered the difference between histamine loaded foods and salicylate loaded foods and how your body reacts to them.

Here are the possible outcomes of the testing:

1- You experience symptoms during one of the tests.

If you only reacted during the histamine test, but not during the salicylates test, then it's most likely that you only have an issue with histamine. This means that you no longer need to avoid foods high in salicylates.

Same thing in reverse...if you only reacted during the salicylates test, than you no longer need to avoid foods high in histamine.

To learn more about what to do next, go to how to manage food chemical sensitivities.

2- You experience symptoms during both tests. :-(

This means that you are very likely sensitive to both histamine and salicylates. We recommend that you continue on the Supersafe and Safe diets for a little longer. However, if you haven't already, you could test the FODMAPs and trigger foods and see if you're able to reintroduce any of those.

Do not despair, as you continue healing, your sensitivities/intolerances will improve.

To learn more about what to do next, go to how to manage food chemical sensitivities.

3- You experience NO symptoms during either tests.

Hooray!!! This means that you should be able to enjoy a wider range of foods and that it will most likely be safe for you to include high salicylate and high histamine foods in your diet.

WHAT NEXT?

If you haven't already.... it's time to:

• Test Your Tolerance to FODMAPs
• Test Your Tolerance to Trigger Foods
• Read the oxalate toxicity information