The promoters claim that eliminating the offending foods will cure low blood sugar , fatigue , cramps, anxiety, depression, indigestion, and obesity. The test consists of mixing food particles with a blood specimen and evaluating the response of the leukocytes through a microscope.
Cytotoxic testing fails on all scientific counts.
A true allergic response is triggered by microscopic amounts of antigen. Cytotoxic testing overwhelms white blood cells with whole food particles, while in reality only infinitesimal amounts of food ever pass through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. Double-blind controlled studies have not confirmed any diagnostic value of the cytotoxic test. Positive cytotoxic results have been obtained with foods that produced no clinical symptoms, and negative results have been noted with foods that did produce clinical symptoms. Restrictive diets are prescribed that often forbid the consumption of over 40 foods.