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According to last week's poll, over 55% of you switched food with no results or are about to.

Don't worry, I wasted months playing the same guessing game with Aki.

Here's the protocol vets use to diagnose 95% of food allergies and intolerances.

Weekly Bite

Missed Part 1/4 or 2/4 of my mini-series on allergies?

👉️TL;DR: Vets rule out conditions that mimic allergy/intolerance symptoms using 3 diagnostic tests before evaluating if food is the trigger.

Why?

Elimination diets are the only way to diagnose food allergies and intolerances.

Here's the elimination diet protocol vets use to diagnose food allergies and intolerances.

Step 1: Eliminate independent variables

🩺 Treat symptoms & infections to create a stable baseline

💊 Change flavored medications and supplements to non-flavored forms

Step 2: Start with a hydrolyzed diet

This is a commercial vet-prescribed diet that contains ≥1 hydrolyzed protein source (like chicken or soy).

The hydrolysis process breaks proteins into tiny peptides, less likely to trigger an allergic reaction.

Disclaimer: Over-the-counter (OTC) "hypoallergenic" products are unreliable for elimination diet trials since they’re subject to cross-contamination.

Step 3: Follow the trial protocol

Transition their diet gradually over 1 week to avoid gastrointestinal upset.

Feed their new diet for 8 weeks, after fully transitioned.

Step 4: Switch to a new diet (if symptoms don’t improve)

If symptoms don’t improve on a hydrolyzed diet, try a novel homemade diet.

The additives in commercial diets may be the trigger…

Novel homemade diets contain 1 fresh protein source (like kangaroo), 1 fresh carbohydrate source (like white potato), and nutritional supplements.

The key is to use ingredients that they’ve never eaten before to minimize the chance of an allergic reaction from prior sensitization.

If symptoms don’t improve on a novel homemade diet, the dog may be suffering from environmental allergies…

Step 5: Perform a food challenge (if symptoms improve)

If symptoms improve on a hydrolyzed diet, the dog may be allergic/intolerant to ≥1 ingredients in their previous diet.

A food challenge is required to confirm an allergy/intolerance.

Food Challenge: The systematic reintroduction of ingredients (one at a time) from their previous diet for up to 2 weeks while staying on a hydrolyzed diet.

If any symptoms return during the food challenge, this confirms an allergy/intolerance - therefore, that ingredient should be avoided.

Step 6: Avoid problematic foods

Transition to a commercial vet-prescribed novel diet to identify safe sources of proteins and carbohydrates.

Once safe sources of protein and carbohydrates are identified, consider transitioning to an OTC diet.

However, keep in mind that mind that OTC diets may be subject to cross-contamination which may cause problems in the future.

TL:DR: Elimination diets require patience and are the only way to diagnose food allergies and intolerances. Start with a vet-prescribed hydrolyzed diet for 8 weeks. If that fails, try a novel homemade diet. If symptoms improve, perform a food challenge to find the trigger.

Next week, I'll cover what to do when elimination diets don't solve the problem…

Tail End

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Until next Thursday, ✌️

Sam