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Hi,  My original post was:

Has anyone had any experience with York Nutritional Laboratory
http://www.yorkallergyusa.com/  or Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory
http://www.gsdl.com/home/ ?

I have been considering using one or the other for their tests for IgG.  I am
probably not celiac since a biopsy was negative, but my stomach has improved,
but not gotten totally better, with a diet that cut out wheat as well as a
number of other things.  Since I never get to where I don't have some symptoms
(excessive gas and bloating, stomach ache, nausea) I was thinking testing might
show other foods I was sensitive to.

If anyone has used either for testing, did not having been eating certain foods
make a difference to the testing?

I got 13 responses to my questions.

5 people said positive things about Great Smokies, although of those only 2
seemed to be saying they had personal experience with GSDL testing for food.  Of
those 2, one was positive, but wasn't sure it made a difference because they got
their CD diagnosis around the same time.  1 used GSDL for other testing, and 2
said things like "my doctor likes" or "a leader."  There were no negative
comments about GSDL.  I also got 2 at least semi positive comments about GSDL on
another list I posted this question to.

4 people said they had testing with York.  1 said they were all wrong.  3 said
positive things from "spot on" to "helpful."

2 suggested other labs.  Also on the other list there was a 3rd lab mentioned.

A couple of people said that not having eaten something recently could cause a
false negative.

A couple mentioned that a Neg. biopsy  doesn't mean not CD and a couple
questioned what I've eliminated in the way of foods.

One mentioned kefir reducing the sensitivity to foods.  One said SCD (specific
carbohydrate diet) helped them a lot. One said that while testing was helpful,
in the end the thing needed is to heal  and suggested "Breaking the Vicious
Cycle," which is the book about SCD or "The Body Ecology Diet."  Since I've been
trying SCD (at least to some degree, some of the time) its clearly not the whole
solution for me.
Cindy
Excerpts to follow:

*****************************
I have had good luck with Great Smokies labs, also York is an advanced lab.
The one my holistic MD is using now is called MetaMetrix Clinical
Laboratory.  It's in Norcross (Atlanta suburb), Georgia.  Tel. # 770 446
5483.  The test you want is called 0075 IgGl and 4 Food Antibodies (90
Antigens).  These food allergy tests do NOT test for gluten, so yours may
come back negative for wheat, for example.  That does not mean you do not
have celiac disease.  I find the testing *absolutely* essential.  Without
it, I never would have known what was making me so sick, other than gluten.
Also the intolerances shift around and can be different each time you're
tested.  If you have not eaten certain foods for a long time, you may test
negative for them.  Other foods, if you have a real allergy (rare), will
come back positive no matter how long it has been since consumed.  In
addition, there are some main foods, such as eggs, corn, soy and dairy,
which celiacs seems to have many problems with, even though they are not
real allergies.  And they don't appear to go away with time, unfortunately.
(However, if you have been reading about the real kefir made at home, I have
been doing that and my intolerances seem to be decreasing in a very short
time period!!)
************************
I have used Immuno Labs in Ft. Lauderdale and am very pleased with the
results. I know you didn't ask about this lab, but I thought it might be
helpful to offer another alternative.
************************
My doctor has used great smokies lab for me.  I found it quite interesting
to find out that I had chronic (not acute) food allergies that I was
unaware of--like beef, clams and cucumbers, and of course gluten (although
I was not "allergic" to some other gluten-containing grains).   I can't
tell if eliminating the 5 foods that I was most allergic to has made a
difference, because around the same time I was diagnosed with celiac
disease and went gluten free.
*************************
We did York and found it to be spot on.  It formed the framework for
tailoring a reactive free diet that would have been impossible to achieve
with a food diary and elimination.  Only a couple of things that I thought
were false positives....one turned out not to be....the other might have
been, but we've reintroduced it without problem.

I'd recommend them heartily.  Just be aware that eliminating reactive foods
isn't the solution, but simply coping while getting the intestines healed
up....otherwise you'll just be pulling more and more foods out of the diet.
_Breaking the Vicious Cycle_ by Gottschall or _The Body Ecology Diet_ by
Gates would be good places to start looking.
*******************************
I have used Great Smokies comprehensive digestive stool analysis and
also some genetic testing unrelated to celiac. My doc thinks highly of
them. I've done several other food allergy tests and it can give you a
false negative if you have not been eating the item.
*****************************
I had the York testing.  It was all wrong, except for dairy.  It missed all
my main food intolerances and said that I was sensitive to egg whites.  I
don't know if I am or am not.  I stopped eating them and did not find any
difference.

I started the specific carbohydrate diet and that has helped my intestinal
symptoms significantly.  I have been GF for 13 years.
*******************************
I have used York. Its great for other intolerances but  If you are celiac they
will not tell you if you are allergic to gluten. It was explained to me as
celiac is not an allergy its an autoimmune disease so it will not show up as one
of the intolerances on there.
*******************************
We've used York Nutritional Laboratory and found it helpful.  It was
particularly useful for us for our daughter because we  in cases where we
thought that we had eliminated all potential dietary antigens but she was still
having trouble.  For other family members, it has primarily confirmed what we
already knew or suspected.  You do have to be consuming the foods, or at least
have consumed them fairly recently, for the IgG antibodies to be present.

(York has been deluged with test requests and it took us a very long time to get
our results.)
*******************

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *