At our Monroe office, Advanced Wellness offers in-depth food sensitivity testing using the ALCAT test, a non-invasive way to pinpoint potential food and chemical intolerances. By tracking how your body responds to a wide range of substances, this test helps reveal which foods may be behind your discomfort or ongoing health issues. The process is simple: a single blood draw followed by detailed lab analysis to uncover the sensitivities affecting your well-being. With clear, personalized results in hand, you can move forward with real confidence toward a more balanced, healthier lifestyle.
At our Monroe office, Advanced Wellness offers in-depth food sensitivity testing using the ALCAT test, a non-invasive way to pinpoint potential food and chemical intolerances. By tracking how your body responds to a wide range of substances, this test helps reveal which foods may be behind your discomfort or ongoing health issues. The process is simple: a single blood draw followed by detailed lab analysis to uncover the sensitivities affecting your well-being. With clear, personalized results in hand, you can move forward with real confidence toward a more balanced, healthier lifestyle.
Our providers rely on the ALCAT test to measure how your body reacts to different foods, showing you which ones support your health and which work against it. While it’s not a replacement for medical care, it can be a valuable tool when built into a healthy lifestyle and used to help guide disease prevention. For patients managing an existing condition, the ALCAT test works best alongside the guidance of a qualified healthcare provider.
The body can react to foods and chemicals in a number of ways, including a sudden allergic reaction. The ALCAT test isn’t designed to catch these immediate food allergies, sometimes called “true” or IgE-mediated allergies. If you already know you have this kind of allergy, keep avoiding those foods regardless of what your ALCAT results show.
The ALCAT test, by contrast, is built to catch food and chemical sensitivities, where symptoms tend to show up more slowly, sometimes hours or days later. These sensitivities are much more common and can play a role in chronic conditions affecting a large share of the population.
ALCAT food sensitivity testing follows a structured process for identifying your specific food and chemical reactions. It starts with an initial consult, where a healthcare professional reviews your medical history, symptoms, and concerns to determine the right testing approach for you. From there, the procedure itself is non-invasive, relying mainly on bloodwork to see how your body responds to various allergens.
Before the ALCAT test is scheduled, we hold an initial consultation to gather key medical information. This conversation helps our providers understand any pre-existing conditions or concerns you may have around food sensitivities, taking your diet, lifestyle, and chronic symptoms into account to make sure the testing process is as accurate and useful as possible.
Once your consult wraps up, we get your ALCAT test scheduled. We’ll walk you through exactly what to expect and any preparation needed, and our team is on hand to answer questions and ease any concerns before your appointment. The test itself involves phlebotomy — a straightforward blood draw for analysis.
Phlebotomy is the core procedure behind food sensitivity testing. A healthcare professional draws blood, usually from the arm, in a quick process with minimal discomfort. That sample is then analyzed to see how your body responds to a range of allergens — specific foods, chemicals, and other environmental factors — building a detailed picture of your individual sensitivities.
From there, your blood sample goes to a lab for testing against a range of allergens. The analysis pinpoints substances that trigger an inflammatory response, flagging possible food or chemical intolerances. We then walk you through your results so you know exactly which allergens to adjust for in your diet and daily life.
After your results are in, we help you understand what they mean and what changes might help. Depending on your situation, we may recommend lifestyle or dietary adjustments to ease symptoms related to food sensitivities, and our providers remain available for guidance if any questions or concerns come up along the way.
Food sensitivity testing can offer real value for anyone dealing with unexplained symptoms or looking to fine-tune their overall health. Some groups tend to benefit especially from uncovering hidden food sensitivities — here’s who we typically see get the most out of this type of testing.
The right testing can shed real light on which foods and chemicals are contributing to your symptoms or health challenges. Once sensitivities are identified, it becomes much easier to build a targeted, effective strategy for improving your overall well-being. Here’s what you stand to gain from food sensitivity testing:
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The cost is $1,150, including the phlebotomy fee.
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The cost is $1,250, including the phlebotomy fee.
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The cost is $1,450, including the phlebotomy fee.
At Advanced Wellness, getting healthier is simpler because we bring a wide range of services together under one roof. You won’t need to bounce between different offices or appointments — our clinic is built to be a one-stop destination so you can put your energy where it matters most: your well-being.
We treat the whole person, not just the symptoms in front of us. Our board-certified doctors and clinicians collaborate to track down the root cause of your health concerns so the real issue gets addressed. Our team meets daily to discuss patient needs, which means you get multiple specialists working together on one personalized treatment plan.
“Advanced” is in our name because staying ahead of medical innovation is central to how we practice. Our doctors bring science degrees and years of hands-on expertise, paired with high-tech diagnostics and evidence-based procedures, to treat pain and help restore your quality of life. We lean on the latest advancements in the field to deliver care that gets you back to your normal routine.
Our treatments are built around lasting results, so you can get back to living life fully. At Advanced Wellness, our goal goes beyond treating conditions — we want to help you feel genuinely better.
The ALCAT test checks for sensitivities to various substances, including foods, food additives, colorings, preservatives, molds, medicinal herbs, and other environmental triggers. It does not diagnose food allergies but identifies intolerances that may contribute to chronic symptoms.
No, the test is not considered painful. It involves a simple blood draw, similar to any standard lab test. The procedure is quick and performed by trained healthcare professionals to ensure minimal discomfort.
Results are typically available within 7 to 10 business days. Once your analysis is complete, our team will schedule a follow-up to review your results and offer guidance on how to apply the findings to your daily routine.
Food sensitivities can contribute to many symptoms, including bloating, fatigue, headaches, joint pain, skin issues, mood disturbances, and difficulty losing weight. These symptoms often appear gradually and can be hard to trace without proper testing.
In many cases, yes. While coverage may vary depending on your provider and plan, our administrative team will work with you to verify any insurance benefits before your test is scheduled.
Yes. There’s no need to eliminate any foods from your diet before testing unless instructed otherwise by your provider. Eating your usual meals can help the test more accurately reflect your sensitivities.
An elimination diet can be helpful, but it is often time-consuming and challenging to do accurately without guidance. The ALCAT test provides a scientific analysis of your blood response to specific substances, offering a much faster and more reliable way to identify problem foods.
After reviewing your results with our provider, you’ll receive personalized recommendations for dietary and lifestyle changes. Ongoing support is available to help you make those changes gradually and effectively.
Yes. The test is suitable for children, particularly those with unexplained digestive issues, behavioral concerns, or skin conditions. Pediatric testing should be discussed with your child’s healthcare provider.
While food sensitivities don’t directly cause infections, they can weaken the immune system over time by contributing to chronic inflammation. Identifying and avoiding these triggers through testing may help reduce the overall inflammatory burden on your body, potentially improving immune function and lowering your susceptibility to recurring infections.
The success of food sensitivity testing depends on your commitment to applying the results. For many patients, the turning point comes when they begin following a targeted elimination plan based on their test results. This personalized approach can lead to noticeable improvements in digestion, energy, skin health, and even mood, especially when combined with professional guidance and long-term lifestyle adjustments.
Dr. Gary L. Yen is Board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has a sub-specialty in Pain Medicine. Dr. Yen grew up in Long Island, NY and received his medical degree from Ross University. He completed his internship in Internal Medicine at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY and performed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Stony Brook University, where he was chief resident.
Dr. Yen completed a pain management fellowship at RehabNY in Buffalo, NY, during which he served as the assistant athletic trainer to the Buffalo Bison, the Minor League AAA baseball team for the Cleveland Indians, as well as the Niagara University men’s and women’s collegiate hockey team.
The former chairman of the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Division of the Pain Management Department at CentraState Medical Center, Dr. Yen specializes in the non-operative treatment of a variety of joint, muscular, nerve, skeletal, spine and sports related injuries. He treats acute and chronic pain syndromes and performs electrodiagnostic studies. Dr. Yen also performs variety of interventional pain procedures and minimally invasive spine surgery for the relief of pain. He utilizes conservative treatments such as physical therapy, chiropractic care and acupuncture in conjunction with other procedures to enhance long term benefits. Dr. Yen believes in working with patients to create individual treatment plans.
When not attending to his patients, Dr. Yen likes to play golf, cook, and has a passion for playing the saxophone and piano. He is the proud father of two boys.
