High Immunoglobulin E (IgE)

Hoogland supports a diverse range of guests in improving their overall health and well-being.

One category of client we often see is those who, after doing many expensive tests and trying a range of interventions, still feel terrible.

What amazes me is how often a simple, relatively inexpensive blood test that could explain a huge range of overlapping symptoms, is simply never done: the serum IgE test.

People have been to gastroenterologists for every probe under the sun, spent time with psychiatrists, neurologists, endocrinologists, sleep experts, had scans, taken medication and more. Yet through this long, expensive process, no one thought to check for this increasingly common immune dysfunction.

What makes it worse is that so many desperate people start taking a range of supplements, which only makes the whole situation worse.

High Immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels indicate an overactive immune response, often linked to allergic reactions, autoimmune conditions, or rare disorders like Hyper-IgE Syndrome (HIES) — but symptoms can be surprisingly varied.

Among our guests with a long history of uncertain diagnoses and decades of explorative testing, we find a surprisingly high percentage have elevated IgE levels.

Varied Symptoms of High IgE

One of the reasons IgE testing is often overlooked in specialist medical settings is that elevated IgE can manifest in diverse, overlapping ways.

These symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe and can affect every part of the body and mind.

Skin: Eczema, pruritic wheals, dermatitis, or recurrent abscesses.
Respiratory: Asthma, wheezing, or bronchial hyperresponsiveness due to airway inflammation.
Gastrointestinal: Food sensitivities, irritable bowel syndrome, or bloating from IgE-mediated reactions.
Infections: Recurrent bacterial (skin or lung) or fungal infections.
Neurological: Cognitive impairment, headaches, or lightheadedness from chronic inflammation or environmental toxin exposure, which can disrupt neurotransmitter function.
Orthostatic intolerance: Symptoms such as fainting or nausea when standing, seen in related conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome.
Mood disorders: Anxiety or depression from chronic inflammation, which affects neurotransmitter balance.
Fatigue: Emotional and physical exhaustion due to exercise intolerance or toxin-related mitochondrial dysfunction.
Poor stress response: Chronic illness amplifies stress, which can further elevate IgE by weakening immune regulation.

Why Is High IgE Often Misdiagnosed?

High IgE is frequently misdiagnosed due to symptom overlap, complex triggers, and, very often, a focus on identifying the cause of the allergy rather than measuring the underlying ‘allergy tendency’.

Symptom overlap: Symptoms like fatigue, GI issues, or neurological complaints mimic conditions such as CFS, fibromyalgia, or psychological disorders.
Complex triggers: High IgE can stem from allergies, HIES, or environmental triggers — often requiring specialised testing, such as a serum IgE level, which isn’t done routinely.
Focus on IgE-mediated allergies: Specialists may test for IgE-related food allergies, but overlook IgG-mediated sensitivities or non-allergic causes of high IgE.

What Can Make IgE Levels Worse?

Certain foods, supplements, medication, and environmental pollutants can all make IgE levels worse.

High histamine foods: These can trigger inflammation, both directly and indirectly elevating IgE in susceptible individuals. These foods include avocado, strawberries, pineapples, fermented foods, certain alcoholic beverages, cured meats, aged cheese, spinach, walnuts, peanuts, and others. This doesn’t mean these types of food need to be avoided entirely. Rather, they usually just need to be paired with low-histamine foods such as sprouts, carrots, figs, guava, butter, oats, and pasta.
High-glycemic foods: Rapid blood sugar spikes promote inflammation, worsening IgE-related conditions.
Processed foods: Trans fats, emulsifiers, and additives — such as those found in margarine and processed meats — increase systemic inflammation.
Supplements: Supplements in general are linked to increased inflammation, digestive discomfort, microbial dysbiosis, and more. They should be taken in the same way as medication — after a proper diagnosis, and with appropriate monitoring.
Medication: Corticosteroids, contraceptives, antibiotics, glucocorticoids, certain anti-inflammatories, statins, and drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions can all increase IgE production.
Environmental pollutants: Toxins like mercury, BPA, and glyphosate disrupt immune function, impair mitochondria, and elevate IgE. Airborne toxins such as dioxins in air pollution also contribute to chronic inflammation and raised IgE levels.

These factors exacerbate IgE by promoting inflammation, disrupting gut health, or directly stimulating immune overactivity.

How Can Hoogland Health Hydro Help?

We have been including IgE testing in our comprehensive blood panels for decades. It is also available as an optional add-on to the mini-assessment.

Our lifestyle-health-focused treatment at Hoogland is beneficial for all the symptoms mentioned above — whether they are caused by elevated IgE or not.

Having a clear diagnosis is incredibly valuable. When we test IgE levels and track changes, we can closely monitor and measure improvement.

Hoogland Health Hydro offers medically supervised water-fasting, hydrotherapy, and lifestyle interventions that may help manage high IgE by reducing inflammation and resetting immune function.

Dr André Kruger — also known as The Fast Doctor — has been instrumental in shaping Hoogland’s fasting and immune health approach. With decades of clinical experience and a pioneering role in therapeutic fasting, he brings depth, compassion, and science-backed insight to every guest consultation.

The treatments at Hoogland that help reduce IgE overproduction include:

Therapeutic Water-Fasting: Fasting reduces systemic inflammation by lowering insulin, promoting autophagy (cellular clean-up), and resetting gut microbiota. This may decrease IgE production by calming immune overactivity. Studies show fasting improves neurological conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiometabolic markers — all of which may indirectly reduce IgE-driven inflammation.
Intermittent Fasting (IF) and Time-Restricted Eating: IF reduces inflammation, improves insulin sensitivity, and supports gut health — potentially lowering IgE by reducing immune triggers. However, IF requires personalisation, as overly restrictive eating may stress the body and raise IgE in sensitive individuals.
Whole-food, anti-inflammatory and/or low-histamine diet: Dietary approaches need to be tailored. No two people have the same dietary requirements or triggers.
Hydrotherapy cycle: Alternating exercise, massage, heat, cold, and rest improves circulation and lymphatic drainage, potentially reducing inflammation and IgE-related symptoms like headaches or nausea.
Lifestyle interventions: Appropriate stress management techniques, tailor-made exercise (for irisin and resolvins), meditation, and massage (for oxytocin) all help to manage inflammation and IgE production.

There is no place for it as part of any diet, as you cannot out-supplement a bad lifestyle.