I Took a Food Sensitivity Test and Apparently, I’m Eating All Wrong.
Lipton Publicity provided me with a complimentary testing kit in exchange for my review. All opinions are 100% my own.
At-home food intolerance tests are all abuzz these days. So when the opportunity to try one out from YorkTest Laboratories came my way, I said yes right away!
Here is everything you need to know about this food
What is a The YorkTest® Laboratories Food & Drink Scan Intolerance Test?
The YorkTest® Laboratories Food & Drink Scan Intolerance Test is a simple at-home blood kit to test for food intolerances.
This kit will test 208 food and drink ingredients including popular triggers like gluten, dairy and eggs and even smaller ones like specific wine grapes!
NOTE: A food intolerance test is NOT a food allergy test.
This kit will test for food sensitivities and your body’s
Basically, you’re eating something your body doesn’t love, which can lead to inflammation and a host of other issues.
If you’ve been struggling with any of these problems, a food intolerance test may be something you’re interested in trying.
Why I Took an At-Home Food Sensitivity Test
To be honest, I haven’t been struggling with the problems above. But I did have some skin issues recently and have been wondering if they’re related to food.
My husband also received a test and he has had some of those problems, so I was really interested to see what his results would be, and how changing his diet might help him.
How to Take the At-Home Food Intolerance Test by York Laboratories
When the kit arrived I let it sit on my counter for a few days because I was a bit nervous to stab myself for the blood sample required.
I was overdramatic. It was SO easy to do!
To be honest, it was virtually painless and took a few minutes to complete.
TIP: Make sure you are well-hydrated. I constantly drink water all day so I easily got enough blood for my sample. My husband, on the other hand, subsists on coffee all day long and had to do two pricks in order to get enough for his sample.
Here’s a video from York showing how easy it is to do!
Once you’re done, just send it back and your results get emailed to you. You then get a 30-minute consultation with a nutritionist to go over your results with you and answer any questions you may have.
Our Food Intolerance Results
My husband turned out to react to the items I suspected: wheat and mildly gluten. He had about 5 reactions total, but four were mild (on the yellow line) and only one was severe (red line) egg whites.
Me, on the other hand…oh my goodness.
I reacted to 19 THINGS!!!
19!
To be honest, I was quite shocked by these results. When I spoke with the nutritionist, she also said she was surprised I reacted to so many things yet didn’t have symptoms.
She explained that the results are listed in order of your reaction. So from top to bottom is what you reacted to MOST and what you reacted to the least.
Here are my results from my at-home food intolerance test:
What the Nutritionist Said
To get the most out of your test, the nutritionist recommends getting rid of all of your reactions for 6-9 weeks and then re-introducing things back into your diet a bit at a time to try and identify any potential triggers.
I told her right away that 19 items is a bit, well, restrictive. Some I have had no problem with, I rarely eat red meat anyway. Others, well, I am not keen on giving up entirely.
She recommended just paring down on the yellow items. Chicken, for example, is a regular rotation around here. So she said to just keep it to every 3 days or so, and not every day. That seemed fair to me.
I decided to cut out:
- Gluten
- Red meat
- Eggs
- Wheat
- Coconut
- Yeast
I do not drink cow’s milk since I already know I am lactose intolerant, but I am having a hard time cutting back on cheese as I sprinkle it on so many things I cook!
This diet means I can’t eat breakfast. No cow’s milk, soy milk, goat’s milk or even almond milk. No eggs, no cereal. No toast and cheese. So basically, I either have a green/fruit smoothie or skip breakfast altogether.
I’m also having trouble cutting out soy. I found that one of the easiest ways to embrace a dairy-free gluten-free diet is with Vietnamese food as they have a lot of light dishes and use rice noodles. But, I’m sure there’s soy!
RELATED: I Took an At-Home Beauty DNA Test to See How I Might Age
How I’m Feeling After Taking the Test
Honestly, I didn’t think I had any issues before taking this food sensitivity test. But, well, I do feel better.
I’m significantly less bloated and have less digestive issues. My skin looks better too.
Although I have to admit, I’m not sure if it’s a gluten reaction or less bloating from staying away from white, refined pasta (which I LOVE!!!!!). Because really, we all react to fluffy white pasta. I feel bloated and tired just thinking about it!
But it has definitely encouraged me to continue to abstain from these items for the next few weeks to see what happens.
SIDE NOTE: I did make it my mission to find an amazing gluten-free pasta, and such a thing DOES exist!!! I ordered this one on Amazon and you guys, it’s the real deal. Totally light and everyone likes it!!
Do At-Home Food Sensitivity Tests Really Work?
The journalist in me can’t write a story like this without questioning the big elephant in the room: What’s the research and science behind this? Are these tests legit?
Well, many researchers say no. In fact, The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology says this:
Due to the lack of evidence to support its use, many organizations, including the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology have recommended against using IgG testing to diagnose food allergies or food intolerances / sensitivities.
For me though, the proof is in the pudding. If you eliminate something from your diet, and you feel better, well, that’s good enough for me.
In fact, a regular elimination diet will lead you down this same path. I never loved the idea of an elimination diet just for the sake of it, so using a test like this helps me decide what to focus on eliminating.
Final Thoughts
If you’re having issues that you suspect may be related to food, I would recommend checking this test out. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose!
If you’re interested in learning more or trying this out for yourself, you can get a York Test here. Use Code SUMMER30 for 30% off right now!
And yes, they do ship to the United States.
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