EverlyWell Food Sensitivity At Home Testing & My Results!
July 22, 2016 -
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Happy Friday, friends! A BLOG POST!? Can you believe it?! ha, it’s been a while miss blog! My summer is one of my busiest times as a trainer PLUS this summer also included our WEDDING!
This will be a whole post in itself… <3
Today I wanted to share with you my experience with the EverlyWell Food Sensitivity Test that I participated in alongside my friends at FitApproach.
My Story
Years ago I struggled with horrible eczema and IBS issues which led us to looking for tests to figure out what was going on internally.
When it comes to most skin & digestive issues — there is usually something going on within us that is causing this issue.
After years of using topical treatments for my skin issues…I got a food test and found that I had a HIGH intolerance to almonds. I was advised to take them out of my diet for 9 months before cycling them back in to see how my body reacted.
Since then (years ago now), my eczema has COMPLETELY cleared and I can now eat almonds without much issue.
I find that “overdoing” any type of food usually leads to a minor eczema breakout which I know then I have to switch things up.
When FitApproach had the opportunity for us to partner with EverlyWell and take a food sensitivity test, I was curious to see how my results would come back in as I no longer deal with bad eczema and my digestive issues have been GREATLY improved by taking probiotics, digestive enzymes, and keeping a nice balance of all foods in my diet.
The Test
The test was super simple to do. It’s an AT HOME test that you do yourself and then send in your results in an already paid for envelope.
You order one of our kits online, it arrives to your home in two business days, you collect your sample and return it via prepaid mail to one of our fully-certified partner laboratories.
A board-certified physician in your state will review and validate your results before you get them. EverlyWell provides a complete, easy-to-read results report online in just a few days.
These comprehensive test kits measure key biomarkers through dried blood spot, urine or saliva samples that are collected in the comfort of your home.
Now..I’m not the best with blood — especially doing it myself. BUT this was a super easy prick of the finger that didn’t hurt and then you just let the little droplets fall onto the circles provided in your testing card.
It truly wasn’t that bad of an experience at all because they give you everything you need to do it in a sanitized fashion.
About Food Sensitivity
Or maybe you’re pretty sure what foods don’t agree with your body and you just need some concrete data to support those suspicions.
Our Food Sensitivity tests measure your body’s immune response to 96 foods that are commonly found in western diets.
Why is your body’s immune response significant? Great question. Your body’s immune system is responsible for detecting and attacking threats and is incredibly effective at doing so.
Sometimes your body isn’t the best at figuring out what’s a threat and what’s not and regardless if it is or not, it does it’s best to mount an offensive.
Many times food can incorrectly trigger an immune response which manifests itself in physical symptoms such as:
- Acne
- Eczema
- Dry and itchy skin
- Bloating
- Fatigue
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Joint pain
- Migraines
- Respiratory issues
What will my results tell me?
Your results will tell you how many IgG antibodies are in your blood relative to 96 foods commonly found in western diets.
Each food will have a rating of Class 0 (no reactivity) all the way to Class 3 (Extremely reactive).
What guidance will I get
along with my results?
EverlyWell will provide tailored advice about what to do next. With food sensitivity, we recommend progressively eliminating your most reactive foods first until you achieve the right balance of minimizing your symptoms while maintaining a lifestyle that you enjoy.
We don’t expect you to stop eating ice cream forever, but knowing you’re reactive to it might change when you choose to eat it (not on a first date).
This test is a great place to start if you want to dig into your body’s relationship with food and much more affordable than comparable tests.
MY RESULTS
Since I got a similar testing done years ago with (which was honestly 4x the price of this one — aka this one is SUPER affordable) I had reaction to almonds & green beans.
I was happy to see that I didn’t have any reaction to almonds this time around and green beans were still a “mild” reaction for me.
- I had a MILD reaction to green beans, eggplant, & mushrooms. Now, I eat mushrooms pretty reguluary and don’t feel any issues. When I do eat eggplant I do get a slight itchy tongue which could make sense.
- I was interested to see the results here for the grains as in the past I was told to take a break from gluten. As it says, there are “Mild” reactions to gluten, bran, wheat, rye, brown rice, & oats. Being that they are MILD and I honestly do not notice any differences in my skin or digestion when I eat these foods — I will keep them in my diet and just not “over-do” and keep a good balance of all foods.
- I wasn’t too surprised to see coconut as a mild reactor here as I have noticed when I “overdo” coconut that my eczema slightly flares up but I’ve yet to notice anything whenever I eat grapefruit or watermelon so again, I’ll continue to balance them into my eats.
Once you get your results, it’s good to make a plan to see which foods you may want to avoid and write down if your symptoms change over time.
I personally think that at-home test is SUPER convenient, if you can handle the minimal blood required, & the results came back very quickly.
EverlyWell is offering a discount code for you all by using “YOURBESTFOODS” at checkout for 15% off the kit.
Thank you FitApproach & EveryWell for partnering for a review – I think this will really be helpful for people who think they may have food sensitivities and are looking for an affordable approach.
You can watch this VIDEO here for more information about the testing!
Have an awesome day & be true to you,
xo Kasey