You all know by now that I am all about aiming for a balanced life. One day I’m eating super clean and another I’m indulging in a cupcake. I can’t live life overly restricted. For me, enjoying myself is all about balancing it out and knowing exactly how certain foods affect me. My husband and I have been talking about this more and more lately as we refine our diets and try to live the most balanced life we can. Last week we did an at home test to find out how each of our body’s sensitivity to many of the foods we eat and the impact our DNA may have on our ability to digest certain foods and nutrients. Today, I’m sharing about the EverlyWell at home food sensitivity test including our results, which we were both surprised about. I’m also sharing a discount code at the end of this post!

AT HOME FOOD SENSITIVITY TEST

WHAT WE EAT MATTERS

I do a few Whole 30 challenges a year, usually one in January and one in August. I like to reset and remind myself that when I eat good, I feel good. It all started for me by wanting to know how certain food groups affect me. I just wrapped up my eleventh Whole 30 last week and as I was going through this one I got to thinking about food even more and how much it truly affects us. Different foods affect all of us so differently!

Even foods that may be considered ‘healthy’ may still leave us feeling less than our best afterwards. Whether it’s nightshades leaving you inflamed, legumes leaving you bloated or gassy, or pineapple leaving your mouth burning, I believe it’s important to understand the relationship between food and how you feel– both physically and mentally.

In talking through how we’ve noticed some foods affecting us,  my husband and I decided we wanted to do testing to figure out just what foods we may be sensitive to, and how much. Rather than randomly eliminating foods over many months and trying to figure out your change in symptoms (like in the Whole 30), you can have a directed elimination plan. An antibody IgG immune response can offer guidance on what foods may be the best to eliminate temporarily, then complete an add back challenge to identify symptom producing foods

I’ve noticed things on my own through elimination diets, but I love having cold, hard facts! That must be the Psychology side of me wanting to see the data in black and white. I can take what I’ve learned on my own combined with scientific results and come up with the best plan for me.

This test is not a food allergy test, which measures severe allergies that can be life threatening conditions. Food allergy tests measure IgE antibodies and can’t be currently taken at home. This test also cannot diagnose Celiac Disease.

EVERLY WELL

When we were looking for options to do food sensitivity tests, we found EverlyWell. EverlyWell is a company who does at home health tests.They have over thirty at home health kits that include everything from fertility to thyroid to women/men’s wellness and more. The tests offer simple sample collection, free shipping, and physician-reviewed results and insights sent to you (online so you can access anywhere) in just a few days.

We chose to do this because it didn’t require an appointment at a doctor’s office, making it much more convenient. Also, we wanted results that were available quickly and that we could access any time on the go. We decided to do the food sensitivity test for now, but are definitely interested in other tests. I personally want to do the metabolism test and the women’s health test.

AT HOME TESTING

EverlyWell sends you the kit you order with everything you need to be able to do the test at home including what you need to prep and even a shipping bag with a label for you to send your results in. The test is a blood test so you do have to prick your finger, but it was simple and didn’t hurt. I probably took us about fifteen minutes start to finish to read through everything and finish up our samples. Super simple!

QUICK RESULTS

A few days after you send off your samples, you’ll receive a message from EverlyWell saying your results are ready. You can then access your results on whatever device you want.

Your results may show that you have an elevated reactivity to a food that you do not consume, which could be the result of cross reactivity to other substances you are exposed to in the environment or as a result of ingesting ingredients that you did not realize were actually in a food (for example, in a processed food). This is SO interesting to me. Things we didn’t know were in things or even want to eat can end up in our food, so it’s important to know how certain things affect you so you can be more cautious when assessing ingredients and avoid things that may negatively impact you.

The test results won’t just tell you that a certain food group affects you. It’s giving you specifics. So, it won’t just tell you that you’re sensitive to dairy. It breaks dairy down into yogurt, milk, and different cheeses. You will also be given suggestions about what to do next. While reactivity does not always mean you have negative symptoms, it can help prioritize the foods selected for a trial elimination diet (i.e. the Whole 30).

Once you have your test results, you can try an elimination diet of your choosing until you achieve the right balance of minimizing your symptoms while maintaining a lifestyle that you enjoy. You may not stop eating certain foods (I just can’t quit cheese, but I don’t mind avoiding milk), but knowing your reactivity might lead to adjustments in how much or frequently you eat them!

FAQS

• How long does it take? Once your order is complete, your package will be shipped out of the warehouse within two business days and you will receive the order within three to five business days. Once the sample reaches the lab, results will be available online within five business days.
• At home testing? Is that accurate? EverlyWell partners with some of the most prominent CLIA-certified labs in the country that conduct specialty testing. These labs perform regular quality assurance testing and are the same labs many physicians use to perform their testing.
• How much does it cost? The test costs vary, but we found them to be very affordable, especially in comparison to many of the price ranges we found at doctor offices. The food sensitivity test is $199.

OUR RESULTS

We actually weren’t too shocked by our results. Neither of us had any severe sensitivities, which is great news!

My results showed that I have moderate sensitivity to gluten and wheat. I suspected this already, because if I eat a lot of gluten, I swell up. My lips particularly swell and look noticeably different after I eat a lot of gluten, so I could only imagine the effects on my entire body from the inside out. I had mild reactivity to yogurt, cow’s milk, bran, baker’s yeast, barley, brewers yeast, soybean, mushroom, black tea, sesame, safflower, cheddar cheese, coconut, green beans, white potatoes, shrimp, green peas, egg whites, lobster, almond, cinnamon and cantaloupe. I had mild sensitivity to some other foods, too but those all had a reactivity level under 0.2 for me.

Charles’s results showed no moderate sensitivities. The ‘guys can eat whatever they want’ thing is really true in our relationship! Haha. He had mild sensitivities over 0.2 for oats, bran, baker’s yeast, cheddar cheese, brewers yeast, wheat, barley, sweet potato, black pepper, pineapple, almond, egg white, cow’s milk, sesame, and gluten. It’s so interesting to see what we have in common. He has been eating oats almost every day lately, so it will be interesting to see if he notices any effects after cutting it out for awhile and then adding it back in.

Reactivity levels let you know where the foods fall for you. For example, a mild reactivity food (or a class 1) may be sources of unwanted symptoms despite their lower reactivity level. It’s helpful to know all of these foods and how they could be affecting me, even if it isn’t bringing on more severe symptoms.

COUPON CODE

If you are interested in trying a food sensitivity test, or any of the awesome at-home tests they have available on EverlyWell, you can save with my code. Get 15% off any EverlyWell test with my code: ALOPROFILE

I hope you all found this as interesting as we did! We loved being able to do this from the convenience of our own home and definitely plan on doing more tests from EverlyWell, soon. Knowledge is power, so learning more about ourselves and our health is really important to us. We’re so glad there are so many things available to us, like this test, to help us!

Photos by Vanessa Christina Photography

Thank you so much to EverlyWell for partnering on this post. My husband and I were going to purchase their test(s) anyways and I reached out to propose an organic collaboration. Sponsored posts like these help make A Lo Profile possible. As always, all opinions are my own.