My First Food Sensitivity Test

In June, I had my second surgery for endometriosis. Afterwards, my doctor recommended I consider taking an at-home food sensitivity test to see if diet changes could help reduce some of my inflammation and symptoms. I ordered the Everlywell food sensitivity test, which measures your immune system’s IgG antibody reactivity to 96 common foods. While the test doesn’t determine food allergies, lactose intolerance or celiac disease, it does identify foods with a higher-than-normal reactivity level that could be good candidates for an elimination diet. 

For almost a month, the test kit sat untouched on my kitchen counter. I couldn’t imagine life without cheese or pasta. What if dairy products were the root of my 30+ years of health issues? Would I even have the will to live without ice cream?

When I finally found the courage to open the box and read the instructions, the next obstacle was the mental hurdle of poking myself and collecting enough blood for the sample. Of course, the whole process is actually quite simple if you can avoid the mental anguish I put myself through. 

​After I filled the sample card with droplets of blood, it was ready to send off in a little biohazard bag to the lab. Three days later, I received an email with my test results.

What I Learned from my Food Sensitivity Test

Despite all the stress this process caused me, I couldn’t be more glad that I bit the bullet and took the test. To my great relief, I scored fairly low on sensitivity to all dairy products. And I was surprised to learn that I didn’t show a high reactivity to any of the foods that were tested. 

In addition to a printable PDF that can be given to your doctor or added to your medical documents, Everlywell provides an easy-to-navigate online breakdown of the foods identified as high, moderate and mild reactivity on a scale of 0-255. The description of each food even includes a list of hidden sources that you may not be aware of and potential substitutes for a modified diet. For example, my test results showed a mild sensitivity to almonds; Everlywell suggests pumpkin seeds as a substitute and warns me about gluten-free products, which often contain almond flour. 

Some of the foods that showed moderate reactivity included cashews, peanuts, yeast and wheat. My gluten reactivity was fairly low – suggesting that I’m more sensitive to the other proteins found in wheat. Another fun fact I learned from Everlywell: many vegan cheeses are made with cashews. So I’ll be sticking to my beloved dairy products for the time being!

Everlywell offers a variety of at-home tests for everything from food sensitivity and metabolism to fertility, allergy and even Lyme disease tests. Learn more and get 15% off any test at https://refer.everlywell.com/s/morehartm.