My EverlyWell Food Sensitivity Test Results + Experience!
This post reviews my experience with the EverlyWell Food Sensitivity Test, which tests for an inflammatory response to 96 common foods! This post is sponsored by EverlyWell. Use code BAKERITA for 15% off!
If you hang around my blog and make my recipes, you probably have some dietary restrictions of your own or family members who do – that’s certainly how I got into this world of healthier eating and baking! My sister and my dad are both gluten-free, like me, and my dad and I are both dairy-free as well. None of us react well to those foods and have discovered how they affect us through elimination diets over the years.
While I’ve always known intuitively that my body doesn’t respond well to those foods, I never actually had a lab test to prove it. So when I saw EverlyWell on Shark Tank a few months ago, I immediately wanted to try it out. EverlyWell is a convenient at-home, lab-tested health test company with a wide variety of health-related tests, including a food sensitivity test.
That’s the one that immediately piqued my interest – I was so curious to see which foods my body reacts negatively to. They also have tests for thyroid, metabolism, heart health, STDs, comprehensive men’s and women’s health tests, and so many others. They send the test right to your door so you can take them at your convenience, send the test back, and get your results back within 5 days. Much more convenient than going to the doctor.
Back to the food sensitivity test that I took – it measures your body’s IgG immune response to 96 common foods. IgG antibodies provide long-term resistance to infections and they are created as a natural response in your body to defend against food allergens, which are considered pathogens in your body. IgG antibodies are only one kind of antibody though, so you can miss other food sensitivities that might have a different antibody reaction.
In the case of this Food Sensitivity test, your results will tell you how reactive your IgG antibodies are to 96 foods commonly found in western diets. It classifies them into four classes – Class 0 being no reactivity, and Class 3 being high reactivity. While it’s not completely all-encompassing, it’s a good way to see which foods your body is sensitive to.
Taking the test is so simple. It comes in the mail with simple instructions. There’s a little finger-poker thing to get some blood out of your finger, a card to put your blood drops on, a biohazard bag to put the card in, along with gauze, band-aids, and an alcohol pad to sterilize your finger with.
Essentially all you have to do is drink some water before your test, shake out your hand to increase blood flow, sterilize your finger, give yourself a poke (I didn’t find it to hurt very badly at all), and drip 5 drops of blood from your finger onto the provided card. Let it dry, put the card in the bag, and send it off. Much easier than going to the doctor!
My friend/photographer who took these photos, Tiffany, is NOT a big fan of blood, and she was fine with the whole situation – it’s not gross or super bloody or anything. Just a couple drops, and then you get all bandaged up!
5 days later, an email with your test results will drop into your inbox. It comes in a super convenient list, showing which sensitivities you have at each level. Turns out, none of my sensitivities are very bad, but I did have 13 mild sensitivities, whereas the other 83 foods are low reactivity.
It also turns out I did a pretty good job figuring out my own sensitivities. Some of the foods that came up in the mild sensitivities are foods I’ve already had cut out of my diet – like cheddar cheese, cow’s milk, mozzarella cheese, gluten, cottage cheese, wheat, and coffee (except my mushroom coffee…can’t help myself with that!). There were a few surprises too – sunflower seeds, pineapple (SAD), bran, scallops, codfish, and grapes. The grape one initially surprised me…but then I realized I’ve ALWAYS had a hard time drinking wine because it would give me a major headache, so I guess it doesn’t really surprise me.
That being said, it was amazing to finally see some confirmation of my dietary suspicions. Beyond just telling you what you’re sensitive too, they also create a PDF customized to you (and one for your doctor, too) full of information about each food and your level of reactivity to it. It notes on here that if you’ve had something cut out of your diet for more than a month, you’re not likely to show higher than a low reactivity to it.
Since I haven’t had milk, cheese, and gluten for a while before taking the test, it’s possible my body is more sensitive to it than the test shows, just because I haven’t had it in my body, so the antibodies to “fight it” haven’t been created recently. If you eat all the things, it will likely show the correct levels of sensitivity to the foods. However, it’s also important to note that this test only tests for 96 foods, and there are thousands and thousands of foods out there, so it’s not an all-encompassing food sensitivity test. It’s certainly a good place to start, though!
I hope this helped answer any and all of your questions about EverlyWell! Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments below and I’ll do my best to get them answered ASAP!
If you’re wanting to try any of their tests (not just the Food Sensitivity Test I took here) you can use the code BAKERITA for 15% OFF!
Sources:
- https://www.everlywell.com/products/food-sensitivity/
- https://thewholejourney.com/differences-between-ige-and-igg-testing-for-allergies-and-sensitivities/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5004213/
