I used to be able to eat anything I wanted. And I mean ANYTHING. I’d eat giant baskets of buttery microwave popcorn mixed with Cheetos Puffs and salted peanuts. I would put away almost an entire large pizza by myself. A “Love It” sized Coldstone creation was no match for the likes of me.
But lately I’ve begun to notice my body giving up on trying to process certain foods. I always had issues with dairy, but they seem to have gotten much worse over the years – now I don’t dare touch ice cream, and really should avoid pizza too but I love it too much. And a night of beer AND pizza? Forget about it. I always notice that when I go back to a more “normal” diet after a few months of bodybuilding competition prep, my stomach rebels.
Earlier this summer, I tried out an elimination diet to see what was causing my digestive problems, and I was pretty certain that I’d narrowed it down to gluten and dairy. The less of each of those things I eat, the better I feel. Then, this month I tried out a food sensitivity blood test through EverlyWell and the results confirmed my suspicions – my body hates me. Just kidding, but the test did help me pinpoint what foods I am reactive to and should be eating minimally or not at all.
EverlyWell kits arrive in the mail in a compact box with everything you need to complete the blood test.
It’s easy to prick your finger with the provided lancets and you can totally do it yourself, but I freaked out and made my mom come over to help. I’m such a baby.
Mom prepping my finger with the included alcohol pad while I freak out
Since I was trying out two tests, the Food Sensitivity test and the Thyroid and Metabolism test, I just pricked my finger one time and squeezed out droplets of blood (ew!) for both tests at once.
MY ACTUAL BLOOD OMG
All I had to do was let the blood dry, pop the collection devices in their respective pre-paid envelopes, and put them in the mail! Then, I waited a week or so for my results to be ready. Once they were ready, I received an email with a link to log into my EverlyWell account and view them!
While my thyroid test came back totally normal, my food sensitivity results were more interesting. Turns out, I have a number of foods that I am reactive to, including cows’ milk, barley, gluten, and wheat. While EverlyWell points out that reactivity doesn’t necessarily equal symptoms, for me it has, so it was kind of relieving to see my experiences validated like this.
The higher the circle is filled, the more reactive I am to that food.
I won’t go into the other test I took – the Thyroid and Metabolism test – because my results came back completely normal for all three measures, but it was just as simple to take and send in as the Food Sensitivity test!
My experience with these EverlyWell at-home tests was simple and affirmed some things I had suspected were causing my digestive issues. I would highly recommend the Food Sensitivity test to someone who is looking for confirmation like I was, or who is unsure what’s bothering their digestion and wants to know where to begin with a food elimination diet.
Thanks EverlyWell for sponsoring this post and offering a discount for readers! With code EVERLY10, Eat Move Make readers can get the tests of your choice for 10% off from EverlyWell.com.
