• YorkTest Food Intolerance Test Results
  • YorkTest Food Intolerance Test Results

    I’ve experimented with my diet quite a bit. A few years ago I gave up cow’s milk in favour of almond and soy milk after reading some disturbing facts and for the whole of January last year I quit sugar, although I soon lost my way with that one. I’ve also tried going low carb and high protein, but I’ve never definitively known what I should or should not be eating.

    Recently I’ve suffered with bloating and a sluggish digestion and after reading Clean Gut by Alejandro Junger I knew it must be something in my diet causing it, but I didn’t know what. I suspected dairy and gluten might be an issue as my symptoms played up slightly after I ate them, but I wasn’t sure it was enough to cut them out completely. After all, doctors warn that cutting out gluten unnecessarily could be harmful.

    Then along came YorkTest Laboratories and their Food & Drink Intolerance Test that you do in the comfort of your own home. I am super annoyed at myself as I took step by step pictures of myself taking the test and then lost my camera’s memory card somewhere between my Mum’s house, mine or my boyfriend’s house. I wanted to show just how easy the test is, but alas, my memory card had other ideas! I’ll just have to try to describe the process to you.

    *I was gifted an intolerance test in exchange for my honest opinion. Read my disclaimer for more info.

    My experience with the YorkTest food intolerance test and my results | Simply Cantara - a healthy lifestyle blog

    The Testing Process

    The test arrives in a discreet package that can easily fit through the letterbox. Inside the box is an instructional sheet, an envelope for you to send the test back to the laboratories, a black marker pen, an antiseptic wipe, two finger pricks and a cotton swab and container. Before you start, you need to write your name on the container then wash your hands thoroughly and wipe your fingers with the antiseptic wipe. Next, grab the finger prick and literally prick your finger. I didn’t feel any pain at all, it was so quick and easy. Gently squeeze your finger to produce blood and soak it up with the cotton swab before placing the swab in the container. That’s it! It was over in 5 minutes, then I popped it back in the post and waited patiently for my results. So, what were my results?

    My Test Results

    My results arrived quite quickly and again, in a discreet envelope. The Food & Drink Scan tests against reactions to 158 foods and drinks. As well as showing which foods you react to, you get a guide book explaining what to do going forward, a food & drink diary to track your progress as well as a 30 minute phone call to one of YorkTest’s Nutritional Therapists. The results are shown in a traffic light style, red showing foods you’ve reacted to, yellow showing a borderline reaction from and green showed no reaction.

    My red reactions (I should eliminate) were:
    Yeast, Egg whites, Hops and Grape (Chardonnay)

    My borderline reactions (I may or may not benefit from eliminating) were:
    Cows Milk, Crustacean Mix, Egg Yolk and Grape (Shiraz)

    I’d suspected I was sensitive to gluten, but I’m actually intolerant to yeast which I feel is better. Unfortunately, yeast is in all the yummy naughty foods like muffins, cakes, croissants, breads but also quorn and stock cubes. When I’m eating clean I usually cut these foods out, but now I’ll have to cut out wholemeal bread and check the ingredients labels on the stock cubes I use. Egg whites and egg yolk was a shock to me as I love eggs and never suspected I had a problem with them, I must confess I’ll be sad to give up eggs! Hops and Crustacean Mix (crab, lobster, prawn/shrimp) I’m not too bothered about as I hate beer and shellfish so they’re not a part of my diet. I was surprised Cows Milk wasn’t a red reaction for me as that is something I’d already noticed has a negative effect on me. Although I don’t drink cows milk, I do eat cheese, yogurt and have whey protein, so I will need to find alternatives for these. I have mixed feelings about Chardonnay & Shiraz as I rarely drink but when I do I have no idea what type of wine I drink.

    What’s Next?

    I’m going to give up all of my reactions, red and yellow for 6 weeks and monitor how I get on. I’m not sure I can live forever without eggs so I am keen to reintroduce them after 6 weeks to see how I react then and if I can stand to eat them again. It’s going to be tough, so bare with me. I’ll be starting in February and I can’t wait for my bloating to disappear and digestion to improve, fingers crossed!


    Have you had a food intolerance test, or suspected you may be intolerant to something? Have you ever cut out a food and found your symptoms have improved? Let me know in the comments below.


     

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    I was gifted an intolerance test in exchange for my honest opinion. Read my disclaimer for more info.

    21 Comments

    1. Cue Khan
      January 26, 2015 / 12:36 pm

      Hi
      I read this post and I’m so intrigued
      I have an intolerance to lactose but I’d love to find out what else I have an intolerance to
      Just a question- the test you did was this the £9.99 intro test or the £250 plan?

      • Cantara
        Author
        January 29, 2015 / 10:49 pm

        What swaps have you made to cut out lactose? I did the full foods and drinks test for £250, but YorkTest have several tests including cheaper options x

        • Cue Khan
          February 1, 2015 / 3:23 pm

          I swapped to almond/hazelnut/coconut milks.
          The soya yoghurts from asda, tesco and alpro are quite good – especially Alpro’s Cremoso range – that peach flavour is just delish!

          In terms of cheese and stuff, I haven’t really tried any soya cheese but I’ve invested in a box of nutritional yeast which is apparently really good to make your own cheese sauce with so I’m gonna try that out.

          Swedish Glace Ice cream is amazing. Like so much better than Walls or Cornish ice cream

          Booja Booja truffles, and Ohso chocolate are great for your daily chocolate fix. Slightly expensive but worth it.

          I did a Dairy-Free Diary for four weeks on my blog last year so you can check that out :-)

          Confessionsofcue.blogspot.com

          • Cantara
            Author
            February 9, 2015 / 3:21 pm

            Thanks for that, it’s really helpful. I’ll definitely look out for Booja Booja and Ohso chocolates! :D x

    2. January 26, 2015 / 1:09 pm

      This is so amazing, I’d love to have this done on myself. I feel bad that you reacted to eggs though – I love eggs and don’t know how I’d cope without them, haha! I’m looking forward to seeing how you’ve got on over the six weeks though!

      I wish it didn’t cost so much to have this done – diet is something I’m really interested in, but I don’t think that it’s something I could afford to try unless I had really bad stomach pains and doctors couldn’t figure out my intolerances!

      http://www.ceejayell.blogspot.co.uk

      • Cantara
        Author
        January 29, 2015 / 10:47 pm

        I’m hoping eggs was a mistake, we shall see after the 6 weeks I guess haha. I recommend reading Clean Gut by Dr Alejandro Junger, it is really helpful in understanding how your body works and how to test for certain intolerances. The great thing with YorkTest is that they test for 158 foods and drinks, unfortunately doing that yourself will take a longgggg time! Let me know how you get on x

    3. January 26, 2015 / 2:06 pm

      Interesting. Had you discussed any of your symptoms with your GP prior to this? I was just reading on Allergy UK that even validated IgE blood tests may not be accurate, and an elimination diary is the only way to be sure. Apparently around 50-60% of tests will give a false positive, so you may not actually be allergic to eggs after all!

      http://www.allergyuk.org/food-intolerance/identifying-your-food-intolerances
      http://www.foodallergy.org/diagnosis-and-testing/blood-tests

      • Cantara
        Author
        January 29, 2015 / 10:45 pm

        That’s interesting! Yes, I’d spoken to my GP and they tested me for IBS and coeliac. I was cleared of IBS and will find out next week if they say I’m coeliac or not. I’m keen to reintroduce eggs once I’ve given my gut enough time to heal from the damage caused by my intolerances, then I will see if my symptoms flare up again or not. I’m hoping I’m not intolerant to eggs! X

    4. Hannah
      January 27, 2015 / 9:56 am

      I did a similar type of test 2 years ago, but at a private Nutritionist practice rather than at home. I found that I am intolerant to Cows Milk, Wheat, Eggs, Yeast, Soy and much more…. I cut everything out for a few months which is supposed to reset your gut and let it heal. Most of my symptoms went away and I felt so more awake and much healthier. I had previously been suffering from severe tiredness, feeling ill most of the time, dry and itchy skin, hair falling out, peeling nails, as well as constant gut issues. Not all of the symptoms disappeared completely but they dramatically improved.

      I now eat some of the foods every now and then but avoid them as much as possible. I definitely feel much better for it! I always assumed it was gluten that was the culprit but my the Doctor suggested that I have probably had a milk allergy my whole life (I had regular ear infections, tonsillitis and asthma as a child which are tell-tale signs that my family didn’t know about) so I am so relieved to know the main cause of my issues so that I can avoid it.

      It will be interesting to hear how you get on :)

      • Cantara
        Author
        January 29, 2015 / 10:42 pm

        That’s so interesting and encouraging, thank you for sharing! I suffered with asthma and ear infections as a child too. My symptoms match very closely to those of lactose intolerance, which is why I was surprised that cow’s milk is only a yellow for me and not a red. I can’t wait for my symptoms to ease, if they don’t disappear completely. It just goes to show, you really are what you eat x

    5. January 27, 2015 / 8:24 pm

      This sounds interesting. I experience bloating and stomach upsets to foods that I’ve been eating.

      However, £250 to have a simple test done seems like a pretty hefty price tag so I don’t think it’s anything I’ll be doing any time soon, instead, I’m keeping a diary to pin point what foods I don’t agree with.

      I’d be interested to see what you think in 6 weeks though after cutting out your reaction foods :)

      Laura | laurafat2fit.blogspot.co.uk

      • Cantara
        Author
        January 29, 2015 / 10:39 pm

        You can definitely try to work out your intolerances with a food diary & trial and error. I was sick of dealing with my symptoms and personally didn’t have the time of patience to try to figure it out on my own, so currently I think the price tag is worth it purely for the convenience and peace of mind. I’m keen to find out if I still think the test is worth £250 at the end of my 6 weeks x

    6. January 30, 2015 / 2:50 pm

      This is really interesting because my friend suffers from severe bloating and even after tests the doctors can’t tell her what’s causing it. I’ll be sure to recommend the above for her and send her a link to your blog post.
      Alina x

      • Cantara
        Author
        February 7, 2015 / 1:00 pm

        My doctor’s couldn’t tell me either, the food test has been so helpful for giving me peace of mind, today is day 5 of giving up the foods I reacted to, looking forward to reporting on my progress at the end of the 6 weeks x

    7. January 30, 2015 / 10:10 pm

      I am certainly going to do one !!

      • Cantara
        Author
        February 7, 2015 / 12:58 pm

        That’s great, let me know how you get on! x

    8. February 16, 2015 / 9:33 am

      Wow this is so interesting. I’ve been tempted to try this for years as I suspect I have a few allergies. Thanks for sharing this x

      http://www.calmer-you.com

      • Cantara
        Author
        March 26, 2015 / 6:21 pm

        No problem at all! Let me know if you do try it, I’d be so interested to hear about your results :) x

    9. Becca
      April 18, 2015 / 9:35 am

      Through trial and error over the past year I’ve cut out quite a lot from my diet, yet still feel what I’m eating isn’t quite right for me. It would be really interesting to try out this test and see if I’ve been barking totally up the wrong trees with my omissions.

      How did you get on with your six week trial? What was the outcome with your possible egg intolerance? x

    10. Debi
      April 30, 2015 / 6:59 pm

      Am thinking of getting this done. Just wondering how you are getting on with the elimination and whether you are feeling any different?

      • Cantara
        Author
        May 4, 2015 / 9:48 pm

        Hi Debi, unfortunately I haven’t stuck to eliminating my intolerances 100%. Partly because I went on holiday for 3 weeks where I had no control over what I ate, and partly because I just can’t resist a bit of chocolate now and then! I can say though that I definitely notice the difference after I’ve had some bread/yeast. I’m more clued up about what’s going on in my body and that has been a massive relief. For that alone I am so glad I did the test. I am definitely going to work on cutting out my intolerances completely. I hope this has helped x

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