Food intolerances can be a very subtle yet significant hurdle for those looking to build a diet that helps them feel their best. With so many potential triggers lurking in everyday meals, pinpointing the culprits can be a daunting task.
Enter the YorkTest Premium Food Intolerance Test, a comprehensive and easy-to-use solution designed to help you identify and manage your food sensitivities.
Recently, we had the opportunity to try this test ourselves, thanks to YorkTest’s partnership with Benefits Cloud. YorkTest very generously offered to send these tests so that we could share our experience with our members and anyone following Benefits Cloud’s activities.
Two members of our team, Ashleigh and Holly, were the ones to try this test. Both started this experience with different expectations of what they believed they might be intolerant to.
Holly believed that she may have had an almond intolerance due to having a negative experience after eating them in the past. Ashleigh, on the other hand, believed that she had no intolerance but was curious to take the test just in case anything did come up.
Before we begin to discuss these experiences, however, we must first cover a simple yet crucial question: what really is food intolerance?
What are Food Intolerances?
Food intolerance occurs when your body has difficulty digesting certain foods. When you eat a food that your body is intolerant to for a long period of time, large food particles, or proteins, may enter the bloodstream. The immune system sometimes identifies these proteins as ‘foreign’, and so produces IgG antibodies to attack them.
It must be noted that there is a very big difference between food intolerance and a food allergy.
Food allergies involve the immune system and can trigger severe and immediate reactions, such as hives, swelling, and anaphylaxis. Even a tiny amount of the allergen can cause a life-threatening response.
Food intolerances, on the other hand, typically involve the digestive system and can lead to less immediate symptoms (symptoms can occur up to 72 hours after ingesting the trigger food) but still very uncomfortable symptoms. Unlike allergies, intolerances often depend on the quantity of food consumed.
Difficulty digesting these trigger foods and the resulting attack on the residual proteins by the IgG antibodies can cause a variety of symptoms, such as:
- IBS
- Joint Pain
- Tiredness and fatigue
- Headaches
- Skin Conditions
And a whole host more.
It is important to remember, as recommended by Yorktest themselves, that if you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you should visit your GP first. This is because these ailments could be caused by a whole host of other issues that are not food intolerances.
However, if you have tried everything a GP recommends and still find yourself suffering from these ailments, it is worth it to check how your diet may be affecting you.
How Does The YorkTest Premium Food Intolerance Test Work?
YorkTest’s Premium Food Intolerance Test is a cutting-edge kit designed to help you uncover your ‘food fingerprint’ – this is the term YorkTest uses to refer to each person’s map of sensitivities and trigger foods.
It’s about identifying what might be causing your discomfort and empowering you with the knowledge needed to make informed dietary choices. Generally, those who suspect they have an intolerance are encouraged to start an elimination diet and track any changes in their symptoms with a diary.
This method, however, relies on a lot of guesswork and can be very exhausting, especially for those with multiple intolerances.
Taking the YorkTest is straightforward. After receiving the test kit, you’ll use a lancet to collect a small blood sample from your finger. This is then sent back to YorkTest’s laboratory for analysis. Within a few days, you’ll receive detailed results highlighting any food sensitivities.
The comprehensive nature of this test and the amazing support and information provided by Yorktest themselves make it a go-to for anyone looking to take control of their diet and health.
If you’d like to learn more about Yorktest, food intolerances, and the products and services they offer, you can find their website here.
In the next section of this blog, we will hear from Ashleigh, one of the Benefits Cloud team members who was sent a food intolerance test kit by Yorktest.
Taking the Tests
After speaking with the Yorktest team, me and Holly received our tests a couple of days later.
We were reminded to sign up for the wellness hub by a helpful email. This wellness hub was great throughout the entire process, allowing us to track where in the process each of our tests were and easily access our results when they came.
I’ll admit that both I and Holly were pretty nervous about using the lancet to collect the blood sample! However, when it came time to take the tests, we both ended up pleasantly surprised.
Each test contained instructions, an alcohol-free cleansing wipe, two single-use lancets, an absorbent wand and a container for it, a plaster, and one return envelope.
We started by washing our hands in warm water and wiping the finger we would use to draw the blood sample (hygiene is key!) We then used the lancet, which was quick, easy, and painless – I was left wondering why I was so worried in the first place!
After this, all there was to do was put our samples in the envelope and send them back to Yorktest’s laboratories for testing.
The process was fast and easy, helped by the clear instructions that Yorktest provided. You are provided with all the tools you need, with no confusion about what you should use when or where. Overall, I was really impressed!
Time For The Results
A few days later, the eagerly anticipated results arrived:
We were both surprised by what we discovered. Holly was, in fact, not intolerant to almonds, and it turns out I am very intolerant to a few things, including egg whites.
Initially, I was worried. I’m a vegetarian, and eggs have been a huge part of my diet for years. The thought of losing such a vital source of protein made me wonder how I could keep eating the food I loved. I was also surprised, as I had not been experiencing any noticeable symptoms.
This is where the 30-minute consultation with one of Yorktest’s nutritionists came in. I booked my appointment the day after my results came in with a member of the Yorktest team who was extremely friendly and helpful, sending me guides on how I could best adjust my diet to accommodate my intolerances.
The consultation took place a few days later, and I can happily confirm that it completely eased my mind! The nutritionist I spoke to started by asking me questions about my current diet and what symptoms I have been experiencing.
After explaining that I hadn’t been experiencing any symptoms, the nutritionist suggested that I keep eating these foods, but use these results as a guide if I ever do start experiencing any of the symptoms associated with food intolerance.
If I were to fall ill in a way that affected my digestive system, I would know which foods to avoid as my body recovered, and I could refer back to these results.
They also explained that I could try eliminating these foods one at a time for two weeks each, rather than the recommended twelve. This way, I wouldn’t have to cut out food that wasn’t giving me negative symptoms, but I could see if cutting them perhaps improves my energy, skin, etc. at all, then decide if I would like to eliminate them further after two weeks had elapsed.
I found this advice extremely helpful and reasonable, and I can say that my initial fears were completely gone by the end of this conversation!
What We Have Learned and Next Steps
Taking the YorkTest Premium Food Intolerance Test has been an enlightening experience for us.
I have decided that I’ll plan and then eliminate each ingredient that my body has reacted to for two weeks each. In that time, I’ll write down how I am feeling physically and mentally to see if it has any effect on me.
While I generally feel okay, there’s always a chance that eliminating, say, cow’s milk could increase how energised I feel, and I’m excited to work on truly optimising my diet while maybe even trying foods and meals I would never have tried before while I eliminate others!
Holly, on the other hand, found her food intolerance test so valuable that she has gone on to purchase one of Yorktest’s female hormone tests to check for any imbalances!
She is also now able to eat almonds once more without any fear, thanks to confirmation that there is no intolerance there.
We have both really enjoyed this experience, and we want to thank the entire team at Yorktest once again for sending us these tests and giving us advice every step of the way. We’re feeling excited to work on bettering our health, and we couldn’t recommend these tests enough to all of our Benefits Cloud members and really just anybody who has any concerns regarding food intolerance.
For those of you who feel inspired to take one of these tests yourself after reading this, if you’re a Benefits Cloud member, or thinking of joining, you’ll be able to access a brilliant deal on these amazing tests through our platform!
Find out how you can sign up right here!
Take care, and thank you for reading!