Warning: This post contains a photo of blood.
I’ve grown up being a picky eater, I mean really picky, I eat like a child. Besides being picky with my food selection, I’ve also had a fairly sensitive stomach for as long as I can remember. Certain foods would always leave me feeling a little under the weather. For my birthday my boyfriend surprised me with a Food Sensitivity Test from EverlyWell. I didn’t know such a thing even existed, but I was excited at the prospect of finally getting some clarity on why I can’t eat certain foods without stomach aches.
My excitement quickly waned when I found out exactly how I would be getting those results – via a blood test.
The Food Sensitivity Test from Everylwell comes with everything you would need, three lancets (needles!), biohazard bags for your blood samples and to throw away your lancets, a card for your blood samples, an easy to follow guide, an alcohol wipe, and a bandaid. Earlier kits seem to have come with lollipops, which I probably could have used 🙂
Does pricking your finger hurt?
I’m pretty sensitive to pain and afraid of needles so I might be a little more chicken than you, but it did hurt a bit, like a tight pinch or a bee sting. I found my finger was stinging for a couple hours afterwards, a bit sensitive to touch.
It took me a good 30 minutes to be brave enough to finally poke my finger. Once I got enough courage, I was disappointed to see only one blood drop come out. I had to poke myself for a second time. Of course that would happen to me. The second time around I used my ring finger, verses my middle. I recommend using your ring finger, because the blood just kept on flowing!
The card you’re given to place your blood sample on requires 3 out of the 5 circles to be as completely filled as possible. You must let the blood drop into the circle, you can’t smear your finger around. I was able to fill three dots pretty successfully after a second prick of the finger.
Once you’ve survived the sample extraction, it’s time to mail it back! You’ll receive a prepaid package to mail your sample back in.
After a quick 5 days my results were in. EverlyWell will email you when your results are complete and then all you have to do is login to their site where you can see a breakdown by food group or reactivity.
Results
Your results are displayed by showing you what level of reactivity you may experience when consuming certain foods. The ranges are Low Reactivity (you can eat these things), Mild Reactivity (you probably won’t notice any sensitivities), Moderate Reactivity (it might be good to limit), to High Reactivity (you should cut some foods out and see how you feel).
Going into my results I was expecting to see certain sensitivities pop up, mainly dairy. Whenever I eat dairy, particularly cheese, my stomachs feels a little rumbly. But what I saw on the screen truly shocked me.
Apparently, dairy isn’t my issue and I only have a low reactivity to those products. Now I was really confused. What’s been making me feel sickly all these years?
Well, it turns out my highest level of reactivity was given to a food group I never would have suspected, grains!
I couldn’t believe it! Most of my favorite foods are part of this food group. Pizza and pasta are what I live on and apparently they’ve been making my belly not feel its best.
Some other surprise results, just to name a few, were that I’m moderately sensitive to white potatoes (my favorite vegetable on earth), carrots, black pepper, cinnamon, and chicken (WHAT, I love chicken nuggets).
Seeing these results was extremely eye opening. Will I change my diet? No, not completely, but I might try some gluten free items in the future to see if I notice a difference in how I feel. Overall, I’m really glad I was brave enough to take the test because now I can truly understand what foods might make me feel not so great.
I highly recommend giving EverlyWell a try, especially if you’re like me and you’ve experienced tummy pains and upset stomach for years. You mighe be caught of guard just like me.
Want to give EverlyWell a try? Use my discount code for 20% off!