BACKGROUND
Earlier this summer, my mom began experiencing really bad congestion after eating out and sometimes just drinking a cup of coffee. The question of whether or not she was sensitive to foods such as cheese, milk, half and half, and even coffee began to arise. This resulted in her finding the EverlyWell company, where they send you in the mail these take at home tests where they take blood samples, saliva or any other sample they need to complete a certain test regarding your body and health. You send the samples back to the EverlyWell lab, and they will send you the results of whichever test you took via email. They offer numerous tests, such as metabolism, thyroid, or sleep and stress, whatever type of test you need. Getting back to my mom, she took the food sensitivity test where it tests your reactions to 96 different foods (there is also one that tests 200 foods, but it’s more expensive) that range from dairy to fruits to gluten to vegetables and nuts and seeds. I feel like it should be mentioned that food allergies and food sensitivities are two different things, and they explain the difference on their website.
In the results, there is a scale of you having a normal reaction, a mild reaction, a moderate reaction, and a very high reaction. Each food tested will have a number that is ranked on the scale. So, if gluten was tested and the reaction number is 71, than that means you have a moderate reaction to gluten based on the scale below.
When my Mom’s test results came back, she only had 3 moderates: dairy, cow’s milk, and egg whites. Not terrible, but not great either because we found the cause of what was making her so congested. Seeing her results inspired me to also do the food sensitivity test because I was curious as to how my body responded to certain foods. I did not have as bad of reactions as my mom, but I thought it would help me in my health and fitness journey because I have been working out five times a week this year, yet I haven’t been getting the results that I want. So I thought taking this test would lead me in the right direction of what foods to avoid. Plus, I also thought that the test could explain why I get congested so easily. Maybe the foods that I was eating made me produce more mucus which led to me to getting congested and sick each year.
THE RESULTS
So I took the required blood samples and sent it off to the lab, never in a million years thinking that my results would be worse than my Mom’s. I have always been able to enjoy eating whatever I wanted because I’m fortunate enough to not be allergic to anything, so I just thought that my results would be pretty standard with a few reactions here and there. Boy was I totally wrong. The results actually came back pretty quickly, so when I randomly checked my email 2-3 business days after sending the sample, there they were. I want to mention again that my Mom had 3 moderates. I came to find out that I had 2 high reactivities and 11 moderate reactivities. My Mom had more noticeable symptoms than I ever did, yet I have 13 moderate to high reactions? What? I was shocked. My 2 high reactions ended up being egg whites and almonds, and some of my moderates were gluten, cows milk, yogurt, wheat, cashews, garlic, and egg yolks just to name a few. See a trend? So I take this as meaning that my body does not like gluten or eggs or dairy. As I’m writing this post, it’s been a week ago today that I got my results and I’m still so shocked over it. I’ve never noticed any symptoms at all and thought that I could just eat whatever I wanted to with no repercussions. Based on these results, that is definitely not the case anymore.
MY RESPONSE
So I took this past week to really listen to my body. I wanted to see if gluten and dairy really did have an impact on me. And I realized how bloated and constipated I felt after eating certain foods containing all that was my moderates and highs. We went to Panera Bread where I got the Green Goddess Cobb Salad that contained half an egg with a French baguette, and I felt so bloated that night. My Mom made homemade vanilla scones that were amazing, yet my stomach felt like a balloon a while after eating them. I came to the realization that maybe I was mistaking bloating for being full and over-consuming food on occasion (ok numerous occasions I have no portion control). My body has been trying to tell me for a while by bloating that it’s having a hard time digesting these foods. And honestly since I’ve been paying more attention to how my body feels, it has become more noticeable and transparent. How have I not noticed this bloating before? Selective attention is so real. You go through life not paying attention to certain things and then you take notice of one little thing, and that’s all you see. Take my brother for example. He got a Honda Pilot a couple of years ago, and once he started driving it, he realized how many other people also had Honda Pilots. His mind had no reason to notice Honda Pilots until he had one himself.
THE FUTURE
This whole experience has helped me be more in tune with my body. I am beginning to notice what makes it feel good as opposed to what makes it feel bad. EverlyWell talks about elimination diets on their website, and I’m really driven to just try to eliminate gluten, dairy, eggs and almonds from my diet. It’s discouraging looking at all the foods you can’t eat. Bread, chocolate covered almonds, ice cream. Ugh. I really do think it’s all about mindset though. I shouldn’t be just focusing on the foods I can’t eat anymore. I should focus on the foods I still can eat. In the results it has a list of all the foods that you have a normal reaction to. And that list gives me hope. There are still foods to enjoy. This has definitely made me want to cook more and try new paleo recipes without eggs in them (which is freaking hard because a lot of recipes have eggs and almond milk). I think there are still plenty of great foods and spices to discover, and I’m excited to learn what my body thrives on. And I really don’t think that this test means that I will never consume any of the foods that I have mild to high reactions to. I just think it means I have to be more mindful about what I put in my body and when. I don’t want to eat numerous foods that I have reactions to all in one day. Maybe I can just monitor when I’ve had gluten and not overdue it, and maybe not combine it with dairy later in the day. Maybe I can have gluten or dairy every one or two weeks and just sprinkle it throughout. I honestly don’t think having little pieces here or there will do much harm. But if it makes me feel crappy, that’s when I’ll probably scrap it from my diet altogether. This is definitely a learning process where I have to analyze and revamp my relationship with food, but I am eager to learn.
If you have any specific questions about how long the process was or what other foods I had a reaction to were, leave them down below! And also, if you’ve taken this test, please comment how it went and what you did when you took it! I’m so curious to read your responses!