Food & Drink Intolerance Test
Jessica Wagner
YorkTest Laboratories Food & Drink Scan Review
Ever wonder how what you eat affects your body? A couple months ago I participated in the YorkTest Laboratories Food & Drink Intolerance Test with shocking results. The test promised to pinpoint foods that may be causing migraines, bloating, skin issues or fatigue.
The actual test is a finger-prick blood test. It scans 208 food and drink ingredients to identify food triggers such as gluten, dairy, eggs or wheat. You’ll receive your kit via mail and then send it back to the lab. I had my results within 10 days. York Test also provides two 30-minute consultations with their nutritional therapists.
I will admit - I was not expecting to have so many BIG intolerances! I was thankful they provided a supporting guidebook and a food and drink diary to help along the way. According to York Test 89% of customers saw an improvement in their symptoms within a month of removing their problem foods.
As for me, I have not been able to completely eliminate the foods that showed an intolerance yet… Not even close really. It’s going to be a bigger deal than I ever imagined. Mostly I’m not ready to give up some of the foods that showed up on my results.
My York Test Results
I was terrified when I saw some of my favorite foods show up in the red column as having an intolerance to! Eggs and yeast are a big part of my regular diet. The borderline foods were just as shocking. Avocado, chocolate and wine! You guys. I could live off of these three! During my consultation the nutritionist recommended to try and do one food at a time (for example starting with yeast which would probably be the most difficult.) She also said to try and drink organic wine if I must. Ha. To be honest, I shed a few tears! I am not a great cook and most of my meals are not planned out. I tried to go without yeast for a day or two and failed miserably. A few friends said to talk to a nutritionist or my dr. before taking things to the next step. I was worried if I wasn't eating enough, I would actually have worse symptoms than if I just ate the foods that contained the yeast or eggs.
I would still like to pursue the elimination diet further. I found my results SO interesting but as far as completely participating in the elimination, I haven’t found the time to start. I also have not noticed a huge difference when I eat the foods that showed up. If I had some avocado I watched for symptoms… I could not say for sure if I felt any of the telltale fatigue or bloating.
According to the nutritionist you can reintroduce the foods after 3 months, so this is not forever, but I think you also need to be mentally and physically prepared to commit, not only a new diet, but to a new lifestyle. You also need the time to dedicate to planning your day around your meals, and investing more time into researching foods you can eat and your grocery routine.
Overall it has made me pay more attention to what I eat. Avoiding avocado is an easier one, although heartbreaking. (GUAC!) The killer is wine and chocolate. I mean… my two joys in life! As for the eggs and yeast I would love to try and eliminate yeast over eggs (I love me some eggs - especially for breakfast.) I was shocked at how limited my diet would be if I followed through. It’s an eventual goal and I still have my own research to put into it. I get migraines - but I think they are more stress and weather related. I get bloated - and admit what I ingest causes that feeling. As for skin issues - I do have some skin problems that have been seeing a dermatologist for and while I’m sure certain foods can cause a flare up, I don’t think they can be the sole cause. Fatigue… this one’s tricky for me. I think this would be the biggest push for me to try and do the elimination. I would do *almost* anything to increase my energy levels. Thank goodness coffee wasn’t on my results!
I would recommend the York Test based on the ease for sure! It was super simple. As far as the support after the test, my consultation was with a new nutritionist and I was her first call! She was helpful in some ways but I you could tell I was her first call… I was feeling pretty overwhelmed at the idea of only being able to eat such a small portion of foods for 3 months. I don’t know how I felt about some of the recommendations. Such as supplements. Also yeast is major. If was to truly eliminate it she said not to eat certain fruits that contain high yeast and some other foods that I was hoping I could still eat. I was scared that I would not be able to live off of just salad and chicken. (But no salad dressing because most of them contain yeast!) Also did you know eggs are in sooooo many ingredients and foods? I think I would need a larger support system to get through it.
I am happy to know what foods might be triggers and will keep you all updated if I make progress to the next steps!
I am working on a video sharing my experience taking the York Test, it will be posted soon! In the meantime, you can see more on my Instagram in “Highlights” sharing everything from taking to test to receiving my results here.
Have you ever taken a food intolerance test? What are you food allergies or intolerances? Have you ever done a food elimination? Share your experiences in the comments below!