Taking a Food Sensitivity Test at Home with EverlyWell and sharing my results! Breaking down the test, how it works, the results, and what it means for me!

This post is sponsored in partnership with EverlyWell. All opinions expressed (as always) are my own. I only partner with brands I trust and personally recommend – thank you for your support in helping make Eat the Gains possible!

You probably have heard about food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities…they are all over the news and media. I know I’ve done a handful of elimination diets to figure out if things are causing me issues. But do you ever wonder what is really affecting your body? We eat right, workout, try to get enough sleep, but still something isn’t right. I know sometimes I get bloated or gassy after eating certain foods, but then other times I won’t. What gives?! Sometimes it takes up to 48 hours to feel the effects of food sensitivities, so it is really hard to pinpoint the exact foods since we eat so many different foods over the course of a couple days.

That is where EverlyWell comes in. They help you figure out these sensitivities and I’m super excited to partner with them to figure what exactly my body is sensitive to! First let’s get into what EverlyWell is and some more info about food sensitivities.

Food Sensitivity Test at Home with EverlyWell

EverlyWell is an at-home health testing company that offers a wide variety of tests you can take from the comfort of your own home. EverlyWell makes it super convenient as you do it on your own time and don’t have to waste time going to the doctor, the results are physician reviewed, easy to read, and they are always available for your viewing. The tests range from Food Sensitivity, Women’s Fertility, Testosterone, Vitamin D, Metabolism, Sleep and Stress, and more. You purchase the kits of your choice and they ship them out to you. Once you receive them in the mail, follow the directions for taking your sample, and send it back in with the prepaid postage they supply you with. They review your data in a board certified lab and in a handful of days, they send you the results online.

For my first test, I choose the Food Sensitivity test. It measures your body’s Immunoglobulin G (IgG) response to 96 common foods to help you decide what might be best to eliminate. The foods tested cover different dairy products, fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, seafood, seeds, nuts, and spices. When you eat a food that causes a trigger (your body doesn’t tolerate it well), IgG antibodies are generated. The Food Sensitivity Test detects those antibodies and lets you know you have a sensitivity. Please note that this test does not test for food allergies (which can be life threatening) or food intolerances.

To be able to be tested for everything, the food has to be in your system. You need to consume it for at least 4 weeks prior to testing. Over the past few weeks I’ve been eating gluten, dairy, corn, soy, and everything else. We went on vacation where I ate mostly everything and afterwards I enjoyed it here and there as well to make sure I would get the full results.

Taking the test is super easy. First read all the directions! I didn’t and messed around with one of the lancets and couldn’t use it again. Luckily they provide you with a few so it wasn’t a big deal. First you drink a big glass of water. Then wash and dry your hands, let you arm hang by your side for 30 seconds, and then shake it around to stimulate blood flow. Follow the directions for using the lancet to prick your finger and collect the blood on the collection card. Once it is dry, wrap it up in the bag they supply and send the box back with the prepaid postage. It took me about 10 minutes total to do!

Food Sensitivity Test Results

Overall I was super happy with my results. Like I said before, sometimes I have digestive issues – gas, bloating, and what not after eating certain foods. But it only happens sometimes so I have no idea if they are real issues or not. It could also be due to other factors besides food. Well I’m happy to say, most foods don’t bother me! I had 0 foods that gave me a high reactivity (it is not listed as a reactivity) and most foods were in the mild or low reactivity food group 🤗 cue the eating of all the pizza!! Kidding ha!!

On the moderate reactivity, I had one item – crab. I’m not sure when I had crab last, but I think it was probably in San Diego last month. I’m honestly not sure though. I also says that crab may cross react with other crustaceans like shrimp and lobster or come come from taking fish oil. I do take fish oil every day, so I think that is where it must have come from. I do not plan to stop taking fish oil as I believe it is super important for our modern day lives. Class 2 (moderate reactivity) foods can also be completely tolerated and I don’t feel any effects of taking fish oil (although I take it everyday so there isn’t really room to see how I feel without it). As you can see, you can click on each food item and it will give you a detailed response of what it is and why it could be a factor.

For my mild reactivity, I had a decent amount of items, some of them which I was surprised to see. These foods might cause unwanted symptoms although are lower on the scale. I was surprised to see peppers, green beans, coconut, blueberries, and lemon. I eat those foods on a pretty regular basis so I’m curious to see what will happen if I decide to eliminate them.

For my low reactivity, I had about 80 foods. You might be thinking WHAT?! 80 foods?! The foods on the low reactivity list are the remainder of all the foods that were tested that didn’t fall into the other 3 categories. Low reactivity foods can be considered largely non-reactive as the level of reactivity is considered normal. It’s not recommended to do an elimination diet with these foods which is good news, because it is a lot of foods.

You can also break down each food group and see your reactivity to each food tested in that group. Safe to say that dairy does not really bother me. I actually found that out from this DNA testing I did awhile ago, but love seeing the same results here. I don’t eat dairy too often, but I’m glad I can experience it without any unwanted side effects.

I will say though, I think I have been experiencing some issues with my gut and might have a mild case of leaky gut that I am working on to heal. When you have leaky gut, your food is not digested properly and leaks out from your intestines into your bloodstream. Since your bloodstream is not meant to come in contact with those food proteins, it creates antibodies to fend them off (they think they are invaders). This could be an explanation why I had so many foods on my mild reactivity section. That being said, while a food sensitivity test is a great tool is helping you discover food sensitivities and possibly starting an elimination diet, it shouldn’t be the end all be all in your eating. I plan on implementing some of these results and seeing if it makes a difference.

EverlyWell is kind enough to offer y’all a special discount code if you would like to do your own testing.  If you are experiencing some symptoms or just want to know how certain foods you are eating affect you, the Food Sensitivity Test might be for you. If you are interested in taking it, or any one of EverlyWell’s at home testing, use the code ‘GAINS’ for 15% off your order. I am in the middle of taking the Women’s Fertility Test as I type this (it’s a two part process!) and am super excited to see the results of that after having hormonal issues for years.

This post may contains affiliate links and I may make little bit of money if you click on and purchase the products that are linked. It doesn’t cost you any extra money. The compensation helps with expenses to keep ETG up and running. I truly appreciate your support!