Question 1

What will my results tell me?

Accepted Answer

Your food sensitivity results will tell you how reactive your IgG antibodies are to 204 common foods. Each food will be rated on a Class scale of 0-3: Class 0 (normal reactivity) to Class 3 (high reactivity). Prioritizing foods you have a high reactivity to can be a great place to start when planning a temporary elimination diet. You will also get: Tailored suggestions about what to do next, Help prioritizing your temporary elimination diet, Personalized information and education

Question 2

Who should not take this Food Sensitivity Test?

Accepted Answer

The results of your Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test are intended to be used to guide a temporary elimination diet with an add-back challenge. This is a critical step in helping pinpoint which foods may be causing your unwanted symptoms. We understand that food elimination and restriction can lead to or trigger disordered eating behavior. For this reason, it is not recommended to take the Food Sensitivity Comprehensive Test if you currently have or are in recovery for an eating disorder (i.e., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder). It is also not recommended to use the results of your Food Sensitivity Comprehensive Test to achieve weight loss. Eating a balanced diet is important and your results are not intended to strictly limit your consumption and inhibit your ability to obtain necessary calories and nutrients from food. Due to the specific nutritional needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women, elimination diets are not recommended. It's best to speak with your healthcare provider for advisement should you be experiencing unwanted symptoms. Are Everlywell tests suitable for children? Everlywell currently does not offer tests to anyone below the age of 18. This is noted in the everlywell.com cart page, our terms of use, the FAQ section, and our physical kits. Additionally, we restrict registration for anyone below the age of 18. If a test was purchased on Everlywell.com and your order hasn't shipped, we can offer a full refund upon request. Our full returns policy can be found here. For any other questions regarding this policy, please feel free to contact our Customer Care Team.

Question 3

What guidance will I get along with my Food Sensitivity results?

Accepted Answer

Everlywell will provide tailored suggestions about what to do next. While reactivity does not always equate with symptoms, it can help prioritize the foods selected for a temporary elimination diet. Once you have your IgG test results, you can try a temporary elimination diet of your choosing until you achieve the right balance of minimizing your symptoms while maintaining a lifestyle that you enjoy. You may choose to not stop eating certain foods, but knowing your reactivity might lead to adjustments in how much or frequently you eat them. Our tests provide personalized information and education; they are not intended to diagnose any disease or condition or to substitute for professional medical advice or treatment. You should always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you have regarding your medical care. This test is a great place to start if you are experiencing symptoms you suspect are related to a food or foods you are eating and is generally more affordable than comparable tests. Enjoy food sensitivity testing the way it should be: quick, easy, and from the convenience of your home. If you have any questions feel free to chat with us below.

Question 4

How It Works: Food Sensitivity Testing with an Elimination Diet

Accepted Answer

A temporary elimination diet can be a useful tool for uncovering the specific foods you're sensitive to. Basically you temporarily remove foods from your diet that you suspect could be giving you symptoms. In other words, you stop eating those "suspect foods" for a given amount of time--studies using a temporary elimination diet most often use between 4-6 weeks for this amount of time. Next, you add those foods back to your diet - one at a time. Each time you add a "suspect food" back to your diet, you watch for symptoms for about 2-3 days. If a food you're adding back doesn't result in symptoms, then you continue eating it as a normal part of your diet. But if a food does give you symptoms when you add it back to your diet, then you've likely found a food you're sensitive to. Temporary elimination diets can seem overwhelming at first and you might not know where to start. That's why food sensitivity testing can make a real difference in identifying which foods you want to prioritize in a temporary elimination diet and in helping you discover the foods you're sensitive to. A food sensitivity test checks the reactivity levels of your IgG antibodies for many different foods. IgG antibodies are a type of antibody that your immune system produces in response to foreign "invaders" or anything our body recognizes that is not "self", in this case it is responding to the foods we eat. If you have a high IgG reactivity level to a certain food, there's a possibility that food may be involved with causing your food sensitivity symptoms. So taking a food sensitivity test can give you feedback on your body's immune system response to different foods. You can then use this information to guide your temporary elimination diet--and to choose what foods to eliminate at first. This helps remove a lot of the "guessing" in the elimination diet process--and can make it easier for you to connect a food or foods with the unpleasant symptoms you are experiencing. Note that a food sensitivity test is not an allergy test. (Learn more about our food allergy test) Learn more: How To Use A Food Elimination Diet To Discover Your Food Sensitivities

Question 5

What is the difference between a food sensitivity, food allergy, and food intolerance?

Accepted Answer

It is not uncommon for a food intolerance to be mistaken as a food allergy or vice versa. For example, some people who have a wheat intolerance may think that they have a wheat allergy; however, these two conditions are quite different. A food intolerance arises from specific enzyme deficiencies in the body. For example, people who have a lactose intolerance lack enough of the enzyme lactase to break down the sugars in milk, causing gastrointestinal discomfort when they consume milk products (various kinds of lactose intolerance tests exist which may help with diagnosis of this condition). On the other hand, a food allergy is an IgE immune response that can result in a number of different symptoms, some that can even be life-threatening. Some examples of food allergies people suffer from include the following: Peanut allergy, Tree nut allergies (including allergies to almonds or pecans), Soy allergy, Spice allergy (including cinnamon allergy), Legume allergy, Grains allergy (including wheat allergy), Vegetable allergy, Dairy allergy, Shellfish allergy In comparison, a food sensitivity is an IgG immune response that results in non-life-threatening symptoms such as bloating, stomach pain, diarrhea, or headaches. There are multiple studies to support that a temporary elimination diet guided by an individual's own IgG reaction to foods can help identify problematic foods and alleviate gastrointestinal distress symptoms and headaches. At Everlywell, we offer a comprehensive food sensitivity test that measures the level of your IgG reactivity to 204 different foods. You can use your test results to guide a temporary elimination diet where you may be able to connect a symptom you are experiencing to a food. Note that this is not a food allergy test, but rather a test for food sensitivities.