Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test Review: Accurate? A Dietitian Examines

Much different than a food allergy, food sensitivities are experienced by as many as 30 million Americans. While your body isn’t producing a histamine response to certain foods that are triggering you, you may experience unpleasant side effects like bloating, gas, diarrhea, stomach pain, changes in mood and sleep disturbances. It can be difficult to diagnose your food intolerances, since your doctor will usually only send you for allergy testing. When those tests rule out issues from that perspective, you’re left wondering what’s causing all these problems.

There are some food sensitivity tests that you can purchase for use at home. Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test is one brand of test that can provide you with valuable information that can completely change your gut health and your life. Let’s take a look at what this type of test offers and what the Everlywell brand can offer you with their product.

Quick Summary of Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test Review

Product:	At-Home Food Sensitivity Test
Test Sample:	Finger prick blood sample
What you can learn:	IgG Reactivity to 204 Foods and what the results mean for you personally
CLIA-certified:	Yes
HIPPA Compliant:	Yes
Cost:	$259 (check Live sale here)
Avg. Rating:	4.8/5 (Over 800 reviews)
GW Rating:	4.7/5

Introducing the At-Home Everlywell Food Sensitivity Comprehensive Test

This food sensitivity comprehensive test from Everlywell tests a finger prick blood sample collection for a broad set of foods to see what might be causing you discomfort. Included in the testing are 204 different potential sensitive foods. It is ideal for the person that consumes a variety of different foods and cuisines each day and isn’t sure how they can narrow down what might be causing their symptoms.

How It Works

Each food that your sample is compared to will be rated on a scale of zero to three. Class zero is a normal reactivity level. Classes one and two would indicate that you may have a mild sensitivity to that specific food. Whether or not you are experiencing symptoms will vary from person to person. Class three is a high reactivity rating. You’re likely experiencing symptoms of some sort. It’s recommended that you remove class three foods from your diet. Once you have noticed your symptoms have disappeared, you can add foods back into your diet one at a time. Pay close attention to see if you experience symptoms once a food has been added back. If so, this is a food you should permanently eliminate from your diet as it is a trigger food. Keep in mind, this test will not diagnose a food allergy, lactose intolerance or celiac disease.

What’s Included?

Your test kit will be shipped to the address that you provide. In the test kit is a registration code that you must enter into the Everlywell website before proceeding with your test. You collect your sample using a finger prick lancet that will collect a small amount of your blood. Package your sample according to the included instructions and send it back to the certified lab that has been labeled on your prepaid shipping. You will receive your results in a few weeks (electronically).

Pros

• Tests for 204 different potential food sensitivities
• Your sample is easy to collect using the provided kit
• Easy to interpret scores based on a 0 through 3 scale
• You receive guidance regarding what to do next with your information and results
• Results can be life changing

Cons

• Does not test for lactose intolerance or celiac disease
• Does not address food allergies

Safety and Security (HIPPA Compliant)

Everlywell has been verified by a third-party independent company that has confirmed that they are HIPAA compliant due to the privacy practices that are in place. So much so, they comply with privacy criteria outlined by some of the biggest healthcare companies in the U.S. Their handling of your personal information is secure and reliable so you can find out more about your gut health and food sensitivities without having to worry about who your information might be leaked or shared with.

What Can It Test?

The food sensitivities that are tested by the Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test Kit are broken down into different categories. There are dairy products, egg (yolk and white), fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, meat, seafood, seeds, nuts and spices. In each of those categories there are an impressive amount of foods included. This is one of the most comprehensive and well-rounded food sensitivity tests that you’re going to find online.

Is It Accurate?

All of the tests that are created and sold through Everlywell have been reviewed and approved by an independent board-certified physician within your state. The test sites are all CLIA-certified (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments). A CLIA-certified site has a high set of standards that must be followed, including regular inspections. You can trust that your results are accurate thanks to the rigorous processes Everlywell goes through to conduct their testing and processing. However, they are not 100% accurate, as with the case in nearly all health tests.

Claimed Benefits

For this specific test, Everlywell makes some claims that can supposedly help you determine what your food sensitivities are so you can make appropriate changes to your diet. Let’s look more closely at what you can achieve with this food sensitivity test.

IgG Reactivity to 204 Foods

The food sensitivities that your sample will be compared to, includes 204 different foods among different food groups. Your reactivity will be rated from zero to three. You are provided with additional information explaining your potential sensitivity and what you should to do proceed.

Personalization / What Results Mean For You

Your results are shared with you electronically a few weeks after you send in your test sample. Along with your reactivity score, you will receive personalized information about what your results mean. You can learn more about the symptoms you may be experiencing, how you can eliminate specific foods and what you should do in the future if your symptoms disappear or reappear upon adding trigger foods back into your diet.

Take Action on Your Health and Wellness

It’s important to work with a trusted medical professional to complete a yearly physical, routine blood testing, etc. However, there are plenty of other tests and evaluations that you can use in order to paint an accurate picture of what’s going on with your body. If you’re experiencing GI symptoms after eating a meal, you’re probably wondering what triggered those issues. If you’ve already ruled out allergies, you may have though the search was over there. However, food sensitivity testing is something you can do from the comfort of your own home in order to take control of your own health and wellness.

Cost and Where to Buy

You can visit the Everlywell website to view their food sensitivity test at https://www.everlywell.com/products/food-sensitivity-comprehensive-test/. The test currently costs $259, but there may be a coupon code listed on the site to reduce the price.

Real Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test Reviews and Average Rating

There are almost 900 different reviews for the Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test on their website. It has a 96 percent satisfaction rating. Many people found out what their food triggers were, allowing them to eliminate those foods and reduce symptoms. Some people thought they knew what was bothering them, only to find out it was something they hadn’t considered. It seems this test allows you to put the pieces together regarding your health and what you should be eating.

Unfortunately, there were a few reviews from people that felt they already knew they were sensitive to a specific food and the test did not show a positive rating as a result.

Alternatives Compared to Everlywell’s Food Sensitivity Test

There are a few different food sensitivity tests on the market that you can consider if you’re looking for something different than what Everlywell has to offer. These following test kits vary in price and what they provide. Some of them test other things in addition to food sensitivities.

Ombre Gut Health Test

The Ombre Gut Health Test paints a very accurate picture of what’s going on inside of your gut. Your sample will be tested to see what types of bacteria are living in your microbiome (both good and bad). The test will also assess what foods you should and should not be eating. They also provide you with access to probiotics that are recommended based on your results.

Viome Gut Health Test

Viome’s Gut Health Test Kit focuses on the activity that is present in your gut so you understand what the health of your microbiome looks like. You receive an integrative functional health score that will guide the foods and supplements you should be using. Your provided results include information on optimizing your digestive process, food absorption and much more.

Flore Gut Health Test

The Flore Gut Health Test Kit is designed to reduce symptoms such as bloating, gas and constipation. You can increase your food tolerances, avoid foods that bother you and regulate your bowel movements with the results and guidance provided. They also offer probiotics and supplements based on your results. There are other tests available through Flore, including a research test kit for patients with autism.

The Bottom Line: Is It Legit?

Knowing what we know about gut health, it’s plausible that you can learn a lot from a food sensitivity test kit. Food allergy tests use IgE criteria. These tests look at immunoglobulin antibodies to see if your body reacts to certain foods or allergens. When you have a food sensitivity test performed, the test looks at the presence of IgG antibodies. IgG blood tests have not been proven to accurately identify food sensitivities, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be used.

It’s a good idea to closely look at why you want to have a food sensitivity test performed. If you suspect that you have a legitimate food allergy, you should seek proper allergy testing and guidance from a medical professional. If you have a life-threatening allergy, you’ll need to have a care plan in place if you were to experience a sudden reaction (use of an epinephrine pen, etc.). If you have ruled out allergies and still want to understand more about how your gut is reacting to what you eat, it makes sense to research and purchase a food sensitivity test kit. The Everlywell test is very popular, as are the other test kits that we talked about as alternatives.

Tips for Success from the RD

If you find out that you have food sensitivities, there are some steps that you should take to address this issue. Of course you need to remove the trigger food from your diet, but there are other things to take into consideration as well.

Read Food Labels

On every package of food that you pick up off the grocery store shelf, there will be a list of ingredients. These ingredients are included in that food. Look for foods that you are sensitive to. You should also educate yourself on the different labels and names that are sometimes used for those triggers. For example, people who have a sensitivity to mono sodium glutamate should also know that the ingredient is often listed as MSG in a product.

Pay Attention to Cross Contamination

An ingredient may not be inside of the product you’re looking at, but there may be a risk of cross contamination during the production process. This is something that’s usually a major issue for people with food allergies, but people with sensitivities may also be affected. If you’re sensitive to egg products, a product that may contain egg or is made on a shared line with egg could still cause symptoms that you’re trying to avoid.

Monitor Your Symptoms

Understand what your symptoms are so you can identify how a food is making you feel. It's also worth knowing what the most common leaky gut symptoms just in case you need to go down that road.

You should know that the same symptoms may not always be present. Consuming a trigger food one time could cause bloating. The next time that you consume that same food, the side effects could be diarrhea or gas. If you have eliminated the right trigger foods, then you should essentially be avoiding any kind of unpleasant side effects. If your symptoms still persist after removing certain foods, there may be something that you’ve missed either with the ingredients or with another sensitive food altogether.