Episode 3 - Food Sensitivity Testing… Yay Or Nay? (Full Transcript)
This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 3 - Food Sensitivity Testing… Yay Or Nay?.
Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.
Amy: 0:00
The reason why I really liked this is there's no additives. There's no added sugar, and there's no sulfates. And for me that's great because I love red wine, but I have a hard time drinking it because it gives me headaches for sure. So when I drink this one, I do not get a headache the next day Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.
Katie: 0:36
Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are
Amy: 0:41
sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started.
Katie: 0:52
This week, we have a lot of fun discussing our experience trying the Everlywell food sensitivity test. I was drawn to it because I seem to be intolerant to almost anything these days. So we gave it a try the results were interesting.
Amy: 1:06
Definitely listen in on this one because I reveal my results to Katie, and it's very surprising. So enjoy the show. Welcome back to Nirvana sisters. Hi, Katie.
Katie: 1:17
So today, we thought we would start things off a little differently kind of just to set the tone and to get us in our groove and have some fun, we want to kick it off with our weekly nirvana. So ame What's your weekly nirvana? How what happened to you this week?
Amy: 1:35
So my weekly nirvana is that I have been helping my dad organize his office because he's got a beautiful home office. And he's got a lot of stuff that he's collected over the years. That's great, but it's kind of all over the place. And every time I walk in there, I just get so cluttered because it's just like these books and all these pictures, and it's great stuff. But it's just so cluttered. I'm like, I don't know how it works in here. So every time I go in there, I'm like, Alright, I want to reorganize this office, because you know, I love organizing and doing all that stuff. So finally, we did it this week. And we pulled out all his books in his bookshelf, there's probably hundreds of books. And so what I did is I put them on my parents kitchen table, and I organized them by color, and by size. And then we did the whole bookshelf. And it's so cool. And it looks so good. I'll I'll show you the picture of the before and after. But it was just fun because my dad loved it because of course he had like one on one time with me. And then he also was telling me about each book. He'd be like, Oh, this book I got 20 years ago when I was doing this job and he was just kind of going through it. And then he was just saying like, all these books represent his whole life and all these books he bought and he's just really proud of his collection. So anyway, it's just fun to spend time with him and organize it. So I would say that was my nirvana of the week. That's so nice. It sounds like Yeah, it's fun. I can't wait for you to see it. What about you?
Katie: 2:55
You know, I was sitting here thinking about it. It's been kind of a rough week we started homeschool this week. And as you know it just really throws a wrench into your whole routine. So I've been kind of digging trying to find my Nirvana just because I felt like I was high stress all week but honestly, I think that the one thing that caused me so much stress actually produced or Nirvana and that was that I didn't have to wake up five days this week at 6am to get out of bed get Madeline ready for school drive her to school the whole thing like that was one little perk to NTI was that we can our mornings were just like a little bit more chill and relaxed and instead of having like a rush breakfast with her we were a little bit more rested and could enjoy breakfast together. starve to death Nice. So yeah, I think I would say that that was it. It was it was much nicer way than our usual like get up and go and out the door.
Amy: 3:47
Right rushing, you know, that's a good one. Yeah, my kids have both been home as well. They're I think they're home until mid January. So same thing or morning's are a bit more relaxed, which is nice. Yeah. So good. So this week, we are going to be talking about a company called everlywell. And for those of you that don't know what it is, I'm gonna have Katie talk about it and I will let you use the reins on this.
Katie: 4:12
So everlywell is a food sensitivity testing company and I was super excited to give it a try What kind of got me in the direction of joining the test. As you know I have digestive issues. I react to a lot of foods I always have and I was doing this insane elimination diet called autoimmune protocol AIP which is like the gold standard for finding out what you're sensitive to. But it's so intense. I barely lasted a week you're supposed to do it for a month. The AIP diet is like no gluten, no dairy, no grains, no legumes, nuts, seeds, coffee, alcohol, seeds, spices, various spices like black pepper and nightshade eggs. I mean, well, so I was trying to do that. And the first week it was great. My stomach felt great and I could tell that I was eliminating issues, but it ended up being just torture. It was the parameters how restrictive it was was way too hard on me. So cue the everlywell test, which just kind of felt like a shortcut. Essentially what it does, it measures your IgG antibody response to certain types of foods. What that is, is your body's immune reaction, the delayed immune reaction to food versus like an immediate reaction, an immediate reaction would be an IgE, which is a food allergy. So there's a difference, right food. People go into anaphylactic shock causes hives, right? food sensitivity is delayed, so you could anywhere from instantly two hours two days later, develop brain fog, bloat, fatigue, joint pain, headaches, acne, digestive issues, migraines. So it can be very, very disruptive to your life, obviously, that people don't necessarily think about it, maybe because it's not an allergic response. It's hard to pinpoint which which food is is giving you the issues.
Amy: 6:13
That's interesting. So is the idea that if you are sensitive to a certain kind of food, you would then eliminate that and see how you feel based on that.
Katie: 6:23
Yeah. But being that these are delayed responses, it's hard to know what you're sensitive to, right. So what would happen with me, for example, I would eat eggs for breakfast. And I always thought, oh, eggs are fine, I don't react to it, I can eat it. And my stomach is still flat, and I feel great. And then in the afternoon, maybe like six hours later, I started having all these digestive issues. And I'm thinking, Wait, that must have been from a snack I just ate or for lunch. Meanwhile, after eliminating eggs while I was doing the the AIP diet, I realized that I was in fact reacting to eggs like six. That's
Amy: 6:55
interesting.
Katie: 6:57
Yeah. So yeah, having said that, the everlywell test, you know, I've done a lot of research on it. And there isn't a ton of efficacy behind the IgG testing. So there are skeptics, but I have talked to people directly that have done the everlywell testing and had great success with it, like, eliminated the foods, got rid of all their digestive complaints, lost 10 pounds, really was the absolute life game changer for them. And then I've talked to people that it wasn't super effective for. So I don't know, with as difficult as the AP test was I just thought alright, this is nuts. Like, let me let's give it a try. Right. Like, let me invest in it and give it a try. It's not cheap. There's two different tests. Right? You did the food sensitivity test that measures 96 foods, and I did the comprehensive food sensitivity test that measures 204 foods. My test was like $259 I think yours was what like
Amy: 7:55
159 159. Yep. Yeah.
Katie: 7:58
But you know, I think it's worth it. What did you think about the experience of like, the actual process of the test?
Amy: 8:06
Yeah. So when you introduced me to this company, I think I had heard of it, but I hadn't really looked at it so much. But I thought it was a cool experience. So just from actually ordering the test, which is really easy to do, the website is clean and super user friendly, easy to do, ordered the test got it a few days later. And the packaging the way that they do it is very simple. You open it up, it has very clear directions on how to do it. It has a few things in there. It has lancets to do your blood, it has gauze pads, it has directions, really simple and easy directions. So I took everything out and followed the directions little by little very simple directions. The only issue I had is Katy nose because I caught her in the middle of myself doing this I had a really hard time getting my blood out. So I use the lancet to prick my finger. But I like could barely get the blood out. I was like pinching my finger to get the blood on like what's going on with me. And they tell you to like move around a little bit and get your blood going before but I couldn't get enough out you basically have to at least for my test, I had to put it on five different circles. And I could only fill like two of the circle. So then I was like trying to do it again. So then I use the other Landsat and I like broke that one. So then I couldn't do it. And so they tell you not to do this. But I did it. My husband came because he's really good with this stuff and helped me do it. And he just put a pin in my finger and that helps it bleed. And then I got the rest. So I know you're not supposed to do that. So don't Don't copy me. But it did work. And I got all the blood. And so essentially, you just put your blood on these things you'd like put it in an envelope and send it back. So it was super easy to do other than actually getting the blood because I'm not good at that. And I called Katie in the middle of going crazy. And then she talked me through it. How was your experience doing it?
Katie: 9:44
It was fine. It wasn't as rough as yours. I had to collect for I think eight spots. I mean, I had to try a few different times and a few different fingers. But I got my blood flowing and they worked out But I thought it was fine. I had the turnover time was a little slow. But I think that has more to do with, you know how things are going with the post office and everything with males just moving slowly right now.
Amy: 10:13
Right? And all the people getting testing done, etc. Yeah, yeah, but they're
Katie: 10:17
there. The company is super cool. They offer so many different types of tests. They have hormonal test and thyroid testing. And now they're even offering a COVID at home at home COVID test. So
Amy: 10:27
that's interesting.
Katie: 10:28
Cool. Yeah,
Amy: 10:29
yeah. So Katie, and I have not shared our results with each other. So we're going to do the big reveal on the podcast to talk about what our results were.
Katie: 10:39
So I want to hear yours first. Okay.
Amy: 10:42
So I get this email. It says your results are in I'm like all psyched. I, I click on my results. And here's what it says I'm just gonna read it to you. It says your tests showed an IgG reactivity above normal to 32 foods. Foods in the high moderate or mild reactivity ranges are good candidates for an elimination diet to help identify your food sensitivities. So I was like shocked because I don't really have any sensitivities to food, at least that I know of. I mean, I've gotten a few things done in the past a few blood tests just with normal blood testing. And doctors have told me different things but nothing major. So I was very surprised, but I do have a theory, but we'll talk about at the end. So I'm gonna go through the things that were my high reactivity, my moderate and my mild so the high reactivity, which is it says here, high reactivity foods are measured as the strongest immune response in your blood sample. Not all high reactivity foods cause symptoms, but they may be the most likely to. So these are good options to target in an elimination diet. So one with cow's milk. One was egg white, and one was yogurt. So I thought that's interesting because I actually don't drink milk a lot. I usually drink almond milk or hemp milk or something like that. But I do have eggs a lot and yogurt I had been eating more recently, but that was a very new thing. So I'll tell you my theory in a second. Okay, so the moderate reactivity says it's moderate moderate reactivity foods class two foods can cause symptoms as well. So these were almond, egg yolk, mustard seed, pineapple, rye and wheat. Interesting. And then the mild reactivity foods were. So these say my own reactivity foods create a smaller immune reaction, but they can be sneaky. They can be a sneaky symptom. causer. So these were banana, barley grain bell pepper, black walnut, Bran, cantaloupe, cashew, chicken, cinnamon, Coco. Coconut, eggplant, garlic, gluten, green, pea, kelp, mozzarella, oats and orange. Oh, wow. Oh, wait, there's a few more I'm sorry. Net, soybean tuna and winter squash. And then it said all the rest were normal. reactivities.
Katie: 13:09
That's wild. First of all, because you eat cheese?
Amy: 13:12
Mm hmm. Right. Yeah. I mean, yeah, not a lot. But I do like you
Katie: 13:16
can without the problem. And what was on the what? You had cheese? I've seen you yogurt.
Amy: 13:24
Yeah, the high reactivity were three things cow's milk, egg white and yogurt. Egg whites.
Katie: 13:30
So I feel like you never have a ton of complaints about your stomach.
Amy: 13:36
Yeah, I don't know. It's so weird. And then the moderates were the Allman egg yolk, mustard seed, pineapple, rye, wheat, and then the mild. There was like a million of them, which was interesting. But
Katie: 13:47
it's also not just stuff. It doesn't just cause stomach symptoms either, though, like you do get headaches and you
Amy: 13:53
do get migraines. Yeah. All right. The thing is, is I've, I've eliminated dairy, probably. I mean, recently, I've been having dairy again, because I've been eating more yogurt like Greek yogurt. But in the past, I've eliminated dairy for like a year. And I don't really think I felt any different. I mean, granted, I didn't like do a journal every day to say how I was feeling. But I don't remember feeling that different by cutting out dairy. That's why I've sort of introduced it again lately, but I don't really have much dairy. It's very limited. It's really just in yogurt. And so yeah, that was interesting. And then also the moderate reactivity for almond because I drink almond milk. So I have this theory, and I don't know if it's true, but my husband says this a lot too, because he's gotten a lot of these food tests done. It feels like sometimes when you're eating a lot of one food. It shows up in these tests as being sensitive. So for example, I had moderate reactivity to pineapple. I never eat pineapple, but in the last few weeks I've been getting it because I've been seeing fresh pineapple at the store and it looks good. And so I've been eating it. So I'm like, is it just showing up in my blood because I've been eating a lot of it and same thing with almonds like an almond milk or eggs, because I've been eating more eggs and yogurt. So I'm like, is it related to that? Is it pulling that? Or is it just random? I don't know it. I just think it's weird.
Katie: 15:08
That's interesting that you say that because that is like the number one reason why there's not a lot of validity to these testing is for that exact reason. Because people, the more exposure you have to something, the more likely you're going to respond to it. So that if you do any research on the IgG test, that's like the one thing that pops up that affects the efficacy of the testing. So yeah, it's totally possible. It blows my mind because I swear, I think I think you got my results and I got your tell me yours. I came back with like nothing, no, a no high reaction, no moderate reaction, all mild. And all it was was black tea, which I never drink clothes, which I don't use but they're like sneaky can be in things. Cow's milk, you know, I don't do dairy. Emmental cheese, dairy again, garlic I eat every day, almost at every single meal. So if that's like low lying, and always there, I could see why can always cause a problem. marjoram which is not something that I eat, but I found that it's in sausages. And sometimes I eat like chicken breakfast sausage, Pacific oyster, processed peas and yogurt. So, you know, the dairy stuff is spot on. I can't handle dairy at all.
Amy: 16:30
Yeah, and you don't, you know,
Katie: 16:32
I don't eat it. Yeah. But the other stuff like I was super shocked that eggs weren't on there. Because from the one week that I did the AIP diet, I without a doubt realized that I was having an issue with eggs, like when I eliminated eliminated eggs, I my acne went away. My stomach inflammation went away, like my digestion got better, but then it didn't show up on the test. So weird. I know. It's tough. You know, I really want to be a huge advocate for this everlywell testing. And maybe it is totally spot on. I haven't gone through and done the full elimination yet. Like I ate garlic this morning. You and
Amy: 17:11
me. That's what I was thinking. I'm like, should I eliminate cow's milk, egg white and yogurt for the next few weeks and see how I feel I just haven't gotten there yet. So I think I think I may do that at some point. And then I think what I do need to do though, is write a little bit of a journal or write something in my phone to say like, I don't know, do I feel bloated? Do I feel this to feel that? Because I do feel bloated? A lot. I do have to say, and I'm not like, quote, as regular as I probably should be. So it could be related. But I don't know. So I may try it. I may try. Like I don't, I don't want to be skeptical in the company, because you said you've heard a lot of people done really well with this. So it is possible. And I did have a test once from another doctor, like an integrative health doctor who said that had a mild sensitivity to dairy and gluten. So I'm sure there is some sort of sensitivity, but I think I really need to do more of an elimination diet and report back on this podcast.
Katie: 18:06
And I think that's exactly what we should do. I say after the holidays, Let's enjoy ourselves. Yeah, exactly. Let's enjoy the food and deal with the digestive discomfort and headaches for a couple more weeks. That was super healthy January and do elimination, and then we should report back.
Amy: 18:25
So would we eliminate just the high reactivity foods or moderate? I guess I could do the high in the moderate and see,
Katie: 18:31
yeah, why don't you do the high and moderate and then I'll do all of the ones that I reacted to. And also I should add a really well does have a disclaimer that if you take steroids, it could affect your testing. And as you know, I take glucocorticoid steroids from disease. So you know, again, like I want to be an advocate for them. So there it could, in fact be that, you know, the steroids are were blocking a lot of my reactions. And that's why I came back with little to no reactivity. But yeah, I still want to give it a go. I'm going to do it in January.
Amy: 19:03
Yeah, though, it'll be fun to report back. And also they do as Katie was mentioning, they do have a lot of other tests, which I think would be interesting to have a hormone test, they have a COVID test they have, there was like a bunch of them. And I think the what the other tests that they have are probably a little bit more, I would guess straightforward. I think food sensitivity is hard, because it's really hard to like eliminate one thing and be like, do I feel this way because of this food? Or is it the weather? Or is it this or it's just more subjective? I feel like unless it's an allergy to your point, but I feel like some of the other tests might be more straightforward because it's more science sciency I don't know that's probably doesn't make sense. But absolutely like the thyroid testing
Katie: 19:40
is is just straight up blood hormonal testing. That will mean you can have your doctor run for the reasons why people would maybe go through everlywell for like thyroid and hormonal testing versus your doctor. I'm not 100% sure either that just maybe convenience. We might not have that great of insurance. Yeah, so yeah. So
Amy: 19:58
yeah, and then and then It's interesting because then so they give you the results. And then after they give you the results, they say, you know, decide what's next. And then they kind of tell you how to do an elimination diet. And they give you steps to do that. And they have a lot of Q and A's. And then the other thing that I thought was nice is they have, I don't know, if it's, I think it's doctors you can speak with that can help you through the process that you can talk to a little bit more. They have it as clinical and lab teams that you can talk to about questions about your specific specific results. And then the other thing I don't know, Katie, if you saw this, I printed this out, I'm gonna show it to you. They you can print out a report like a more kind of clinical report for your doctor. So I actually like the way that they do this for, for regular consumers, they break it out in a really easy way to read, like, they just say, you know, here's your high reactivity, here's your moderate, here's your mild and list out the things like all the foods, but you could also send this to your doctor, and it's printed out like a lab report. So it shows which foods are abnormal and normal. So I think like I could send this to my doctor and talk through it with her, which I think is great. So my review of this is a mixed review. I think it was interesting, and we'll continue talking about it because we're gonna do this fit elimination and see how we feel. Keep our food journals.
Katie: 21:11
Yeah, definitely. Okay, that was great. Now, Amy, let's hear about your review this week. I'm excited to hear it.
Amy: 21:19
Yeah, so I'm doing a review on a company called usual. U S, u a l so usual wine. And I discovered this brand over quarantine. I feel like I discovered so many brands for quarantine. But this is a company that produces wine in California. And they do it by the bottle, but it's a nice large glass by the bottle. So it's for those days when you want to have a glass of wine, but you don't want to open up a whole bottle because you're not going to be drinking the bottle but you just want a nice glass so they sell red Rosae Brut, and they come out with different kinds of types of wine throughout their season. But the reason why I really like this is there's no additives. There's no added sugar, and there's no sulfates, and for me that's great because I love red wine, but I have a hard time drinking it because it gives me headaches, for sure. So when I drink this one, I do not get a headache the next day, which is awesome. And it's really good wine, the red wine actually, they describe it as it having notes of cocoa dark cherry and I don't even know how to pronounce this word, cassis CSSI s, but it's really good. It almost tastes like a like a Cabernet Sauvignon or something but a lighter version, and it's really yummy. And then the rose is delish, and that you can buy as well. So essentially, it comes in a box of either 612 or you can get larger cases of it. But a box of six is $48. And a box of 12 is $96. And what I like to do is I'll buy like six reds and six roses, and I just put them in my fridge. And when I want to have a glass of wine, I do it and I feel really good drinking it because it doesn't have that extra sugar or it doesn't have the sulfates there's no additives. So it's really clean, really well made. And I love it. So I have been recommending it to everyone. I talked to you because it's super yummy. And I love it.
Katie: 23:13
It sounds delicious. And if you break that down, that's like $8 A glass of wine. I mean, that's cheaper than what you would get at a restaurant. Right? You know exactly.
Amy: 23:23
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. And I forgot to mention the glass that it comes in is really beautiful. So it's just a very chic experience the whole thing. Yeah, I have to send you some so you can try it. So highly recommends that glass of wine on a cold, chilly night love it and I will be drinking it all winter long.
Katie: 23:47
So something different this week, we wanted to send you off with a mantra to carry through your week and help bring you some nirvana. And to keep us in mind. So you can tune back to the next episode. Take this one, say it to yourself and just you know, push through the next week with a smile on your face. Because here it is, you will get to where you need to be.
Amy: 24:12
Oh, I love that. I like that I'm gonna I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna listen to that this week. I'm gonna say that to myself, and it's very relevant for what we talked about today. Exact so thank you for listening to today's episode. And cheers.
Katie: 24:27
We'll see you next time.
Amy: 24:28
Bye friends. Hi, thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.