In 2019, I started getting red spots on my back. At first, they seemed harmless, but within a couple of months they started spreading. Eventually, the covered my entire back and started turning brown. Needles to say, I was baffled. Multiple trips to the dermatologist yielded no results. I was asked to wash my body with Selsun Blue and cover my back with a steroid cream twice a day, without any improvement.

Around the same time, I started having digestive issues. I was using the bathroom multiple times a day. It seemed like my gut was on overdrive digesting the food. Simply cutting out diary and gluten did not help. Neither did various supplements.

Seeing the level of my frustration, my husband suggested that I do an at home test to find out if there are any foods I am eating that are negatively affecting my body.

There are many different companies to choose from, all of which either require you to send in your stool sample or your blood sample. After a couple days of deliberations and doing research, I decided to go with Everywell, and ordered their Food Sensitivity Test. It works by using your blood sample to determine your immune system’s IgG antibody reactivity to certain foods. The process was really easy and quick. I had my results within 7 days of ordering the test.

And the results were astonishing. It turned out that my body became reactive to the seemingly healthy foods I was eating almost every day: almonds, cashews, eggs, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger, just to name the few. Based on this information, I started an elimination diet. I removed all of the highest offenders from my meals. Garlic was the hardest one, as I put it in everything I cooked. The results of this change, however, we more astonishing than the results of the bloodwork itself. Within a month, my bloating and bathroom issues disappeared. Within two months, the skin on my back started clearing up, and by month three, all of the patches were gone. My family couldn’t believe it, so much so, that my parents, sister, and cousins decided to order the same test.

After my symptoms disappeared, about 3 months or so, I started to slowly reintroduce some of the foods. It took me a year to start eating eggs, as egg whites showed the highest reactivity. However, almost a year and a half into eating “normally”, and I am still symptom free. I do still get occasional bloating, but that is bound to happen to anyone from time to time.

I didn’t want to end this post without pointing out some important things:

• Food sensitivity/reactivity is not the same as food allergy. Food sensitivities are not life threatening. They might happen due to your body lacking an enzyme to digest the particular food. Due to colorants or other additives. Or even when you consume too much of that food. Food allergies on the other hand are immune-mediated reactions to food and can be fatal. Even by having an airborne contact with the allergen, a person can go into anaphylaxis.
• In most cases, elimination diets should not be implemented long term, usually 1-3 months. When ready to reintroduce foods, you should do it one by one (adding one food every week or two) to see if anything is still causing any symptoms.
• Do not obsess over your results. Believe me, I have done that, and was afraid to start eating certain foods again. Turns out, for no reason. At the end of the day, food is not your enemy.
• Our bodies are constantly changing. What worked for you few ears or even months ago, might not work for you right now. It is important to listen to your body and pay attention to the signals it is sending you.

I really hope you will find this post helpful. It is not sponsored by any means. I am simply sharing my experience as I hope that this will help another person find answers they have been searching for. I love biohacking my body (on emotional, physical, and spiritual level) and sharing my life lessons with you.

XOXO,