“I just feel so relieved that I got answers I desperately needed which gave me the chance to manage my diet and symptoms”
For months, Natalie Taylor had been suffering with constant stomach aches and bloating after eating. Her symptoms also affected her sleeping patterns which led to many restless nights. The 30 year old Operations Administrator had been unwell most days since becoming aware of her symptoms and could not work out the reason behind her general malaise.
Natalie explained how these symptoms had affected her since taking note of them, “I would get bloating after eating any trigger foods which was often painful. If it was something for tea then I would struggle getting to sleep because of discomfort or wake up in the night in pain. I’d also wake up bloated in the morning.”
“It meant I had to wear different clothes because certain tight trousers/shirts would be painful. I became fearful of eating certain meals because I couldn’t actually pinpoint the problem so didn’t know when I’d be ill and I started eating really plain meals of items which I’d decided were safe.”
Because of her symptoms, Natalie also stopped enjoying her regular hobbies. “I really struggled with combat class, which I do weekly, when I was bloated. I lacked energy and it was uncomfortable to move, so the last thing I wanted to do was 45 minutes of cardio!”
Natalie came across YorkTest, after volunteering at a theatre where a fellow colleague suggested she try a food intolerance test.
After taking a Premium Food Intolerance Test, Natalie found she had IgG reactivity to a number of different foods including yeast and coffee. Commenting on her results, Natalie said “I was surprised because it’s a very specific ingredient and I didn’t think it was present in that many things besides bread (oh, how wrong I was!).”
After eliminating her trigger ingredients, Natalie saw visible improvements almost immediately. “I felt better within a few days, I stopped having the immediate bloating after eating, I stopped experiencing stomach pain and I stopped waking up bloated.”
Talking about her experience with trying to eliminate multiple foods from her diet, Natalie said “I found it difficult at first, it turns out a lot of things have yeast in them, especially meat substitutes (I follow a vegan diet) which meant I had to go through every item I owned and check the ingredients list and give things away! I became a master of reading labels and making soda bread and soon it was second nature. It’s all still a learning curve but I’m less scared of trial and error now.”
YorkTest analyses your IgG reactions to 200 food and drinks – from common ingredients like Cow’s Milk, Gluten and Egg, to health superfoods like kale and quinoa.
The process, which involves sending a finger-prick blood sample to the company’s laboratories revealed Natalie’s intolerances. Following on from the test, the YorkTest Customer Service Team are on hand to answer any queries and offer follow-up advice.
When asked how she found her experience with Customer Service Natalie said, “I can’t fault them at all, everyone I ever spoke with gave excellent customer service and was a pleasure to speak with.”
Similarly, Natalie found the nutritional consultation helpful, “My consultant was extremely knowledgeable and kind. I’d made a list of questions before the call and asked her every one (or some were answered for me during her initial explanation) and we spoke through all the worries I had and she suggested some additional resources.”
Summing up her experience with YorkTest, Natalie added, “I now don’t have to worry about certain foods being risky because I actually have the answers. I can consciously choose to eat something I know may be a trigger and make the decision if it’s worth it or not.”
