“Way Better! More Energetic and No Mouth Ulcers!”
34-year-old tour operator Sin Hue Tan had been through a rough few months. After a stomach bug while travelling in Morocco, she tested positive for H. pylori: a bacterial infection that caused ongoing acid reflux, nausea, and vomiting multiple times a day. Her energy levels dropped significantly, and painful mouth ulcers became a constant part of her life.
These symptoms weren’t just frustrating; they were debilitating. The mouth ulcers made it painful to speak, eat, smile, or even sleep. Regular vomiting and bowel issues meant she couldn’t go into the office, despite her hybrid role requiring her to be there three times a week. After a full day’s work from home, she had no energy left for the sports and exercise she once enjoyed.
Desperate for answers, Sin Hue turned to her GP… again and again. From January to June 2025, she visited her doctor almost every week. Despite her persistence and repeated requests for food intolerance or allergy testing, her symptoms were dismissed as hormonal, mental health-related, or simply unexplained. She was told to “keep a food diary” and left without real support.
Frustrated, she took matters into her own hands and found YorkTest online.
She ordered a test in June 2025, and the results were eye-opening. Sin Hue discovered she was intolerant to several foods, including:
• Cow’s milk
• Egg whites
• Gluten (gliadin)
• Wheat
• Yeast
• Bean sprouts
• Turnip
• Jasmine
• Bamboo
• Water chestnuts
While she had suspected a possible issue with cow’s milk, the rest, especially the Asian ingredients, were a total surprise.
Removing so many foods from her diet wasn’t easy. She described the process as “insanely hard and depressing” at times, given how many of her favourite meals were now off-limits. But with guidance from her YorkTest nutritional consultant, who reassured her to focus only on the red-category foods (and not the orange ones), she felt more supported and less overwhelmed.
Within eight weeks of changing her diet, things started to turn around. The vomiting stopped. Her energy levels improved. Perhaps most importantly, the mouth ulcers disappeared.
She was able to return to exercising again, which was something she hadn’t had the strength to do in months. Her weight began to stabilise too, having previously dropped to a BMI of just 18.4.
Now, Sin Hue says she feels “way better, way more energetic and no mouth ulcers!” Though it saddens her to avoid foods she once loved, she’s grateful to finally feel like herself again.
