{"id":190,"date":"2018-09-21T10:51:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T10:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/de\/case-study\/amy-harding\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T11:48:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T11:48:36","slug":"amy-harding","status":"publish","type":"reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/de\/case-study\/amy-harding\/","title":{"rendered":"Amy Harding"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>\u201cKnowing the cause of my IBS-type symptoms has changed my life and I feel amazing\u201d<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>35-year-old Amy Harding suffered from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/food-intolerance-advice\/symptoms\/bloating\/\">bloating<\/a>, abdominal pain, wind and irregular bowels for 10 years<\/li>\n<li>Her mood was also affected as sometimes she was unable to go to the gym or exercise due to feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed<\/li>\n<li>Amy, who works as a mental health nurse, decided to go vegan in January but by the third month, her stomach felt worse than ever before<\/li>\n<li>She tried various IBS medications, colonics, pro\/prebiotics and charcoal tablets, but her GP felt there was nothing that Amy or they could do to solve her symptoms<\/li>\n<li>She came across YorkTest after searching food intolerances* on the internet and decided to take the next step with us<\/li>\n<li>Her YorkTest results revealed that Amy was intolerant to various <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/intolerance\/nut\/\">nuts<\/a>, lentils, wheat and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/advice\/chickpea-intolerance-or-allergy-symptoms-and-signs\/\">chickpeas<\/a>, along with soy and yeast<\/li>\n<li>After a few days, Amy felt a difference. She now wears fitted clothes in the evening and feels more confident, especially in front of her boyfriend<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Amy-Harding-2-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Amy Harding yorktest\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" \/>35-year-old Amy Harding had been suffering from <strong>IBS-type symptoms<\/strong> for over <strong>10 years<\/strong>, including bloating, abdominal pain, wind and <strong>irregular bowels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had been <strong>diagnosed with IBS<\/strong> for around 10 years. My mood could really be affected. Sometimes I <strong>couldn&#8217;t go to the gym<\/strong> or exercise because I felt too uncomfortable or <strong>embarrassed<\/strong>.\u201d Amy says.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of her symptoms, the 35-year-old wasn\u2019t able to<strong> live life to the full<\/strong>. \u201cI sometimes missed going out with friends because my stomach was sore. To prevent this, I would try and <strong>eat very little<\/strong> during the day which left me feeling moody and down. I could never go for a meal with my friends in case I bloated or got wind\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>Amy, who works as a <strong>mental health nurse<\/strong>, sought advice from her GP and tried various IBS-type medications to try to <strong>relieve her symptoms<\/strong>. \u201cI had tried eating little and often, even just eating soups. I had tried colonics, pro\/prebiotics, charcoal tablets. My GP just felt there was nothing that I or they could do. <strong>I gave up<\/strong> talking to my GP after a few years,\u201d Amy says.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Amy-Harding-2.jpg\" alt=\"Amy Harding yorktest\" width=\"350\" height=\"337\" \/>Wondering if her symptoms could be due to her diet, Amy tried to cut out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/intolerance\/gluten\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">gluten<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/intolerance\/dairy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">milk<\/a> but her symptoms continued. \u201cI decided to <strong>go vegan<\/strong> in January, something I had thought about for a while. I thought I would feel great by the third month but if anything, <strong>my stomach felt worse<\/strong>,\u201d Amy recalls.<\/p>\n<p>It was at this point where Amy decided to research the link between <strong>her symptoms and her diet<\/strong>. After searching for food intolerances on the Internet and discovering YorkTest, she decided to order a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/products\/food-drink-scan-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YorkTest Food Intolerance* Test<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>YorkTest offers a <strong>fast track elimination diet<\/strong> by analysing IgG reactions to over <strong>200 <\/strong>food and drink ingredients. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/products\/food-drink-scan-test\/\">The Premium Food Intolerance* Test<\/a>, which involves sending a finger prick sample to the company\u2019s laboratories, revealed that Amy was intolerant to various <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/allergy\/nut\/\"><strong>nuts<\/strong><\/a>, <strong>lentils<\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/intolerance\/wheat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wheat<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/blog\/chickpea-intolerance-or-allergy-symptoms-and-signs\/\">chickpeas<\/a><\/strong>, along with <strong>soy<\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/allergy\/yeast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>yeast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Here at YorkTest, we understand that eliminating foods can be a daunting task, which is why we provide one<strong> 30-minute call<\/strong>\u00a0with one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/our-experts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>registered nutritional therapists<\/strong><\/a>. They work with you to optimise your diet with nutritious alternatives to <strong>help you avoid restrictive dieting<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe nutritional therapist was great and gave me lots of useful sites to find further information. She helped me look at <strong>alternative vegan protein sources<\/strong>. Obviously eating out is a bit more difficult &#8211; I&#8217;m the awkward diner who is avoiding wheat as well as being vegan- but there are <strong>lots of foods I can\u00a0<\/strong><strong>have<\/strong>,\u201d Amy explains.<\/p>\n<p>Within just a few short days, Amy noticed improvements in her symptoms. \u201cI can honestly say <strong>I feel pretty amazing now<\/strong>. I have cut out my reaction foods and limit my borderline foods as much as I can. I don&#8217;t get anywhere near as much wind and bloating. I can eat out and <strong>I feel happier in my mood<\/strong>,\u201d Amy says.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Amy-Harding-3.jpg\" alt=\"Amy Harding yorktest\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" \/>The 35-year-old says \u201cas a vegan, being intolerant to lentils and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/blog\/chickpea-intolerance-or-allergy-symptoms-and-signs\/\">chickpeas<\/a> is quite unfortunate but with the advice from YorkTest, I&#8217;m managing to still <strong>build muscle and keep fit<\/strong>. Everyone who I have spoken to has been really helpful\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Amy is now able to socialise more and has also noticed a difference to her body fat. \u201cI feel I can wear fitted clothes in the evening- without starving myself all day. I feel more confident in front of my boyfriend. I have been having my body fat measured in the gym and have been able to <strong>lose fat and gain muscle<\/strong>. I&#8217;m currently a healthy BMI with a <strong>body fat of 16.5%<\/strong>,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>The mental health nurse has taken a <strong>regimented approach<\/strong> to her elimination diet but decided to try to eat one of her trigger foods. \u201c<strong>I slipped up<\/strong> and risked some vegan sausages- containing wheat. The next morning my <strong>stomach just didn&#8217;t feel right<\/strong>,\u201d Amy explains.<\/p>\n<p>Amy is thrilled to finally get some answers to her IBS-type symptoms and feels she is able to live life more comfortably. \u201c<strong>I feel so much better<\/strong>. I was unsure if I could afford the test and if it was worth it, but now I have done it <strong>I&#8217;m so pleased<\/strong>. Knowing the cause of my IBS-type symptoms has <strong>changed my life<\/strong> and I feel amazing!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Amy followed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/products\/food-drink-scan-test\/\">YorkTest Premium Food Intolerance* Test<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/our-experts\/jackie-lynch\/\">Jackie Lynch<\/a> helped Amy to optimise her diet. Read her nutritional therapist bio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/our-experts\/jackie-lynch\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Knowing the cause of my IBS-type symptoms has changed my life and I feel amazing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":191,"template":"","review_category":[25],"class_list":["post-190","reviews","type-reviews","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","review_category-ibs-verdauungsprobleme"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reviews"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"review_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_category?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}