Tom Bell

“I feel empowered and informed on how food can impact my day to day wellbeing”

41-year-old Health and Safety Manager, Tom Bell, was dealing with a range of unpleasant symptoms including migraines, feeling bloated and experiencing itching and warm senzations in his feet. Tom had suffered from migraines all his life, while the rest of his symptoms became more prevalent in the last decade.

When asked about how these symptoms affected his life, Tom said: “The migraines were completely debilitating, preventing me from doing anything other than lie down in a dark room. The bloating left me feeling lethargic and the itching prevented good sleep. I stopped running due to the itching feet believing it was related to sport activity.”

Unable to get to the root cause of his symptoms with his healthcare provider, Tom decided to try YorkTest, after hearing about the test through his work and pay benefits website.

That’s when he ordered the Premium Food Sensitivity Test, with his results indicating that his body was reacting to cow’s milk, eggs and wheat. While he suspected an existing intolerance to dairy, Tom was very surprised to find out he was also reacting to eggs and wheat.

When we asked Tom how he felt after removing these trigger foods, he said he was “able to resume running which is important due to being sat for long periods of time during my working life. And I am no longer sat in meetings scratching my legs after having a hot chocolate.” Tom saw an improvement in his symptoms after removing his food sensitivities within a few days.

Our test analyses your IgG reactions to 200 food and drinks – from common ingredients like gluten and cow’s milk, to health superfoods like kale and quinoa.

The process involves sending a finger-prick blood sample back to YorkTest. Tom then received his results within 7-days through the Wellness Hub, in an easy-to-read traffic light-based format.

Eliminating the trigger foods and sticking to his diet plan has helped clear Tom’s symptoms and enabled him to resume his active life. When asked about his nutritional consultation, Tom found it “very helpful, the level of product knowledge and where to purchase specialist foods was excellent.”

When asked how life had changed since taking the test and how he would summarize his experience,  Tom concluded: “I have been able to control my exposure to my intolerances and significantly reduce debilitating migraines which limited day to day family and work life. I feel empowered and informed on how food can impact my day to day wellbeing.”