I only prick my fingers for science

I’ve always been interested in how what we eat can affect how we feel, how we perform, and even how we sleep. And after fuel (food and water) took me out of several 100 mile races, I got really interested in experimenting with what I was eating, when I was eating it and how it was making me feel. But even with all of my efforts and dedication to fueling better, I really only scratched the surface to discover more about what was going on inside. I did a performance test at Zoom+ Performance which was great and taught me a lot about my body composition but they didn’t actually test me for any food related allergies or sensitivities. In fact, most of my efforts to fuel better for performance (and life in general), were all just a guessing game.

I was very excited by the opportunity to try out EverlyWell’s convenient at home testing kit. I ordered the food sensitivity kit which retails for $199 (much more affordable than any other food sensitivity test I’ve come across to date) and measures the 101 common foods in American Diets including gluten, milk, soy, peanut and avocado. It was a super simple process to order my test and within a week, a neat little package with all of my necessary test materials arrived at my door.

I opened up the box and found:

• A welcome letter and instructions
• The finger pricker (also known as my worst nightmare)
• Testing panel (let’s just call it what it is, the blood spot)
• Band-aids in a cute EverlyWell container
• Alcohol pads (to clean your fingers)
• And a lollipop, of course (and yes, I ate the lollipop)

I looked at everything and thought, ok, this is easy enough. But then when it came time to pricking, I fell apart. My palms started to sweat and I got a little anxious. I put the kit away and thought I’ll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow came and went. And then finally the next day, my husband asked about the test and I realized I needed to just suck it up and get it done. I don’t know what it is about finger pricking but I just don’t like it. I know that it doesn’t really hurt. And I know that it really isn’t that big of a deal. Like what could possibly happen, right?

But for some reason, when it comes time to do it, when the little needle like finger pricker was in front of me, my whole body would clam up, my palms would sweat and I would recoil in fear. I told my husband he was going to have to help me and he happily obliged. I held out my hand to him and as soon as he had the finger pricker near me, my palms started sweating and I reverted back to a toddler, saying (er, whining) I don’t want to as I yanked my arm away. This happened a few times before we were able to get it done.

In all honesty, the key to getting me to cooperate for the finger pricking was having my husband bust up laughing at my expense. I could see from the look on his face and the laughter that he was basically calling me a weenie and I couldn’t stand for that. I closed my eyes, turned away from him and said, ok, do it. 

And it was over just like that. A little sting but nothing to cry or sweat over.What a baby. 🙂

After the finger pricking we tried to drip the blood into the little circles on the testing strip. It said to cover nearly the whole circle but I wasn’t bleeding enough to cover that much of the circle and I knew we were going to have to go for prick #2. You’d think prick #2 wouldn’t be a big deal given I’d just pulled my big girl pants up and did the damn thing but it was the same ordeal.

Once we got the finger pricked, more blood dripping. It still wasn’t a ton of blood (though you would’ve thought so from the drama over pricking my finger in the first place) so we made do with what we had. My husband was holding my finger (squeezing, really) to try and get as much blood out as possible (now that’s love, y’all).

After the blood had runneth dry, we sealed up the testing strip, put the finger pricker in the disposal canister and got it ready to ship back off for my results…and I ate my damn lollipop.

After a few days, I received my test results in my inbox. I simply logged into my account and then looked through my results by category: dairy, fruits, grains, meat, seafood, seeds and nuts, spice, vegetable and other.

And while boring, I am happy to report that I basically have little to no food sensitivities. I can eat all the things, you guys.

Every food I tested for was on the low to mild scale of reactivity meaning no need to eliminate anything. Wahooo!

If you’d like to try EverlyWell’s food sensitivity kit, grab 15% off using the code YOURBESTFOODS at checkout.

I guess if I’ll allow my husband to prick my fingers not once but twice for science…I’d be willing to do almost anything. Because science, I f*ing LOVE you.

SCIENCE!

Stay sweaty and finger pricking awesome friends!

XOXO

Jamie

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by EverlyWell through my partnership with Fit Approach. That being said, all opinions, stories and test results are my own. I truly appreciate all of the brands that support the Sweat Pink community.