Christopher Barham

“Knowing my intolerances gave me the knowledge on what foods are causing the inflammation”

29-year-old ultra marathon runner, Christopher Barham, had been experiencing brain fog, fatigue and bloating for 9 months.

When asked about how these symptoms affected his life, Christopher said: “It affected my communication with those around me, feeling uncomfortable and lethargic. I was unable to have mental clarity when having day to day conversations with those around me and leading to frustration.”

After seeing his GP and unable to get to the root cause of his symptoms following lifestyle changes, Christopher came across YorkTest online and decided to give it a go.

That’s when he ordered the Premium Food Intolerance Test, with his results indicating that his body was reacting to milk, eggs, yeast wheat and coffee among other ingredients.

When we asked Christopher how he felt after removing these trigger foods, he said he had “enhanced mental clarity, faster cognitive function, increased mental and physical endurance and less symptoms overall.” Christopher saw a gradual improvement in his symptoms after removing his food intolerances as the weeks went by. “From week eight of my intolerance-free diet, I felt noticeably significant changes.”

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. Christopher 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 Christopher’s symptoms and enabled him to resume his active life. When asked about the ellimination process, Christopher found it challenging at first but soon got used to his new diet. “Hard to begin with but once you see results this becomes significantly easier. Similar to when you go to the gym. It becomes addictive when you see the results!”

Christopher found the nutritional consultation “extremely helpful, caring and knowledgeable” and he thought the customer service team were “very helpful”.

When asked how life had changed since taking the test and how he would summarise his experience,  Christopher concluded: “For nearly a year I struggled with my cognitive function and thought it was on the decline not having any understanding that this was due to inflammation within my gut microbiome. Knowing my intolerances gave me the knowledge on what foods are causing the inflammation. Once finding out I was able to eliminate these trigger foods / drinks and really propel in life & this all started by taking a simple food intolerance test with YorkTest!”