Louisa Kennedy

“I am able to go about normal life, including school, with much more confidence”

11-year-old Louisa Kennedy had experienced symptoms from the age of 8 including nausea, stomach cramps and sharp stomach aches. This left Louisa curled up in agony and bed-ridden, unable to move or attend school regularly. Meeting with friends or engaging in her favourite extracurricular activities became very difficult.

After endless trips to the gastroenterologist where Louisa has biopsies through invasive procedures including colonoscopy, endoscopy and stomach acid measurements, Louisa’s allergist advised that she try YorkTest.

After taking a Junior Food Intolerance Test with YorkTest, Louisa discovered that her body was producing IgG antibodies when encountering egg white and yolk, dairy, wheat, gluten, peanuts and cashew nuts – this was a surprise for Louisa and her mum who only suspected an intolerance to dairy.

When asked how she felt after removing her trigger foods, Louisa added: “Much better! I am able to go about normal life, including school, with much more confidence”. Louisa visibly saw improvements in her symptoms and overall health just six weeks after her mum removed the trigger foods from Louisa’s diet.

The Junior Food Intolerance Test analyses your IgG reactions to over 100 food and drinks – from common ingredients like cow’s milk, wheat and egg, to health superfoods like kale and quinoa.

The process, which involves sending a finger-prick blood sample to the company’s laboratories revealed the foods that Louisa was reacting to, in an easy-to-read traffic light-style format, indicating which foods were highly reactive and which ones were only slightly reactive.

When asked how she found the elimination process, Louisa’s mum told us that she began making lunches for her daughter to take to school and often brings packed meals for Louisa when visiting friends and family. According to Louisa’s mum: “It has become easier as we reintroduce things like wheat and gluten. Peanuts, dairy and egg white is taking a bit longer because she still reacts to them.” Louisa is still following her diet plan and her mum is helping her isolate the problem foods. Louisa’s mum found the Customer Service Team very helpful as was the nutritional consultation where she received “lots of good advice”.

When asked how she would summarise her experience with YorkTest, Louisa’s mum concluded with “Louisa is now able to do things that she had to pause including netball, hockey, skateboarding, piano lessons, school drama and music”.