Kresser Institute

Tools, Training & Community for Functional Health Professionals

  1. Home
  2. Knowledge Base
  3. What do you know about EverlyWell? I had two patients tell me they got tested, [and I’m] not sure [of the] quality.

What do you know about EverlyWell? I had two patients tell me they got tested, [and I’m] not sure [of the] quality.

Tracey O’Shea: Then “What do you know about EverlyWell? I had two patients tell me they got tested, [and I’m] not sure [of the] quality.”

I don’t know either. I don’t know a lot about it. I know Chris is always a little reluctant with these types of labs and their reliability, so I’m also a little reluctant, but I guess it depends on maybe what exactly they’re having done, like, which labs you’re using. If it’s the food sensitivity panel again, I think that’s the main thing that people are using for that company, and my concern still exists with any food sensitivity test. I know Chris has really vetted Cyrex and their methodology, and that’s why we use Cyrex and we’re a little bit more confident in their results, but I would probably give the exact same explanation to the patient about food sensitivity testing and that I try to encourage patients not to use these food sensitivity results as a reason to, like, get themselves backed into a corner and take all the foods out of their diet. I think it’s really dangerous, [and] it ends up causing a lot more issues down the line. You have [a] patient come in and they’re eating five foods and that’s it because their food sensitivity test told them that they were reacting to, like, 60 different foods, and so, in those cases, I just try to have a pretty frank conversation with them of, like, what these results really mean and that the concern is a little bit more about their immune system dysregulation and not so much that they’re reacting to food and that it’s the food’s fault, and so getting a really, really restricted diet is also not ideal for many reasons, as you guys know. So I haven’t really used ​EverlyWell very much because I don’t recommend food sensitivity testing, but as you know, and you mentioned people just come to you with these tests because they’ve done them on their own, and so I just help to interpret the results a little bit. If there’s a couple on there that popped up, okay, then I think there’s probably a little harm to saying, like, alright, well, let’s remove those three foods and if you notice this huge shift and change, then great, then maybe we’re on to something. I haven’t ever had that happen, I’ll be honest with you, like, very rarely does food elimination of just a couple of items that aren’t, like, the high allergen, like, the dairy or the gluten or it’s, like, oh, I took pineapple out and that didn’t make a difference, and so, I think if it’s just a couple of foods, no harm, no foul in just removing them and seeing if there’s a big difference. If there’s a lot of food on there, then I would have a discussion with them about immune system function and not necessarily the foods themselves being the issue, and also just a question mark of the reliability of that lab. I’m just not 100 percent sure. We primarily use Cyrex because of that.

Was this article helpful?

Need Support?

Can't find the answer you're looking for?
Contact Support
Kresser Institute Icon ADAPT Health Coach Training Program Icon ADAPT Practitioner Training Program Icon ADAPT Courses Icon