“my dress size dropped from a 16 to an 8 in a matter of months and I wasn’t even trying to lose weight – I was just trying to get better.”
Name: Emma Holland
Lives: Dublin
Age: 30
Occupation: legal secretary
Result: lost 4 stone ( down from a dress size 16 to 8 )
Symptoms: acne, bloating, tiredness, extreme constipation
Foods: wheat, gluten, dairy, egg, kidney beans & brazil nut.
Emma says…
Despite being a regular gym user, I found myself putting on weight. I’d tried lots of diets but all they did were make me ill and pile on the pounds. The health aspect was something I had been seeing my doctor about because I’d not felt well for maybe eight years ever since I moved to Dublin in 2000.
My doctor put me on tablets and sent me for tests suggesting my condition was IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). At its worst, I suffered from bloating to the extent where people would give up their seat for me on the bus because they thought I was pregnant. The constipation was very unpleasant for me because I would go weeks, sometimes a month, before I could go, and you can imagine what was going through my mind as the pain increased.
I was also becoming increasingly tired and my face was covered in terrible acne. The spots on my forehead were really sore to touch and none of the creams ever helped. It also did nothing for my self-confidence and nights out were an ever-decreasing rarity. Nothing really worked until my mum put me on to a food intolerance test called foodSCAN 113.
As the test I took was a blood test, I thought it would be more accurate because it sounded more scientific, so I gave it a go and what a decision that was. When the results came back, I had to cut out wheat, gluten, dairy, egg and yeast. It was tough. The difference though has been amazing. The acne and stomach pain have all cleared up, but most amazing is the weight: I have lost 4 stone and gone from a dress size 16 to an 8. The only problem I have now is my wardrobe. I had to buy a new dress recently when I went to Amsterdam and I measured a size 8.
Finding the right ingredients hasn’t always been easy but once I knew what I could and couldn’t eat and found the right places to buy the food – life was much easier. I got some food over the internet. It’s tough but with the right recipe books and of course the right test, I can live a normal life again. I’m not sure about Christmas yet, but at least I know what foods trigger off the symptoms so as long as I stay away from those I should be fine.”
Emma’s partner Colin Cox says…
“It is amazing the change in Emma and even I have been feeling the benefit of a better diet. To go along with Emma’s new regime, I haven’t been drinking any milk and I’ve got loads more energy too.”
Emma Holland took a €30 first step food intolerance test from YORKTEST laboratories. The test offers a negative/positive result from a tiny amount of blood which the customer sends off to a laboratory in the UK. In Emma’s case, her results identified a positive so she then upgraded to the second step or a foodSCAN 113 (RRP €350). Using the same blood sample, this test will identify the actual foods causing the food intolerance and the degree of severity.
To take a food intolerance test please call yorktest.ie on 01 2022701 or visit the website
