‘I took a blood test after weeks of bloating and results were eye-opening’

It may differ from person to person, but I believe I’ve reached the stage in life where good health can no longer be taken for granted. That’s not meant to sound alarming, but I reckon that during your teens, 20s and likely 30s too, you can get away with relatively minimal effort to maintain your wellbeing without fretting too much.

Sadly, at the age of 42, I believe that is beginning to shift. A couple of months ago I began to experience some discomfort in the stomach area. You know that sort of trapped wind sensation where you need to burp, but simply cannot? That, but persisting for weeks on end.

Now, my day job involves writing about lifestyle and money for Reach’s websites across the UK. That includes, on a regular basis, health matters.

Barely a day passes where I don’t either read about, write about, or edit, some content containing health guidance from doctors and other medical professionals. Gut health, bloating and that sort of thing arise quite frequently.

As do the “this probably isn’t, but might be cancer or something else serious” pieces of advice. Now, symptoms of bloating can indicate many things medically, but it wasn’t lost on me that it is indeed a potential sign of something more sinister, such as bowel cancer.

That awareness, coupled with someone very close to me having gone through said type of cancer over the past year, prompted me to not simply put up with it, but to visit my doctor.

Visit to the GP

Despite all the stories you encounter – and I frequently write and edit in this role – of individuals telling us their GP dismissed their worries and prescribed them paracetamol before they subsequently discovered it was something far more serious, my doctor was meticulous.

He listened to my concerns attentively and arranged both blood tests and a Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT), which is the bowel cancer screening offered to those aged over 50 in the UK and, consequently, not something I was routinely entitled to yet.

I underwent the tests and, fortunately, all returned normal results. We had, as my doctor said to me, ruled out anything truly nasty.

Continued search for answers

Positive news, yet it didn’t alter how I had been experiencing symptoms for approximately six weeks at that stage. So I persisted in investigating what might be causing it.

And yes, I did consult Google AI, though I must acknowledge that if you use it correctly, verifying where it has obtained its information, it can prove quite valuable for these matters. Considering my medical history thus far, one suggestion that emerged was the likelihood of mild constipation.

I’ll spare you the particulars, but I chose to take some medication to give myself, let’s say, something of a reset. It definitely helped and I have felt considerably better overall since. I also opted to reduce my bread consumption, as I was eating it at least twice daily and reckoned that was an obvious thing to attempt.

Turning point

I may well have left it there, were it not for my work. While editing the story of a woman who had suffered from stomach problems for years before taking a food intolerance test from Supply Life, I found myself intrigued.

She claimed it had prompted her to overhaul her diet and had made a remarkable difference to her wellbeing. Much like my general health, I had been fortunate enough up until this point to eat and drink more or less whatever I pleased. No allergies, no intolerances — or so I believed.

Food intolerances checks

My GP had previously raised food intolerances as a possibility before we “tested for nasties”, so I decided it was worth a try. According to organisations such as the British Dietetic Association, it is estimated that between 1% and 10% of the general population has a genuine food hypersensitivity or intolerance, yet as many as 20% experience some degree of adverse reaction that leads them to suspect they do.

Supply Life provides food intolerance tests. It is worth emphasising that this has nothing to do with allergies — that is an entirely more serious matter and one that should absolutely be discussed with your doctor.

This concerns foods that, while unlikely to cause serious harm, may leave you feeling considerably below par. To paraphrase Supply Life, by identifying which foods you are intolerant or sensitive to, you could feel revitalised and bid farewell to symptoms such as bloating, energy slumps, unwanted weight and stomach discomfort.

Finding and ordering a food intolerance test Supply Life – and naturally other providers are available, so it’s worth doing your homework first to find what best suits your circumstances – provides three different tests at three price points. The ‘core’ (£137) screens for 60 foods, ‘essential’ (£207) covers 200 and the ‘complete body’ (£239) checks for 209.

According to the company, the middle option is their most popular. So I ordered that particular test and within a couple of days it arrived at my home. In theory it’s fairly straightforward.

Doing a food intolerance test

A kit arrives containing everything required to complete the test and return it to the laboratory. Following the instructions – see founder Ricky Singh demonstrating it in the video above – you use the pin prick to draw blood, which you then squeeze into a vial.

I didn’t find it quite so straightforward, struggling as I did to produce sufficient blood to fill the tube. Years of being a cold-hearted journalist? Perhaps.

Anyway, my wife had to help milk my finger, essentially, to get enough. But we managed it.

After that it’s simply a matter of packaging it up according to the instructions and posting it off. Supply Life says this can take a week or so, but just a couple of days later my results arrived. Everything is accessed through your online account, as well as being sent via email.

Getting the test results

A nine-page report was waiting for me. As I mentioned, as someone who has never had to give much thought to dietary restrictions, this was quite a defining moment. Would this spell the end of my carefree eating habits?

In short, yes. The report rates antibody levels for each food and food group as either normal (green), borderline (yellow) or elevated (red).

Unsurprisingly, green means all is well; you can continue consuming those foods without concern. Red, however, signals a problem — these are the foods your body is reacting to, and you should consider cutting down or cutting them out entirely.

Opening the report, I felt a distinct sense of unease. What if my favourite foods were flagged as problematic?

What if, heaven forbid, I had a reaction to beer? It didn’t bear thinking about.

As it transpired, my unease was rather justified. Top of my list of intolerances was egg whites, which are present in a vast number of foods. Brilliant.

Next came gliadin — a component of gluten found in bread, and the primary trigger for celiac disease. From there, in order of reactivity, were barley, soya bean, brewer’s yeast, couscous, spelt, baker’s yeast, orange, wheat, durum wheat, cow’s milk, malt and agar agar, which is a vegan alternative to gelatine used as a stabiliser, thickener, or gelling agent in foods.

So, quite a significant number of my favourite things are under threat. Eggs, bread, beer, pasta, milk, yoghurt and anything else containing cow’s milk were potentially at the root of my problems.

Well, that’s quite the reality check. The party may well be drawing to a close.

Nobody is suggesting these foods are completely off the table, but the advice is clear — cutting them out and seeking healthier alternatives would certainly be worthwhile.

Meal plan and nutritionist chat

To that end, Supply Life provides two additional elements as part of the programme. Firstly, a tailored meal plan, and secondly, a follow-up consultation with a nutritionist.

This was the reassuring part. I needn’t entirely abandon everything I enjoy.

It proved to be an incredibly valuable conversation. Catalina walked me through the key priorities, beginning with egg whites and gluten as the primary areas requiring attention.

The approach centres around a 90/10 rule. This involves eliminating the problematic foods the majority of the time, while not being afraid to indulge occasionally — when dining out, for instance. I also took it to mean adapting the guidance to suit your own particular circumstances.

For instance, I very much enjoy pasta but don’t actually eat it that often, so it’s unlikely to cause me any real issues. The same applies to beer; much as I relish a pint, I probably only have half a dozen in a month these days — I’ve become more of a wine drinker at home.

Returning to egg whites and gluten, Catalina explained that avoiding everything containing egg whites is virtually impossible, so the focus should be on reducing consumption of eggs themselves, along with egg-heavy things such as mayonnaise. When it comes to gluten, the solution is to seek out gluten-free alternatives.

I’m not entirely convinced I’ll go that far, but as previously mentioned, I’ve already halved my bread intake. Oranges aren’t an issue, as I dislike them anyway, though I will replace my morning orange juice with a different variety.

Cow’s milk is arguably the other significant concern — I drink several cups of tea daily, consume cheese almost every day as one of life’s greatest pleasures, and regularly enjoy yoghurt with fruit as a dessert. So it’s a case of switching to almond or oat ‘milk’ in my tea, exploring alternative cheeses such as goat’s cheese and perhaps trying a vegan yoghurt substitute.

Catalina provided me with plenty of alternatives to consider during our conversation and in her follow-up email, right down to recommending specific brands.

The advice is to eliminate the problematic foods — subject to the 90/10 rule — for a period of six to nine months to assess whether it improves how you feel. You can then reintroduce the excluded foods individually to gauge your reaction, helping to pinpoint precisely which ingredient or ingredients may be causing issues in your particular case.

All in all, it proved to be an illuminating experience. However you look at it, undergoing a test such as this is likely to prove life-changing in some respect for virtually everybody.

Whether you pay privately or pursue it through your GP, I’d wholeheartedly recommend it. Now it’s time to act on these findings and discover what difference it makes. I shall report back sometime in 2027.