About Test4

Welcome to Test4!

Are you one of the estimated 9 million people in the UK with a food sensitivity or intolerance?

Do you suffer from reactions after consuming certain foods or drinks?

If you are then you are one step closer to understanding your Food Sensitivity related problems once and for all!

Based in the UK with offices across the globe, Test4 are enabling people to get a clearer understanding of their food and drink sensitivities. We are passionate about helping you on your journey to discover what may be causing your symptoms and causing distress or holding you back from achieving your best performance.

Food and drink sensitivities can affect your ability and motivation to deal with simple day to day tasks and activities. They can hinder your physical performance. Many people suffer in silence and don’t understand the nature of the symptoms and what may be causing them, this is why Test4 offer a complete and easy to follow program to identify your Food Sensitivities, all from the comfort of your own home.

The current trial and error process of eliminating certain food and drink from your diet can take several months to achieve and still not provide the answers you need. Test4 can, with just a simple prick of the finger, provide an invaluable insight into your specific sensitivities.

After just 3-4 days from reaching the laboratory you will have a full report on what specific food groups may be triggering the symptoms you have.

Once you have completed one of our tests the support doesn’t end there, we will continue to provide you with guidance and support to help you move forward with your specific plan of action which will be agreed between you and one of our specialist BANT registered Nutritional Therapists.

Test4 are passionate about helping you become the best version of yourself, by eliminating your trigger foods your overall health and well being will increase and day to day activities will become much easier. We want to enable you to take back control once and for all!

Whilst some tests on the market claim to test for a huge range of foods and drinks, often this is at the detriment of testing accuracy. We only use antigens from approved biotechnology suppliers, to ensure upmost testing accuracy and quality is maintained. The specifically designed testing panel covers only the most relevant antigens, to provide accurate and actionable results.

See our scientific studies tab for further information on this.

Understanding what a Food Sensitivity is and what is causing any symptoms can be very distressing and unclear for people.The terminology sometimes used to describe what you are experiencing is sometimes very confusing, you may well have done some of your own research to try and understand what symptoms you have and how they are affecting you.

We know from experience that the answers are not always clear and there is a lot of confusion around this subject and what may be causing your issues.

We have shown below where the confusion can arise, and it starts with the names that we, and professionals give to the different types of symptoms. You can see below that there are common areas of symptoms that can be very similar, but it could be one of three aspects that are causing your specific complaint.

‘Food intolerance (sensitivity) is used to describe many different conditions where food causes unpleasant symptoms that happen each time that food is eaten but are not a food allergy. A food intolerance is different to food allergy and intolerance's are not caused by the immune system and do not have the risk of a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis).’ (Source Allergy UK)

‘Approximately 13% of British adults claim to experience symptoms when they eat gluten-containing foods, according to one recent study’ (European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology: January 2014 - Volume 26 - Issue 1 - p 33–39 Original Articles: Gluten-Sensitivity)

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Your Journey

Let us help you on your journey – Our experienced team are on hand to support you and provide answers to the questions you will have. Call us and we can discuss any concerns you may have. During the journey we use SMS and emails to keep you updated with your sample progress.

Speed is of the essence

Don’t wait around for months eliminating foods or drinks that you think may be causing your symptoms, take one of tests and identify the culprits immediately. You will get your results within 3-4 days of us receiving your sample.

A helping hand

All of our nutritionists are BANT registered and are experienced in helping people with the process of eliminating and replacing trigger foods. They are here to support you and guide you through the process.

Laboratory Testing

Our fully audited and accredited E.L.I.S.A laboratory places us at the forefront of scientific innovation. We specialise in IgG antibody (1-4) testing to give you your full food profiling. Experienced and proven development of specific tests that focus on the essential food groups and products that meet your needs.

Clear and useful results

Access to and understanding your results is crucial, what is the point of the test if you can’t understand what it means! That’s why we supply you with a full high-quality easy to read and understand results report via post and supply you with access online to view results. If you'd like to see an example of what our results look like you can view that here.

Global Business

We are a trusted global business supplying people across the world with sensitivity testing and our technical team have been at the forefront of Food Sensitivity and intolerance testing for over 20 years.

We also provide specific tests tailored to different regions around the world where there are local products not found elsewhere for example in Asia and the Middle East.

The type of test we carry out is aimed at the more elusive interpretation of your symptoms, as can be seen below the normal Allergy is usually clear and easy to detect.

Test4 Limited detect food sensitivities by measuring IgG antibody reactions using the ELISA method, a globally established technique for laboratory analysis that is over 40 years old and universally recognised and is reliable and trustworthy. The Test4 service is based upon testing for IgG antibodies, and the assertion that a positive result indicates a trigger food that causes an inflammatory response leading to a symptom.

There are many studies within the scientific community that support our process - those that are summarised below are but a select few of published articles related to our field. As with any scientific hypothesis there will be studies that support and do not support a position, and we invite our clients to not just consider the quantitative data that is usually provided but also the qualitatively measured human experiences and benefits of eliminating an IgG reactive food from the diet.

Atkinson, Sheldon, Shaath, et al (2003) - Food elimination based on IgG antibodies in irritable bowel syndrome: a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction

A total of 150 outpatients with IBS were randomised to receive, for three months, either a diet excluding all foods to which they had raised IgG antibodies (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay test) or a sham diet excluding the same number of foods but not those to which they had antibodies.

Summary

A clinically significant improvement in IBS symptomatology was observed in patients eliminating foods to which they were found to exhibit sensitivity, as identified by an ELISA test for the presence of IgG antibodies to these foods.

Bentz et al. (2010) - Clinical relevance of IgG antibodies against food antigens in Crohn's disease: a double-blind cross-over diet intervention study

Introduction

In this pilot study, 79 Crohn’s Disease patients and 20 healthy controls were examined for food specific immunoglobulin G (IgG). Thereafter, the clinical relevance of these food IgG antibodies was assessed in a double-blind cross-over study with 40 patients. Based on the IgG antibodies, a nutritional intervention was planned.

Summary

A nutritional intervention based on circulating IgG antibodies against food antigens showed effects with respect to stool frequency. Significant improvement in Crohn’s disease sufferers who followed diet removing food they showed sensitivity to (food sensitivity highlighted though IgG test). A clinically significant improvement in IBD symptoms was observed in patients eliminating foods to which they were found to exhibit sensitivity.

Bentz, S., Hausmann, M., Piberger, H., Kellermeier, S., Paul, S., Held, L., Falk, W., Obermeier, F., Fried, M., Schölmerich, J. and Rogler, G., 2010. Clinical relevance of IgG antibodies against food antigens in Crohn’s disease: a double-blind cross-over diet intervention study. Digestion, 81(4), pp.252-264.

Virdee et al., (2015) - Food-specific IgG Antibody—guided Elimination Diets Followed by Resolution of Asthma Symptoms and Reduction in Pharmacological Interventions in Two Patients: A Case Report.

Introduction

A pilot study looked at two case studies of individuals with Asthma. The two subjects were put on an elimination diet after taking an IgG food intolerance test.

Summary

Both patients demonstrated substantial relief in symptoms of Asthma after following a IgG antibody guided elimination diet.

Virdee, K., Musset, J., Baral, M., Cronin, C. and Langland, J., 2015. Food-specific IgG Antibody—guided Elimination Diets Followed by Resolution of Asthma Symptoms and Reduction in Pharmacological Interventions in Two Patients: A Case Report. Global advances in health and medicine, 4(1), pp.62-66.

Karakuła-Juchnowicz et al., (2017) - The role of IgG hypersensitivity in the pathogenesis and therapy of depressive disorders.

Introduction

There is now an increasing amount of reports on the gastrointestinal tract and its role in depression.

Summary

Where increased IgG concentrations to foods were found, the implementation of an elimination or rotation diet could be an effective method of reducing inflammation, thought to be a key cause of depressive disorders.

Depressive disorders may be linked to IgG food sensitivities, but further studies are required to confirm this theory.