5Strands Intolerances & Nutritional Imbalance Test, 442 Items Tested, Food Intolerances, Environmental Sensitivities, Nutrition Absorption for Adults & Kids, Fast 5 Day Results

I did both these test and happy I did. The food items I already knew about, which was not good for me was right on. I will be able to correct the bad stuff. I had an issue with buying the wrong box the customer service at 5Strands helped, same day. I was happy.

This easy hair test gives so much important information regarding food, nutrition, and environmental sensitivities. I’m confident that following the data and avoiding foods that I have an intolerance to for a certain period of time will help improve my health and well-being.

The only problem I had with this was I couldn’t get my own hair at the root myself so I asked my hairdresser to do it.

First, I get that a hair test is different from a blood test. However, when results are so wildly disparate one has to conclude that either the test is flawed, or that they substituted their pet dog's hair for mine, or maybe that they are simply playing results roulette or using a dartboard to determine the value of a given test.I take very good care of myself, eat really healthfully (well, usually ;-) ), and also take a variety of supplements to make sure that my body has everything it needs - and I really stay on top of this stuff! So I was eager to see what adjustments I could make, based on my test results, to further fine tune my regimen. And I pored over my results as soon as I got them.I should have known that something was rotten in 5Strands the moment I saw that they don't even proofread their results - right there in one of the headings on the results pages it read:Standatd Environmental..instead of Standard Environmental.Could a place that was so sloppy with how their reports get sent out be any better in terms of what they were actually reporting?I chose to overlook it for the time being, and looked at the actual results.Now, the very first thing you will see in your results is the section called 'Nutrition'. This is where they report the results of their tests for your levels of various vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, traces of which will be present in your hair, such as Vitamin K, Vitamin D, Selenium, and Glycine. Have I mentioned that I take a variety of supplements, and generally take good care of myself? One of the supplements is a powder which provides 100% of the RDA for every single vitamin, mineral, and a lot of other things (yes, really). On top of that, I take a separate Vitamin D supplement, for bone and health reasons. In fact, I often get more than 10,000 IU of Vitamin D a day (don't try this at home unless your doc approves it).And as a serious vegetarian, I also get an abundance of Vitamin K (clotting factor). In fact when I had surgery for which I had to take an anti-coagulant, they had to factor that into my dosage - Vitamin K is found in leafy greens, of which I eat a lot :-).Oh, and I also take a separate Glycine supplement.So, as I said, I take good care of myself, and my vitamin and mineral levels should all be really good.So I was *shocked* when the first thing that I saw in my 5Strands test results was a moderate *deficiency* in Vitamin K. And I was *stunned* that it said that I had a *severe* deficiency in Vitamin D. It also claimed that I had a 'moderate' Glycine deficiency.Surely I couldn't be deficient in all of these things that I am actually supplementing, and on the high dosage end at that?So last night I got the results of my *blood serum* test that my physician did, including for Vitamin D.The results?Quoting from my blood test, for Vitamin D:95.1 ng/mLWhat's normal, you ask? Again, quoting from my blood test:30.0-100.0 ng/mLAs you can see, I am not only not deficient in Vitamin D (let alone "severely deficient"), but I am at the high end of 'normal' (nobody has ever called me normal before, let alone at the high end of it! ;-) )This alone calls into question the rest of the 5Strands results. But the fact that they also reported me as deficient in K and Glycine, when the odds are so very slim that I am, means, to me, that basically all of their results are questionable, at best.By the way, I asked 5Strands what "Standatd" meant (for all I knew it was some sort of acronym or such rather than a typo), and their response was to tell me all about the various tests that they sell - a different response (yep, I was responded to by two different people) gave me the excuse that they were going through some website changes "that have required us to manipulate our reports a little bit."This caused me to write back to them saying "I'm sorry, how can I trust the reliability of your test results when you don't even have the quality control to check the results you send out for basic typographical errors?"Here was their response, verbatim (copied and pasted from their email):"Im am sorry that you feel that way. Many of our systems are automated and we do not review every single report that is sent out to our customers. It would be impossible to review each set of results due to the volume of reports that are processed. All we can do is apologize for the typographical error that was made when the lab processed the results."Really?? "Im am sorry"?? At that point I gave up.The moral of this story is: don't bother purchasing this home test - have your doctor do a hair test (or blood test, depending on what you are testing for) and send it to a reputable lab.

Very informative. Lots of facts about tolerable and intolerable foods, vitamins, and environmental factors.Was worth the money.

As others have noted, I received my results very quickly. I am super impressed with this service. I received my results on Monday, after mailing off the hair sample last Tuesday.I was keen on learning what my intolerances are as I've been getting worse and worse acid reflux over the last few years and have developed issues swallowing. I have "GERD" and esophagitis. It's been building for years, but I just think "oh who can cut out all that food - I love food" and keep on keeping on. Recently I had a serious swallowing incident at work where I ended up running out of a meeting choking on food, and then vomiting in our waiting area. I cannot keep running these risks. So to treat GERD you cut out the obvious stuff (fatty food, acidic foods, alcohol, coffee, fun....) and they also suggest food intolerances as a big cause, so here I am buying this test.What I've learned is that I've had it all wrong. I thought maybe I was gluten intolerant so I cut out gluten for about 3 years. I now know I am not gluten intolerant, and things I'd replaced in my diet (champagne instead of beer, rice flour instead of wheat flour) are actually the things I'm intolerant of!! WHAT?!! So I had it all wrong. And now I know this crazy list of stuff I can filter out of my diet over the next 5-10 weeks and see if I can get my dang esophagus to heal so I can swallow like a normal human again.I had bought this test kit above the others primarily because of 1. the price point and 2. the fact that I didn't have to prick my finger and send in blood. I'm highly needlephobic, and have wanted to get intolerance testing done for years and this is literally the first time that I was able to do so and not have to deal with a major needle incident.This test is life changing. I cannot wait to see how I feel in a couple months once I've eliminated some of these key items from my diet. I'd recommend this test highly. Knowledge is power!! Science and technology now allow even this helpless needlephobe access to crucial info that can help my health with very little cost and no pain and speedy results with great customer service. ALL THE STARS.