Food Intolerance, Environmental Sensitivity & Nutritional Imbalance Test, 1250 Items Tested, Gut Health & Nutrition Absorption Testing for Adults & Kids, Results in 4 Days

I initially bought two tests that I thought were different, but a customer service rep reached out to me to let me know that were very similar and asked if I would like a refund for one of them or to substitute the test for something else that covered things not included on my initial order. I found this to be so honest and refreshing. I was very grateful to hear from them on the front end and I substituted a test. My test results were fast and easy to decipher. Having the app is a really nice bonus as well. Would recommend this company to others!

This company is awesome! The process is simple, easy and quick. They send you the test box. Inside is an instruction sheet and “Get to Know You” questionnaire. 5Strands asks you to provide hair strands, then put them in the provided sealable ziploc bag. Lastly, you are given an envelope to send your results back in through USPS. That’s it! Not invasive at all like allergy testing can be! I had my results in a week and it was very easy to understand how to read my results! 5Strands had made it clear what they can help you with. I think where most customers misinterpret their data is thinking that these intolerance symptoms are comparable to allergy symptoms. That is not correct and 5Strands makes sure to state that multiple times! This test is meant to give you awareness of your body chemistry and how it reacts to environmental and food properties that you come in contact with. Although you may see Salmon on your Level 3 results (most severe) and “feel nothing” when you are eating salmon... it could still be causing unseen symptoms, like bloating or gas that you may not notice! Others also notice the same food in multiple categories.. well foods can be consumed in different forms (raw & cooked). I have noticed that raw onions make me way more gassy than cooked onions and it showed up right in my results!! On day one I have already cut out a couple foods that I would normally eat and I have had a dramatic increase in energy and comfort! I can’t thank this company enough!! Way to go, 5Strands!

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/mL What's normal, you ask? Again, quoting from my blood test: 30.0-100.0 ng/mL As 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.

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.

I have been having many health issues since my colon surgery in 2017. So very confused about various foods suddenly that did not seem to agree with me. My grandson told me about this test hair strand test that he had heard about and I ordered it immediately. My issue is that I don't necessarily break out in a rash so I don't know about various products for certain but this test confirmed my questions about products and foods that I was eating. For instance, the test revealed that I should avoid certain apples and it is so true. Red delicious apples are one item that I did have an allergic reaction too earlier that I could confirm that the test was accurate. They give me a burning tongue and burning lips right after I bite into them and the pain lasts for awhile. There were other items on the list that seemed to correlate with what I had been questioning. One was a surprise as I discovered that my body is very high in arsenic. Figured out that it is the rice products that I have been consuming for many years. Rice can be good for you but one has to be careful about the source because of the arsenic in the soil that can get absorbed into the rice. I looked at my shelf and it was full of rice products. I hope this helps and encourages others who are facing unexplained health issues. I will now start eating other items that I know are o.k. and then after six weeks, re-introduce one thing at a time if I so desire.

The process of receiving the kit and mailing back hairs was simple enough (though I used arm pit hairs, so a bit of plucking...). Mailed the kit back and got a PDF in my email within about a week. Results had a lot of surprises on it, including my entire morning routine of coffee, almond milk and brown sugar. While I was prepared to make major changes to my diet, I couldn't help think that I first needed to look up how credible hair-based testing actually was for these kinds of sensitivities. I brought out our good friend Chat GPT to explain everything currently known about hair-based testing for sensitivities and this sums up what it said in great detail: "Based on the current scientific understanding and consensus, hair-based sensitivity testing for food allergies or sensitivities is not considered a credible or reliable method for diagnosis. The composition of hair primarily reflects the presence of minerals, substances from hair care products, and environmental contaminants. It does not provide a direct measurement of immune responses or specific food sensitivities." It went on to explain in great detail that the human hair contains nothing whatsoever related to the immune system itself, so that extracting results for sensitivities is impossible. So now I'm kind of left with a test I don't find credible, but I am planning to lay off of coffee and sugar for a while. Which, regardless of this test, will have known benefits.

This kit gives you clear data on your food and environmental sensitivities. The process requires only a simple hair sample, saving an expensive trip to a clinic. The resulting data sheet is easy to read and helps in planning your weekly meals with confidence.

Extensive information with so many items tested!! Seemed to receive results fast which was good. I disliked how the test results came though some of it is a bit confusing even after reading faqs and watching video. Why are there items in food that would never be ingested anyways? Ie: chicken droppings. Great at helping with skin issues in our LO.

Was excited to try this. Multiple foods that have never bothered me showed as "RED" and there were lots of contradicting results. "Oats" are RED but "Oat milk" is fine? "Lactose" is RED but "Cows milk" is fine? I am extremely allergic to horses and dog saliva but the results came back as fine too. I excepted some surprises but every single protein except for beef came back as red. There must be some mistake.

Didn’t feel the results were super accurate. :( things that affect me werent listed on my results

My daughter-in-law said she'd like this for Christmas.