Testimonials

Dietician Martinette Basson has been practicing for almost 20 years of which ten years have been in private practice. She adopted the Optiway test into her Stellenbosch practice in 2020.

Martinette uses Optiway as a tool to understand patient symptoms and to find the right way forward with problems that have persisted for a while. While she frequently uses the test in cases of IBS and inflammation, the test sometimes enables her to pinpoint other conditions. Thereafter, she is able to use the results as part of the patient's gut treatment programme.

Recent successes with the Optiway test include:

• A patient who was using aloe vera for constipation - The test showed that this was not appropriate at all.
• A patient with persistent achy pains - Citrus fruits were identified as the cause of the discomfort.
• A young girl who had been struggling with nausea for almost two years - lots of tests couldn't figure it out. After doing the Optiway test, corn and milk were identified as the issue. 

"Sometime people assume for example that gluten is the problem, so they cut out bread, but they eat other food like potatoes, rice or corn which could be causing a reaction too, so the  discomfort continues. Gliadin is not the only culprit, sometimes not a culprit at all. The Optiway test gives these answers" explains Martinette.  "If you can solve the gut issues, you solve a lot of other health issues" she added.    

How one lady’s health has improved, plus she gets to enjoy her meals

Cheri (47) in Durban suffers from both PCOS (Polycystic ovarian syndrome) and Eosinophilic Esophagitis, a rare chronic disorder of the digestive system. Having lived with discomfort for quite long, she did the Optiway test at the end of 2020 after hearing about how many food groups this food intolerance test covers. She considers it the best thing she has ever done. 

The red / yellow / green colour coding system of the report made it easy to see which foods (red) needed to be eliminated from her diet, which her doctor recommended she do for 3 – 4 months. While the list was quite extensive, implementing these recommendations has made a world of difference!

The elimination of dairy and gluten, which the test recommended, has helped ease her PCOS symptoms tremendously. Additionally, the process of elimination also eased her Eosinophilic esophagitis discomfort. 

She now feels less nauseas after a meal and doesn’t feel overwhelmed after eating. In hindsight, Cheri realized that she never felt “full” before. She had merely felt uncomfortable and stopped eating when more food seemed unbearable. Not only has her overall health improved, she also now gets to enjoy her meals!

How one lady feels like a new person after doing the Optiway test

Des, who is the much-loved practice manager at Blouberg Family Practice in Cape Town, used to feel rather uncomfortable after eating. She perpetually suffered from headaches, migraines, bloating, and a runny nose. She had no energy, she struggled with “brain fog” and felt like she had ‘hamsters running around in her stomach’ after eating certain foods. 

She had also been told she may be lactose intolerant, so she had switched to everything almond. However, after eating almonds, strangely her ears would itch. When she ate boiled eggs, she would get diarrhea within 10 minutes, but this did not happen with scrambled eggs.  

Tired of always feeling sick, unable to pinpoint the cause, and desperate to feel well, Dr Sheena Mathew suggested Des do the Optiway test to find some answers. And that is when things started to change…

Her results showed that she is actually highly intolerant to almonds, to egg white and to casein, which is the actual protein in all milks. Therefore, Des should actually eat no dairy products whatsoever. While plums are her favourite fruit, these were also raised as a red flag.

Wizely, she stopped eating everything that showed up as red on the colour-coded report. She now has no dairy at all and substitutes her calcium with the recommended vitamins D and K. She hardly touches the foods that are borderline, except for the occasional weekend spoil. 

A month later, everything is different. Des feels like a new person. She wakes up feeling good. She has no more sinus, she has loads of energy, and even does regular 5km runs. What’s more, she can now concentrate again! 

When asked if she would recommend the Optiway test to others, her answer is a great big “yes.” She has already recommended it to a few patients at the practice and family members, knowing that there is no reason why they should suffer like she did. Life is a lot better when you feel well enough to enjoy it. “Feeling healthy and being healthy is a lifestyle change and so worth it” said Des.

How the Optiway test made Ilke-Marie’s life more comfortable

Small changes that made a big difference to a primary school girl

Eleven-year-old Ilke-Marie is like most children. She enjoys spending time with her friends, having fun outdoors, getting undivided attention from her parents and she has her favourite TV shows and hobbies. Meals in the Pretoria family home are prepared with a healthy approach, and according to a balanced diet. However, she has suffered from bloating, cramping and irritated bowl syndrome, with diarrhea, almost constantly for the past year.

Her mom, Heleen, tried to figure out manually what the cause was, but regardless of what she eliminated from Ilke-Marie’s diet, nothing eased the child’s discomfort. 

She then tried the Optiway test and this is when things started to change. After a simple finger prick, this test was able to pinpoint exactly which foods were irritating Ilke-Marie’s digestive system. Surprisigly, many of them were foods she was eating every day including kola nut (fond in Tab, Coca-Cola and Coke-zero), cow’s milk, peas and wheat as well as yeast (brewers and baker’s yeast).

Mom Heleen immediately cut all of these ingredients out of Ilke-Marie’s diet, and her digestive health improved almost instantly. The bloating, cramping and diarrhea stopped, and just like that, she had a happier child. In the process, Ilke-Marie also lost a little weight and her body shape changed in a healthy way. 

Because food intolerances are not normally permanent, they are now embarking on a process to gradually reintroduce some of these foods carefully into her diet. Human nature is such that a child will want to enjoy a piece of birthday cake with a friend from time to time, which Heleen is managing with empathy. 

When asked if she would recommend the Optiway test to other parents, she replied “Absolutely, the Optiway test is quick and easy. The report provided a comprehensive guideline of how I could correct Ilke-Marie’s diet and the results have been truly astounding. Her entire quality of life has improved.”