Live Blood Analysis: Do your research first

I was too embarrassed to publish this after I wrote this, more than 2 years ago. However, I’ve gotten over it now so thought others may find it amusing and vaguely interesting. Yes, you have my permission to mock me for buying into this in the first place.

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Every now and again, I have a big ‘healthier living’ surge. I take up a new sport, try a new way of eating or, as happened earlier this year, fall hook line and sinker for a complete utter con.

I had just turned thirty and spotted a deal on Groupon for food allergy testing (even now I cringe as I write this). Having experienced several bouts of stomach pains after eating certain foods (sometimes I would have pasta and bloat like a puffer fish, other times I would be fine) I thought this would be a great chance to find out for once and for all, which foods would have to be banished. And after all, it was 74% off – a saving of about £240. Bargain.

So that’s how I found myself one Saturday morning venturing the streets in East Ham. Knocking on the door of a residential house, a tall, slim and elegant gentleman popped his head out, asked if I had an appointment, disappeared to ‘check’, then ushered me into the ‘waiting room’ – otherwise known as a person’s front room. Here I waited for five minutes, separated from the rest of the large room by a screen whilst Dr Stephen Ferguson ‘prepared’ everything.

We began with some general details – my age, whether I felt tired, was I religious – all the usual things you’d expect someone to ask…

Then it became interesting. It seems that as part of my allergy test, I was going to have Live Blood Analysis. For this I was going to have to donate a drop of blood, which made me feel slightly sick. Live Blood Analysis requires looking at a fresh drop of your blood under the microscope at high magnification. Dr Stephen Ferguson had a TV monitor so we could analysis the blood there and then. This was pretty impressive – you could see all sorts of cells and other weird looking shapes. The best bit, was there were things that MOVED.

The diagnosis from the Live Blood Analysis test wasn’t so fun; according to Dr Stephen Ferguson, my blood was ‘sticky’ and I needed to drink more water, I was at risk of yeast infections and I had lots of toxins and potentially parasites in my blood which could lead to cancer if I didn’t do something about it quickly. All rather alarming. However, before we sat down to talking about the remedies, I reminded him of the food allergy testing too.

‘Ah yes. Wait a minute.’ He murmurs, before stepping his kitchen.

After much rustling, he returns with a Tesco’s plastic bag and cling film. A few moments later, I’m standing in his living room with clingfilm wrapped round my waist. Where was earth was this going?

It turns out that just by looking at food that you have allergies to, your body subconsciously weakens. To set the benchmark, I had to push my palm against Dr Stephen Ferguson’s.

‘Look at these oats.’ Dr Stephen Ferguson said solemnly, holding a couple of spoonfuls of oats wrapped in clingfilm in front of my nose. He then placed them against my clingfilmed stomach. ‘Now push my hand again’. I did. ‘Interesting..’

We repeated this with bread, cashew nuts, almonds, and of course the dreaded potato. Turns out I should eat all of them in moderation proportions as my body was ‘weakened’ by all of these.

It was a little disappointing as I had been keen to find out whether I had a dairy intolerance as I often felt uncomfortable after eating yoghurt and avoided milk. By this time though, I was starting to wonder whether this Dr Stephen Ferguson had totally lost his marbles and whether I had too for not having run a mile.

The whole experience lasted just over an hour and I left with a pot of his Blood Cleansing Powder (I haven’t dared try it), as well as a detox diet plan. I also left feeling a little bit bemused – what if everything he said did have some weird element of truth in it?

Having spoken to dad (who’s a doctor) and done research online, it turns that Live Blood Analysis cannot be considered a valid way to diagnose any current illnesses or predict any further illnesses either. In fact, if you google Live Blood Analysis this is what you get;

All in all, that was a rather humiliating £79 spent. The only good thing that came out from it is that I do now do my research. And drink more water. And avoid East Ham. In fact, I’ve scraped the bottom of the barrel and have put together the good things that came out of it

What I got from Live Blood Analysis (I’m an optimist, what can I say?)

• I get to see all the cells and exciting things in your blood
• I research everything now
• I have a great tale to tell
• I won’t be conned in the same way again
• I will never part money for something like this

 Additional Links:

• Dr Stephen Ferguson’s website
• BBC’s Live Blood Tests Report
• Live Blood Analysis: No Health Claims Allowed
• ‘Dr’ Stephen Ferguson’s Recordbreading ASA Adjudication
• Body Builder Turned Nutritionist Fined for Claiming he Could Cure Cancer With Diet & Fitness Technique – this is an interesting one as I do honestly believe that diet can play a big part on your health

You should also take a look at the many video testimonials that are featured on YouTube just so you’ve got a fair comparison if you’re thinking about handing over money.

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UPDATE TO THIS ARTICLE 11.05.14: Upon receiving  a text message from Mr Stephen Ferguson informing me he would begin taking legal action against me unless I remove all published material of him, as well as the photo of him used in adverts, I have made some changes to this article. 

So changes made were: removal of his photo, the removal of the line saying he’s not a doctor – apparently if you take a look here the ASA haven’t made him stop using the title yet, the addition of extra links so that people can research his work and live blood analysis themselves, the addition of an image of a Google results page and also a YouTube video. I haven’t yet removed any adverts as requested because as far as I know, I don’t use him in any adverts so am waiting on clarification on that.