How to Fix Your Gut with Microbiome Stool Testing
Science and our understanding of the human body has advanced SO much over the past 100 years.
One of the things I find the most fascinating as a holistic practitioner who is trained in herbal medicine is that science is finally catching up to prove how traditional medicine works, something that the native cultures understood so well without necissarily knowing how it worked or what was happening at a biological level.
Not only are we proving things that our ancestor’s could have only dreamed of understanding but we’ve developed technology that really helps us to understand the human microbiome and how critical a role it plays in our overall health and well being.
Comprehensive microbiome testing is an invaluable tool that allows holistic practitioners to evaluate the status and balance of bacteria in a client’s body so the root cause can be identified and addressed.
Stool testing today can provide much more insight as to what’s going on in your unique body and can be a game changer in regards to recovery time and money spent in figuring out what exactly is going on in your gut as well as playing a critical role in the rebuilding process.
Why Test?
After going through my own gut health journey with SIBO and H.pylori, I can speak from experience about how testing and confirming presence of these bacterial imbalances played an important role in my recovery.
Testing gives you a clear picture about what exactly is happening in your body-no more guessing!
Not only does it confirm the presences of the various types of gut health markers but it also provides a measure of the levels present in your body as well as comparisons to the average “healthy” microbiome so your practitioner can provide a tailored approach to help you overcome or improve the symptoms you’re dealing with.
The saying “test don’t guess” is something I believe is so important because I spent the first year with my naturopath treating a type of SIBO I didn’t even have! That’s 1 year of time, restricted diets and money wasted and possible collateral damage done to my gut microbiome if we had just tested and figured out early on what was going on.
Whether you’re looking to take preventative measures to improve your gut health to reduce risk of disease later in your life or are suffering from multiple, life altering digestive issues that you’re trying to get to the bottom of, testing will give you the answer’s you’re looking for or help narrow down what the root cause of what you’re experiencing.
Benefits of a Gut Microbiome Test
Comprehensive stool tests provides really good insight as to the current state of your gut microbiome, specifically in the large intestine.
As a reminder, your gut microbiome is the ecosystem of microorganisms including the good and bad bacteria, fungi and viruses living in your gastrointestinal tract which are impacted by your diet and lifestyle and play a very crucial role in your overall health and risk of developing certain diseases.
The composition and diversity of the microorganisms in your gut impact your digestive health, immune system, mental health, and risk of developing metabolic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.
Improve your gut composition and diversity of bacteria right now with fermented foods and the guide below!
With stool testing, it gives you the ability to understand and correlate certain gut markers on the tests and the symptoms you may be experiencing which gives the practitioner more data to customize an approach to help you feel better and improve you’re gut health more quickly and effectively.
Below are the key advantages of comprehensive stool testing:
Personalized approach to optimize your nutrition in order to improve gut health:
This allows the practitioner to get very specific with certain foods or nutraceuticals needed to reach your goal.
As an example, without a gut health test, a general gut recovery protocol would include eating a variety of pre and probiotic foods and rotating supplements to make sure all the various fiber and probiotic strains are introduced back into the gut. However, you don’t really know which one is needed so rotation and variety are key.
With a gut health test, certain levels of good bacteria like akkermansia, bifidobacterium, faecalibacterium etc. in your gut may be low, resulting in the symptoms you’re experiencing. We can then tailor specific pre and probiotics foods and nutraceuticals that research has shown to increase the levels of those specific bacteria.
Identify imbalances in your gut (dysbiosis):
Dysbiosis refers to an imbalance of beneficial and harmful bacteria levels, resulting in a profound impact on digestion resulting in various digestive symptoms like bloating, gas, irregular bowel movements, stomach pain etc.
Testing will pin point which bacteria are creating imbalances in your gut and the levels to which they are present. This data will allow your practitioner to suggest specific herbs that will kill the bacteria and bring the levels back to balance. This step should also be followed by improving levels of good bacteria to keep the “bad” bacteria in check.
Increased effectivness of nutritional recommendations:
Most people are motivated to keep up nutritional and lifestyle changes when they see results and can feel changes in their body. With specific data and a customized approach, this will happen quicker.
Many practitioners shy away from testing since it can be an added cost to the client, however in my experience people just want to get better as soon as possible and testing helps you achieve this.
It’s also important to note that these tests are much more comprehensive than the ones you’d get with your doctor (at least here in Canada). These types of test can detect a greater variety of pathogens, indicate levels of good bacteria, indicate longevity markers, toxins, neurotransmitters (to support mental health) and short chain fatty acids (knowing if your gut bacteria are producing these beneficial markers for strengthening your immune system and gut lining) giving much more depth and data for the practitioner to use in determining next steps for you to take.
Stool Testing as a Tool to Optimize Your Gut Health
Vitract Gut Wellness Score Overview
In my practice I like to use stool testing in 1 of 2 ways depending on what illness or symptoms you’re dealing with and what stage you’re at in your gut recovery:
As a baseline: To help you get to the root of what’s going on in your body.
As I mentioned above, stool testing allows us to identify if there’s dysbiosis or an imbalance of bad bacteria in your gut that may be contributing to your symptoms and to get a clear picture of what areas we need to target in your nutritional and supplements protocol to bring balance to your gut microbiome.
Timing: I like to have my client’s test at the beginning of the program after our first session so I can use the results to tailor an approach that we’ll work on throughout the remainder of the program.
As part of the repairing and repopulating stage: For your most effective and successful recovery
The first step in any of our gut health programs is to first identify the issue (above) and eliminate it, which is followed by a recovery and rebuilding phase. Using comprehensive stool testing after an elimination phase is a great tool to help me understand where I need to refocus our attention to and what area’s still need support to get my client to their most optimal level of health.
As an example, with my SIBO clients, once the bacteria has been eliminated I then suggest this test to understand what other areas may need support (ie. Food intolerances, other bad bacteria still present, inflammation, mental health markers etc.) and to ensure levels of good bacteria are optimal to strengthen the immune system and gut function (which we work on if they’re not). If a client is still experiencing digestive symptoms, this type of test can also provide insight as to if there’s an imbalance of bacteria in the large intestine as well.
Timing: I like to have my clients use this testing after we’ve spent some time working on correcting an underlying issue like bacteria overgrowth, fungal overgrowth, parasites etc. The test results provide a roadmap for going forward with rebuilding the microbiome.
I also recommend testing 6-12 months after the client has worked on the recovery phase to make sure their body has responded and improved upon from the initial test. This is critical in moving forward to help reduce the risk of the client having future susceptibility to bacteria (and reducing risk of relapse in SIBO clients), parasites and fungal overgrowth.
Stool Test Types
The two types of comprehensive stool testing offered at Sprout Your Health are:
Vitract:
Vitract Gut Testing uses genomic sequencing to take a snapshot of your gut health and provides insight as to what areas need to be improved upon to improve your overall digestive health, mental health, immune system function and metabolism. They provide an overall gut wellness score and provide a report that is easy for clients to understand and interpret. The test markers included in this test are:
Probiotics (good bacteria levels)
Opportunistic microbes (good bacteria unless not kept in check can turn into bad bacteria)
Pathogenic bacteria and toxin levels (produced by the bacteria)
Short chain fatty acid level (beneficial anti-inflammatory metabolites produces by good gut bacteria)
Nurotransmitters (how gut microbes communicate with the brain)
Detoxification markers
Nutrients produced by gut bacteria (nutrients that we cannot make but the bacteria make for us through foods we eat)
Lipopolysaccharides (LPS-byproducts that influence gut integrity)
Food intolerances (gut microbes can play a role in your body’s ability to breakdown certain foods)
Longevity markers
The reason I love this test is because it makes personalized recommendations focusing on food, pre and probiotic foods and supplements backed by scientific research to create a solid roadmap for a recovery protocol so you can achieve optimal gut health. It is also much more affordable than many other stool tests.
Cost: $210 CAD
Is this test right for you?:
This test is for you if you’re:
Have recently taken a round of antibiotics and want a tailored approach to rebuild your gut microbiome
Dealing with digestive issues regularly
Have eliminated an underlying gut imbalance (SIBO, candida, parasites, leaky gut) or completed a leaky gut protocol and looking to rebuild and strengthen your gut microbiome
Looking to improve and optimize your digestion and overall health
Taking preventative measures for future health and longevity
Below is an example of one of the markers and results picked up by the test.
A sample page of a Vitract report
The GI MAP by Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory is a comprehensive stool test that relies on qPCR technology to detect underling pathogens. It can detect the most diverse range of pathogens compared to any other test including:
Bacteria (including H.pylori),
Fungi
Parasitic and viral pathogens
Inflammatory and auto-immune related bacteria
Good bacteria levels (needed to keep the bad ones in check)
Opportunistic microbes (good bacteria unless not kept in check can turn into bad bacteria)
Inflammation levels
Intestinal health and digestive markers (to help understand if your digestive organs are working properly)
This is a great test if you’ve been chronically sick for some time, have an autoimmune disease and have struggled to get answers on what’s going on with your body. This test has to be ordered through a functional or holistic practitioner.
Cost: $370 USD (appx. $510 CAD)
Is this test right for you?:
This test is for you if you’re:
Dealing with chronic, daily and severe digestive issues (bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, skin issues, headaches etc.)
Have done multiple tests with your doctor or gastroenterologist (endoscopy, coloscopy, celiac testing, enteroscopy, ultrasounds) and all have come back showing negative with little direction on what to do next.
Diagnosis of IBD, IBS/SIBO
Chronic skin conditions, food sensitivities, joint pain
Have a diagnosed autoimmune condition that you’re trying to understand the root cause of
You’ve spent months or years on medication(s) that may impact your overall gut function
Below is an example of one of the markers and results picked up by the test.
A sample page of the GI Map report
These tests can be done in the comfort of your own home. A stool sample kit is provided with a return label that you send through the mail. Test results take approximately 2-3 weeks (including mail transit time).
Interested in Testing?
Book a free strategy call where I can help you determine which test would be right for you and the type of support to help interpret and implement the suggestions.
By Krista Znebel, R.H.N.©
June 12, 2024