Stool analysis - what's it all about and how can it help you?
Ever wondered what's going on inside your Gut? In this blog I explain how a comprehensive stool analysis can help get to the bottom of frustrating IBS-related symptoms, and guide personalised nutritional approaches to help rebalance and optimise health.
UNLOCKING THE SECRETS HELD IN YOUR GUT
As a nutritional therapist I have learned that nurturing the health of the gut is one of, if not the key foundation, for supporting a host of health conditions. This is because what your body digests and absorbs influences the functioning of every system and cell in your body. You can eat a nutrient-packed diet, but if you can’t properly break down and uptake those nutrients, then you may be falling short of optimal nourishment and health. What’s more, the digestive system is also an important exit route for toxins and old hormones.
In this way, poor skin health, autoimmune conditions, allergies, chronic fatigue, brain fog, hormone imbalances, low mood and so many more symptoms and health concerns, may all have roots in what is going on with your insides.
Good digestion relies on a carefully coordinated series of digestive actions and secretions. This is supported by a thriving ecosystem of bacteria in our guts, that help to break down food and keep less desirable microbes at bay. A lack of any of the digestive juices, an imbalance in gut bacteria, an overgrowth of potentially pathogenic microbes, or changes in how fast food moves through the digestive system can all adversely affect digestion and absorption.
Some of the most obvious and common symptoms of compromised digestive function include heart burn, frequent burping, excessive flatulence, nausea, abdominal pain, alternating bowel movements, bloating and food intolerances. Understandably these can really impact quality of life and detract from the experience of eating.
STOOL ANALYSIS AND IBS
If you’ve been given the frustrating diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), an umbrella term covering a host of gut-related symptoms, then the struggle with chronic bloating, abdominal pain, excessive flatulence, constipation and diarrhoea may be familiar to you.
If your digestive issues don’t appear to respond to changes to your lifestyle or eating habits, no amount of probiotics seem to be working, or you have struggled with gut issues for a long time and not felt like you’ve not got to the root of the problem, then getting a picture of what is going on in the gut via stool analysis often provides the extra information we need to help tweak nutrition and start making breakthroughs with gut health.
And, if you are reacting to and/or avoiding lots of foods and are worried your diet is feeling restrictive, then the extra information in a stool analysis may help build a level of understanding about why you are reacting to foods in the first place, and lead to some helpful strategies to feed up the healthy bacteria, or address over-abundance of less healthy bacteria, for example.
The GI Effects Comprehensive Stool Profile from Genova Diagnostics remains my favourite test for assessing digestive health and function, and building a picture of some of the potential underlying factors at play in IBS, as well as providing insights into areas of imbalance that could be playing into other gut-related conditions.
By assessing key digestive markers, this leading edge test is able to give an overview of all aspects of digestive function and can help us make more personalised decisions around the actions that may best promote better digestion and gut health going forward.
The GI EFFECTS COMPREHENSIVE STOOL PrOFILE includes an assessment of:
Fat digestion, protein digestion and pancreatic function
Markers for inflammation, allergic response and gut immune function
Microbial balance, including an abundance of beneficial species of bacteria and presence of yeasts, mould and other bacterial species
Pathogenic bacteria, yeasts and parasites
The integrity of the gut lining
The image for this blog provides a snapshot of part of the first page of a sample stool analysis report - which provides a high level overview of the findings that are detailed in the rest of the report.
My role is to dig into and interpret these findings in the context of your symptoms, health goals, health history, diet and lifestyle, and help you turn it into a manageable, meaningful action plan.
How do you get a stool test?
Remember that if you experience changes in bowel movements or pain, your first port of call is always your GP. IBS needs to be diagnosed by a doctor and if they feel your gut symptoms require further investigation they will make the necessary referrals. Your GP can run some stool tests on the NHS if they suspect a parasitic or bacterial infection. These tests will not provide a detailed bacterial analysis described above, but they can help identify parasites and key infections.
If you have an IBS diagnosis, or struggle with managing another gut-related condition, and would like to run a private stool test to provide all the additional data I’ve described above, then please do get in touch (see Next steps below).
Most high quality stool tests of this nature are in the region of £350-£400. At Gut Reaction, the GI Effects Comprehensive Stool Profile accompanies my Rebalance programme which includes time together to help support you along your gut health journey.
Next steps
Do you have IBS, bloating or digestives issues and need the tools and support to make improvements to your gut health and digestion?
Please check out my Rebalance programme here or contact me for a conversation now.
