Help! I do all the healthy-gut things, but still have GI symptoms!
Our clinicians at BeWell have worked with literally thousands of clients to heal gastrointestinal symptoms of all types, from GERD to gallbladder dysfunction to IBS of all varieties. What is important to realize about this large population of clients with GI symptoms is that most of them were otherwise healthy individuals.
These clients ate well, exercised, and kept up with the latest health news and recommendations. They actively checked off the to-dos on the metaphorical wellness checklist.
And yet, their GI symptoms didn’t get better.
You can have a healthy lifestyle, and still have an imbalance or root cause of digestive distress that hasn’t been addressed.
Ongoing gastrointestinal symptoms don’t necessarily indicate you’re doing something “wrong.” It simply indicates there’s more investigation needed.
Don’t guess – test!
Without testing, any therapy is like throwing darts in a dark room – we’re just hoping something lands. But when you invest in testing, the results serve as a bright light highlighting exactly where to aim.
One of my own clients was an overall healthy woman in her late 30s. She ran long distance for exercise, ate her veggies, and maintained a healthy body weight. But she suffered from episodes of urgent, loose stool daily. As you can imagine, it was quite disruptive. As her nutritionist, I lasered in on food sensitivity testing with the IgG Food Explorer. Low and behold, a severe dairy sensitivity was the sole cause of all of her GI discomfort. Once the client completed an elimination diet, her symptoms resolved completely.
Another client experienced IBS type symptoms daily, and assumed she’d have to suffer these symptoms for the rest of her life due to a chronic disease of the liver. But thanks to the gut health markers on the OMX test, we identified a massive bacteria imbalance in her gut. Once we cleared up the dysbiosis of her microbiome, all of her GI symptoms resolved, even with her liver diagnosis! We never would’ve found this without testing.
These case studies illustrate the power of testing. GI symptoms can be caused by a number of underlying issues:
- Intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut)
- Dysbiosis (bacterial or fungal overgrowth)
- Bile congestion
- Poor fat digestion
- Hypochloridia
- Food sensitivities
- Inflammation of the gut lining
- Stress and vagus nerve issues
There’s much more to the puzzle than just adding an-over-the counter probiotic and hoping for the best!
The number of probiotics on the market is dizzying and continues to grow. This chart of probiotics by just one company, a favorite supplement manufacturer of ours, Designs for Health, illustrates my point:
This variety is a great sign of the growing research in the field of gut bacteria, but as a consumer you can’t just buy any probiotic off the shelf – especially if you’re already experiencing GI symptoms! For example, if you’re suffering from an overgrowth of lactobacillus acidophilus (one of the most common overgrowths we see at BeWell), the last thing you want to do is supplement with a probiotic formula that adds more of the acidophilus strain!
The first step
To start the process of healing your gut for good, complete an initial screening with one of our clinical nutritionists so they can get a full assessment of your symptoms and unique case. The second step is to complete functional testing to identify the root cause. It requires the trained eye of an experienced clinician to identify which test is the best fit for the least cost, based on each unique case.
To end, one of my most profound cases was a client who’d been living for years with up to 12 extremely painful bowel movements a day, along with cramping, lethargy, even headaches. The doctor’s diagnosed him with Crohn’s, but he wasn’t getting any better even with steroid medication and following the Autoimmune Diet. Thanks to the highly pixelated results of the GI Map test, we were able to identify he was actually suffering from intestinal worms that had gone undiagnosed for years! He was able to get the treatment he needed and at our last check-in he reported normal, painless bowel movements. And, just as importantly, his wife reported they had their life back.
Contact us to get started on your GI recovery!
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