What is the Gut Zoomers 3.0 Test and how can it help you get to the root of your symptoms?
It seems as though on any social media platform an iNfLuEnCeR of some sort is selling a “Gut Reset” course or offering different products to cure your nagging symptoms.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are practitioners out there that do provide some valuable insight and offer great DIY programs, but I’m always left thinking, how can someone apply these suggestions if they don’t know what is ACTUALLY going on inside? Will the supplement they’re suggesting make it better or worse? Will they get short-term or long-term relief?
That’s why I love using functional tests to help get clients a starting point.
While functional labs cannot provide diagnoses, they can help us uncover all kinds of imbalances within our body systems that may be contributing to our symptoms, like detoxification issues, digestive insufficiencies, infections, inflammation, and more.
The Gut Zoomer test is a specific type of functional stool test that looks at the gut microbiome. It gives us insight into how the gut is functioning by analyzing and summarizing it into specific categories. It takes a look at inflammation markers, immune function, gluten sensitivity, digestive function, bacterial and viral infection, fungal overgrowth, and more!
In combination with the symptomatology assessment that we provide, I have found the stool test to be a really helpful tool for helping my clients understand why symptoms like gas, bloating, IBS, skin issues, low energy, or heartburn are occurring.
I use information from the stool test to create personalized protocols for our clients, streamline their path to rebalancing the gut, and ultimately help them find long-term symptom relief.
Who should consider a Gut Zoomers Stool Test?
Since the Gut has a hand in virtually every bodily system and function, the Gut Zoomer test can be a great starting point for uncovering the root cause behind all kinds of symptoms and syndromes, including:
- Hormonal imbalances: PMS, irregular periods, PCOS, hypo or hyperthyroidism, hair loss, hormonal acne, etc
- Skin issues: Eczema, psoriasis, rashes, acne, perioral dermatitis, etc.
- Mood disorders: Anxiety, depression, irritability, etc.)
- Autoimmune conditions: Hashimoto, rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, IBD, etc
- Digestive issues: IBS, reflux, heartburn and GERD, IBD, food sensitivities or intolerances, gas, SIBO)
- Chronic inflammation or pain
- Recurrent migraines or headaches
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Low energy or brain fog
- Fungal issues: Recurrent yeast infections, UTI’s, fungal nails, etc.
- Weight-loss resistance or metabolic problems
- Poor immune function
Let’s uncover and break down a few different categories from the Gut Zoomer test
Overview of the main health concerns
Each report will show a quick breakdown of the main health markers Gut Zoomers will identify. In short, certain markers, gut bacteria, and strains of species correspond to different health issues. Sometimes, these markers cross over, so don’t panic that you have more than 1 “health marker” out of range.
Gut Zoomer is split into 3 sections – Gut Commensal, Gut Pathogens, and Digestive Markers with their respective sub-categories.
Gut Commensals
You can think of commensal bacteria like the “good guys” in your gut that provide all kinds of benefits including supporting the immune system, metabolism, nutrient absorption, hormone production, bowel habits, neurotransmitter production, vitamin production, and more.
These are more commonly known as probiotics. Low levels of commensal bacteria can result in:
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Irregular stools
- Bloating
- Poor immunity
- Mood issues
- Increased inflammation
… to name a few.
Fungi and Yeast
Fungal infections like Candida Overgrowth can contribute to a vast range of symptoms
- General: Sweet cravings, extreme fatigue, alcohol intolerance
- Cognitive: Brain fog, poor memory, depression, irritability, insomnia, mood swings, anxiety
- Digestive: Gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, itchy rectum
- Pain: inflammation, headache, muscle and joint aches
- Immune dysfunction: autoimmune disease, susceptibility to infections or bacteria, food and chemical sensitivities
- Structural: skin irritation, rashes, thrush, dry skin, acne, tingling nerves.
Unfortunately, I have seen a handful of clients who have embarked on their own anti-fungal (candida cleansing) journey based on symptoms alone, only to find that their symptoms got worse afterward because they never actually had a fungal issue. Most of the time yeast overgrowths rarely exist in isolation!
Parasites
Parasites are organisms that need to feed off a host in order to survive…and guess who that host is? Yup, you betcha..that’s us! Unfortunately, this is why many people with parasites experience nutrient deficiencies and chronically low energy.
Parasites are also far more common than we think and can contribute to many different symptoms, not just vomiting and diarrhea!
Some of the common symptoms and conditions I see in clients who have parasites include:
- Skin rashes
- Inflammation
- Insomnia
- Poor immunity
- Brain fog
- Bloating
- IBS and IBD
- Nutrient deficiencies (especially Iron)
- Hair loss
If you notice, there are some crossover symptoms of parasite and fungal overgrowths!
Truthfully, parasites rarely pop up in isolation, so I am always considering the entire GI picture when determining how to approach the overgrowth.
Fun fact: Seeing parasites on a stool test tells us we need to work on improving stomach acid!
Why? Because stomach acid is meant to protect us by neutralizing pathogens that come in through our environment! If we had enough stomach acid, these parasites wouldn’t have made their way into the gut in the first place.
Intestinal Health Markers
Truthfully this is one of my personal favorite sections for a few reasons! In essence, it tells us about how our gut and digestive system are actually functioning.
Specifically, it gives us insight into:
- Digestive secretions (like whether we are producing enough digestive enzymes and bile to actually break down our food)
- Immune function
- Gluten sensitivity (aka, how our immune system is responding to gluten proteins)
- Gut inflammation aka leaky gut
Let’s take a closer look!
Digestive Secretion and Insufficiency
Vegetable and Meat Fiber: These markers show the presence of vegetable and meat fibers in our stool. It is generally indicative of improper chewing, digestive insufficiency, and potentially from poor/low stomach acid.
Elastase-1 and Total Fecal Fat: This is one of our non-invasive digestive health markers. Specifically, it measures digestive enzyme output and steatorrhea (the presence of fat in the stool). When we see these markers out of range, it can indicate that food may not be being broken down and digested efficiently, which can contribute to nutrient deficiencies, pathogen overgrowths, fatigue, bloating, irregular bowels, undigested food in the stools, and more.
Gut Inflammation
There are different inflammatory markers that can appear on a stool test to indicate the presence of gut inflammation. However, this is a common marker that has come up!
Calprotectin: Calprotectin is an inflammatory marker that can be useful in helping us understand the overall level of inflammation in the gut. Calprotectin is also used to assess or monitor the degree of inflammation already diagnosed with IBD. There are a number of reasons why this marker can be elevated (chronic NSAID use, GI Infections (bacterial or parasitic), malignancy, or obesity, to name a few.
Gluten Markers
Fecal Anti Gliadin: Gliadin is a protein unique to wheat gluten that is a known autoimmune trigger in celiac disease (CD). It also has a direct interaction/correlation with intestinal permeability. In short, fecal anti gliadin antibody tests for immune system reaction to gluten in the diet. It enables direct and quantitative assessment of gluten exposure after ingestion. It could also aid in the diagnosis and clinical management of non-responsive CD or refractory CD. Essentially, this marker can give us insight into how the immune system is responding to gluten exposure. When this marker is elevated, we know gluten is wreaking havoc on the gut!
Other Markers
B- Glucuronidase: Beta-glucuronidase is an enzyme produced by certain types of bacteria in the gut involved in the breakdown of certain chemicals and toxins. The right balance of this enzyme is important for health and detoxification, and an altered balance of beta-glucuronidase can indicate a variety of health conditions.
Secretory IGA (SigA): This is one of our immune markers. SiGA is looking at the total immune response in the gut. When it is too high or too low, this tells us the immune system is either over-reacting to an infection or a food sensitivity, or it has been totally wiped out from fighting off a long-standing infection, being exposed to food sensitivities long-term, or subjected to chronic stress.
Fecal Zonulin: Zonulin gives us insight into the health of the mucosal lining (the gut lining). Specifically, zonulin is a protein that contributes to intestinal permeability, often referred to as “leaky gut.” When zonulin is elevated, we know the gut lining is compromised, which often presents as nutrient deficiencies, IBS symptoms, skin issues, poor immune health, and nutrient deficiencies, just to name a few.
Final Thoughts on Stool Testing
To conclude, the Gut Zoomers 3.0 stool test is an incredibly comprehensive test. While I would recommend it to almost anyone struggling with chronic health conditions, the test is only as good as the interpretation. For this reason, if you think this test could be helpful for you, I encourage you to work with a professional who can help you understand your results and formulate a plan to address them.
If you’re interested in what your poop is telling you, feel free to book a free discovery call, and we can discuss further!
