The most common symptoms that people notice are changes in their bowel movements or feelings of discomfort after eating such as:

• Diarrhea or loose stools
• Constipation
• Upset, sour stomach
• Bloating, heartburn, indigestion
• Abdominal pain
• Acid reflux
• Gas

Often less recognized effects of a disturbed digestive system are unintentional weight changes, sleep disturbances, fatigue, skin irritation, asthma, food sensitivities (gluten, wheat, soy, dairy, etc.), and autoimmune conditions.

Your Vytal Health physician will be able to connect the dots between your gut health and other symptoms you may be experiencing to create an effective, personalized treatment plan.

Continuing new research supports the idea that we can consider the gut as a “second brain” as it is filled with 100 million nerve cells that carry messages throughout the body. These messages include responses that can influence our emotional well-being, which can result in symptoms like anxiety or depression. It’s even estimated that 90 percent of the body’s serotonin (aka the “happy hormone”) is created by the bacteria in your gut. When it comes to mental wellness, having a Vytal Health physician take a closer look at your gut health can be key in alleviating mood changes that may not have responded to conventional treatment.

Sensitivities to foods such as gluten, dairy, soy, corn, and many others can cause inflammation in the gut leading to both GI symptoms as well as problems elsewhere in the body. Removing these foods becomes an essential step to healing the gut and addressing the root causes of your symptoms. Vytal Health offers a simple finger-stick blood test that can be done in the comfort of your home to measure sensitivities to up to 200+ foods. Your Vytal Health physician can use this lab test information to help you eliminate offending foods, restore appropriate microbiome balance, and heal the gut lining. Adjusting your food choices can be challenging, but our team is trained to give you the tools you need to sustain improvements to your gut health.

Your Vytal Health physician will take a comprehensive health history, assess your diet, digestive symptoms, and any other areas of the body that may be affected by your gut. He or she may also recommend specific tests that can be completed in the comfort of your home such as:

• Food sensitivity testing
• Comprehensive stool testing to evaluate nutrient absorption, inflammation, imbalances in your microbiome, and underlying infections (yeast, bacteria, parasites)
• Hydrogen and methane breath testing to identify small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
• Nutrient testing

With your results in hand, your physician will create a personalized plan aimed at eliminating your specific symptoms and optimizing your gut health. By improving your nutrient intake and balancing your microbiome with supplements and diet, we can alleviate the root causes of your most difficult symptoms.