How a Simple Gut Test Changed the Way I Practise
A story about one surprising result and why I now approach every client differently
There’s something that happens when you’ve been in clinical practice for a while. You start to recognise patterns. Fatigue often links to low iron. Bloating can be traced back to dysbiosis. Anxiety might have roots in blood sugar or nutrient deficiencies.
And then just when you think you can predict the outcome, you’re completely thrown.
That happened to me early in my practice with a patient I’ll never forget.
This wasn’t just a case that surprised me.
It fundamentally changed the way I approach gut health, testing and treatment plans to this day.
The Client Who Seemed “Straightforward”
She was in her early 30s. Fit. Well-spoken. A busy professional juggling work, travel, and training for her next half marathon. She’d booked in because she was “just feeling off.” Her words.
A little more tired than usual. Slightly more reactive to food. Mild bloating after meals. Trouble sleeping. Nothing dramatic and certainly nothing she couldn’t push through.
She almost didn’t book the appointment.
It was her partner who nudged her to take it seriously.
She even laughed when she filled in the intake form: “I’m not sure I really need to be here.”
But when I took her history, a few subtle red flags started to emerge.
There was a pattern of antibiotic use going back to childhood. Some mild eczema. A couple of unexplained UTIs. And a strange tendency to get sick after holidays, which she chalked up to “coming down off stress.”
She was clean eating, training regularly, taking magnesium and a probiotic. She did all the right things.
And yet… something didn’t feel aligned.
The Test That Told a Very Different Story
At this point, I had already been using functional testing in my practice but selectively due to being conscious of client budget constraints. Only when symptoms were obvious. Only when a case felt complex.
This one didn’t seem like that.
But something nudged me to recommend a stool analysis. A full microbial map, inflammatory markers, digestive function and immune status.
The results came back and they were confronting.
Her beneficial bacteria were severely depleted. Her gut lining showed signs of mild inflammation.
She had low secretory IgA (a marker of mucosal immunity) and an overgrowth of a strain linked to histamine intolerance and mood changes.
It was a gut environment under stress. Quietly, chronically stressed.
No extreme infections. No parasites. But enough imbalance to significantly affect nutrient absorption, immunity, hormone regulation and yes - energy, sleep and resilience.
She didn’t have a “broken” gut.
She had a high-functioning one doing its best to keep up… until it couldn’t.
The Shift That Changed Her Life and My Clinical Approach
This client went on to complete a targeted protocol to rebuild her microbiome and support her gut lining. We addressed stress, introduced strain-specific probiotics, targeted prebiotics, corrected deficiencies and slowly, the dial began to shift.
Her sleep improved. Her food reactivity decreased. She started feeling hungry again. Her energy returned, not in a burst, but in a quiet, consistent way.
But here’s the real shift.
Her confidence came back.
She began to trust her body again.
For me, this case highlighted something I’ve seen play out many times since:
The absence of dramatic symptoms does not equal the presence of good health.
And gut issues are often the invisible root of far more than we expect.
It’s not just the bloated, gassy, IBS-diagnosed clients who need gut support.
Sometimes it’s the high-functioning, high-performing, “fine” ones too.
Why I Now Test More Than I Assume
Before this case, I would rely heavily on symptom patterns to guide my gut protocols.
Now, I test earlier and more frequently in clients who might never have thought of themselves as needing it.
Because gut dysfunction doesn’t always shout, sometimes it whispers. And if we listen closely enough, it gives us the roadmap we’ve been missing.
If You’re Not Feeling Like Yourself…
You don’t need to wait for things to get bad before you take your health seriously.
If something feels off, it probably is.
And if your gut is under strain, even subtly, it can show up in fatigue, skin issues, mood shifts, hormone irregularities, immune challenges and so much more.
Functional testing isn’t about finding dramatic results. It’s about making informed decisions, so your treatment is accurate and tailored, not just guesswork.
Next steps, if you're curious:
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