As a Gut health Specialist Why I don't always blame the food

Last week, I had three comprehensive stool test results land on my desk... and if you've worked with me before, you'll know I love a stool test!

They reminded me of something I see in clinic time and time again.

Many people arrive for their first consultation carrying the results of an online food intolerance test. And I completely understand why.

When you've been struggling with digestive symptoms for months - or often years - you'll try almost anything. This isn't just the occasional bit of bloating. Many of my clients have reached the point where they're worried about leaving the house because they don't know where the nearest toilet is. That kind of digestive issue is life-limiting.

Usually they've already seen their GP, and been told everything looks "normal". Yet how they feel tells a different story. So an intolerance test feels like the next logical step.

As a little side note, I do use food intolerance testing in clinic when I feel it's clinically appropriate. Like any test, it's about knowing when it's useful and how to interpret the results.

Here's the bit I find fascinating...

Your gut lining acts like a security guard. It lets nutrients through into the bloodstream while keeping larger food particles, bacteria and other unwanted substances out.

But if that barrier becomes compromised - through inflammation, infections, parasites, certain medications, chronic stress - substances that should stay inside the gut can start slipping through. Your immune system sees them as foreign and quite rightly reacts.

So, when I see an intolerance test that's lighting up almost every food imaginable, my first thought usually isn't, "You need to avoid all these foods."

It's, "why is your gut reacting like this?"

Often, when we focus on what's driving that gut inflammation and support gut healing, clients find they can gradually tolerate many of those foods again.

So, if you've done a food intolerance test, cut out half your diet and still don't feel any better, don't lose hope. There may be another piece of the puzzle we haven't uncovered yet.

If you'd like someone to help make sense of your symptoms or your test results, I'd love to help.

Happy eating,

Tasha