Covid & Gut Bacteria

More and more evidence is coming out regarding the role your gut microbiome plays in your immune system’s ability to protect you against pathogens.  Now comes a new study showing the correlation between the severity of CV19 infection and gut microbiome distortions.  Although there is much talk in the media about “perfectly healthy” people dying of CV19, it is more likely that, though these people didn’t have an obvious health issue, they suffered with an underlying, undiagnosed condition that compromised their immune system.  Our conventional medical system has been slow to adopt functional microbiome analysis through stool testing. Yes, stool testing is sometimes ordered to determine the presence of a highly toxic pathogen. However, this is a very narrow analysis with little attention to overall function/dysfunction of the GI microbiome and its relationship to your health.   As you may have heard, the gut-immune connection is not limited to CV19 but has also been shown to be a factor in a wide range of conditions from cancer to mental/emotional conditions.  In short, if your gut microbiome is out of balance, your body, which includes your immune system,  is not performing optimally.  Unfortunately we are living in a time when this sensitive ecosystem within us is compromised in a large percentage of the population, even many who are considered “perfectly healthy”.  Wrong foods, stress, and numerous environmental and dietary chemicals can all adversely affect the health of your microbiome. Consequently, one of the fastest ways to support your immune system and overall well-being is to re-establish and maintain a healthy gut.   But though there are plenty of pages on the internet telling you what you need to eat to maintain a healthy gut, if you are out of balance you need something more than maintenance. Instead you need a protocol to help get you back to optimum. And before any protocol can be ordered we need more information on exactly what is out of balance; every-body’s different. This diagnosis is achieved with comprehensive stool testing, which guides the formation of a Functional Medicine treatment plan. So if you’ve tried a lot of other things to determine the origin of your mysterious symptoms and have heard “there’s nothing wrong”….this is your next step.  Call us to learn more.