What is gut microbiome testing?

It’s a stool test that looks at the community of microbes (bacteria, fungi, and others) living in your intestines. These microbes make chemicals that influence digestion, inflammation, metabolism, immunity, and even blood pressure—all of which affect heart health.

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What can it tell me?

• Diversity: how many different helpful species you have (more diversity is usually better).

• Balance: whether helpful microbes are crowding out opportunistic or inflammatory species.

• Functions/potential: whether your microbes are likely to make beneficial compounds (like SCFAs, which calm inflammation) or less helpful ones (e.g., pathways tied to TMAO production in some people).

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What can’t it do?

• It doesn’t diagnose a disease by itself.

• It won’t replace standard medical tests (bloodwork, imaging, colonoscopy when indicated).

• Results are a guide for targeted nutrition and lifestyle—not a stand-alone cure.

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Who should consider testing?

Consider a stool microbiome test if you have
 

• signs/symptoms/markers of inflammation, or

• early plaque despite “normal” labs

• persistent GI issues

• autoimmune disease

• metabolic risk

• elevated hsCRP

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How do I prepare?

• No special diet is needed, but avoid starting new probiotics, antibiotics, or colon cleanses for ~2–4 weeks beforehand (unless prescribed).

• Follow the kit’s collection instructions exactly.​

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What happens after?

• Share your results with all of your healthcare providers (nutritionist, cardiologist, functional medicine, primary care, etc).

• Results should be translated into a personalized plan.

• We make one change at a time and reassess symptoms and labs in 6–8 weeks.

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