Functional LabTesting
What is the GI-MAP Stool Test?
The GI-MAP stool test is an amazing and thorough examination of your gastrointestinal system. It can help your healthcare provider identify specific microbes that may be disrupting the natural balance of your microbiome, which can lead to digestive problems and other chronic health issues. By using the GI-MAP test, your healthcare provider can gain valuable insights into the workings of your gut, making it an indispensable tool for maintaining digestive health.
Who should consider doing a GI-MAPTM stool test?
Are you experiencing digestive symptoms like constipation, diarrhea, bloating, reflux, stomach pain, irritable bowel syndrome, or inflammatory bowel conditions? If so, the GI-Map test may be perfect for you. This test evaluates Beta glucuronidase levels, which can impact the detoxification of estrogen, leading to estrogen dominance. That makes it beneficial for those who suffer from hormonal imbalances.
Additionally, the test aims to collect an extensive range of microbial targets and digestive and immune markers. This can be a huge help for those who have autoimmune disorders or chronic ailments or suspect they may have them.
Recent research suggests that there is a strong link between gut bacteria and mental health, particularly in regard to anxiety and depression. The gut has a significant impact on brain health, and a simple stool test can be taken at any age, from children to the elderly. This test is a straightforward way to get a better understanding of how your gut is affecting your mental health.
What are the benefits of the GI-MAP Test?
The GI-Map screens the body for commensal and pathogenic bacteria, parasites, fungi, opportunistic pathogens, and viruses all of which can have a negative impact on your health if imbalanced. The GI-Map also tests for leaky gut, pancreatic function, gut immune response, and gut-mediated inflammation providing your healthcare practitioner a clear view of what is happening in your gastrointestinal tract enabling them to formulate an individual and effective protocol for your needs.
MRT: Mediator Release Test (food sensitivity testing)
Q: Why should MRT testing be used over other food sensitivity testing?
A: Each practitioner wants as much clinically relevant information as possible when it comes to food sensitivity reactions. This is the basis for developing an anti-inflammatory eating plan.
MRT provides – a more complete and thorough assessment of diet-induced inflammatory reactions to both foods
and food-chemicals. The challenge is that food sensitivities are a very complex reaction with multiple triggering mechanisms. Some food sensitivity mechanisms are governed by the adaptive immune system (food-specific antibodies, T-cell mediated reactions) and some are governed by the innate immune system (cell-mediated responses). But if they are truly inflammatory and thereby pathogenic, the one critical event that must take place is the mediator release from the white blood cells. Mediator release from white cells is the endpoint of all inflammatory reactions and all diet-induced inflammatory reactions. ALL. If there is no mediator release from white cells, there is no inflammatory reaction, even if a potential mechanism is elevated. This is why the information MRT provides is so useful and has greater clinical utility than other food-sensitivity blood tests.
Single parameter tests, like IgG, can only provide limited information in this regard. This is one of the reasons why over 200 studies on food-specific IgG show a poor correlation with inflammation and symptoms. The other reasons are because the instances when IgG is involved in triggering an inflammation-provoking reaction (Type 3 hypersensitivity) related to food, are either when too many smaller immune complexes are being formed and are harder for the reticuloendothelial system to remove, or when larger immune complexes deposit on tissue somewhere in the body. Conversely, the data on MRT show that it can distinguish between symptomatic and asymptomatic populations, produces excellent clinical outcomes in various chronic inflammatory conditions and has a good correlation with inflammation. MRT quantifies the degree of the inflammatory response allowing the practitioner to identify the safest foods for each patient. MRT accounts for both innate and adaptive immune reactions MRT accounts for the widest range of triggering mechanisms MRT is the only test that can identify individual cell group reactions (eosinophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils).
Comprehensive Panel Markers:
• C-Reactive Protein (CRP) • CBC (includes Differential and Platelets) • Comprehensive Metabolic Panel • Ferritin • Gamma Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) • Hemoglobin A1c • Homocysteine • hs- CRP • Insulin • Iron, Total and Total Iron Binding Capacity • Lactate Dehydrogenase (LD) • Lipid Panel • Apo A-1, Apo B and Apo A-1/B Ratio • Magnesium • Phosphate • T3, Free (FT3) • T3, Reverse, LC/MS/MS • T4, Free (FT4) • THYROID PANEL & TSH; Includes TSH; PROFILE – T4* ; Total T3 • Thyroid Peroxidase and Thyroglobulin Antibodies • Uric Acid • Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy, Total, Immunoassay