
What Does Your Poop Say About You?
By Dr. Luke Moore, DC
Gut health is absolutely fundamental to address when considering improving overall health. Why is this? We all know the adage, “you are what you eat!” In reality, this is only a partial truth. A more accurate statement is “you are what you digest, absorb, and assimilate.” Digestion is that actual physical process of breaking down food and nutrients obtained from our diet. Absorption is the process of said nutrients crossing through the lining of our digestive system and entering the blood stream. Assimilation is the process of getting the nutrients into cells or whatever destination awaits a given nutrient. What can impair the above processes? The answer, several different things can impair our ability to digest, absorb, and assimilate such as: stress, anxiety, decreased stomach acid production, food sensitivities/allergies, an imbalance of gut bacteria, inflammation in the gut, parasitic infections, bacterial infections, viral infections, yeast/fungal overgrowth, and much more. If our gut health is negatively impacted this can have great ramifications not only within our GI system and metabolism, but also on our mood and behavior, immune system and nervous system and endocrine (hormones) system!
So, how can we assess what is truly going on inside of the gut? The answer, of course, is to analyze the poop! The test that we utilize at Jordan Chiropractic Clinic is the Gastro Intestinal Microbial Assay Plus or better known as the GI-MAP. The GI-MAP is a functional stool test that analyzes the following:
As you can see, this test provides a myriad of super helpful information to gain a solid understanding of the state of your gut health. As you can see, your poop says a lot about your gut health which again is crucial when addressing overall health and wellness, which in turn helps the clinician or provider form a plan of action that is tailored to you and the specific needs of your gut health based on the test.
Who stands to benefit from having a GI-MAP ran? See the infographic attached to this article! If you or a loved one or friend have gut health issues, contact our team to set up a FREE Functional Medicine Consultation with Dr. Luke Moore to see if a GI-MAP is right for you!