Functional medicine for gut and digestive health
Bloating after every meal. Unpredictable digestion. Food reactions that keep shrinking your menu. "IBS" is a description, not an explanation — and finding the actual driver is what changes things.
Sound familiar?
- Bloating, gas, or abdominal discomfort after meals
- Alternating constipation and diarrhea, or either one chronically
- Reflux or heartburn that keeps returning
- Growing list of foods you "can't eat anymore"
- Fatigue, skin issues, or brain fog alongside digestive symptoms
- An IBS diagnosis that came with little explanation and less relief
Why it so often gets missed
Conventional workups do something important: they rule out structural disease — ulcers, celiac, inflammatory bowel disease. But when the scope comes back clean, many patients are told "it's just IBS" and handed a symptom medication, with the underlying driver never identified.
Yet most chronic digestive symptoms have identifiable contributors: small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), an imbalanced microbiome, low stomach acid or enzyme output, bile flow issues, or a gut-brain stress loop. These don't show up on a colonoscopy — they show up on functional testing that's rarely ordered.
How Heal approaches it
Testing that looks at function
Comprehensive stool analysis (microbiome composition, digestion and absorption markers, inflammation, pathogens) and SIBO breath testing where indicated — most of it collected at home.
The gut in context
Digestion is wired to stress physiology, hormones, thyroid function, and immune health. Your 90-minute evaluation maps how these systems interact in your case, because gut symptoms are often the loudest signal of a wider pattern.
Rebuild, not just restrict
Elimination diets alone often shrink your plate without fixing the problem. Your protocol focuses on treating identified drivers and restoring tolerance — so the goal is more foods you can enjoy, not fewer.
Testing we may use
- Comprehensive stool analysis (microbiome, digestion, inflammation)
- SIBO breath testing where indicated
- Celiac screening and food-reaction evaluation
- Nutrient status (iron, B12, vitamin D, zinc)
- Inflammatory markers as indicated
Testing is personalized — your physician recommends only what your history and symptoms call for. Lab fees are billed separately by the lab.
From the journal
Common questions
I've been told I have IBS. Is there anything more to find?
How does gut testing work if everything is remote?
Will I have to give up more foods?
Start with a conversation.
A free 15-minute call to share what's going on and see if Heal is the right fit — no commitment, entirely by telehealth.