This week I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Darrell Kilcup, Chiropractor and Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner. In this interview, I ask Dr. Kilcup all about his favorite test to get to the root cause of his patients’ gut problems: poop testing…also known as stool testing. We dive deep into how he uses this test to help his patients and focus his interventions.
Check out the interview below:
Here are some of the highlights:
- Find the root cause of the gut problem first before you can try to fix it
- Most health problems begin in the gut
- Important to get objective testing like a stool analysis to find out what’s going on inside the gut
- Doctor’s Data- Comprehensive Stool Analysis with Parasitology
- Checks for beneficial v pathogenic bacteria
- Reviews digestive capacity
- Presence of yeast overgrowth or parasitic infections
- Inflammatory and immune markers
- Doctor’s Data- Comprehensive Stool Analysis with Parasitology
- Probiotics are like an organ! Their role includes…
- Making vitamins
- Immune system regulators
- Helping with nutrient absorption
- It’s okay to get aggressive with treatment if targeted problems are being addressed
- Many great labs out there assessing the stool: Genova, Doctor’s Data
- Make sure to work with a qualified healthcare practitioner if you order one of these tests so that you know the proper treatment protocol.
- Other gut health tests:
- Breath testing for SIBO (hydrogen and methan),
- Blood testing for SIBO (Cyrex labs)
- Food sensitivity testing
- Indican test for SIBO
- Leaky gut testing (Cyrex or Genova)
- This stuff can get pricey, so it is important to prioritize the most important screening tools based on your budget
- Fixing the gut is vital to start treatment in almost any chronic condition
