Can a Wellness Consultation Start My Journey Toward Good Gut Health?

Your digestive system, often called “the gut,” is home to roughly 10 hundred trillion microorganisms — that’s 10 times the number of cells in your entire body. All those microorganisms play critical roles in digestion and your overall health. 

Keeping your gut healthy involves more than simply eating a healthy diet (although that’s extremely important). It also depends on understanding what’s “going on” in your gut, as well as the unique needs of your own personal gut microbiome.

At Health Meets Wellness, our team helps people maintain a healthy gut microbiome with wellness consultations, including tests and evaluations focused on gut health and activity. 

In this blog, learn how a wellness consultation can help you improve your gut health and overall health and wellness.

Why gut health matters

Everyone knows the gut plays a central role in digestion. It breaks down foods, helps your body absorb vitamins and minerals, and eliminates waste. These important functions help your body get the nutrients it needs to function properly. However, the gut does so much more.

Maintaining a healthy gut is essential for overall health and wellness. In fact, when the balance of your gut microorganisms is disrupted, it increases your risks of severe and chronic diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and some types of cancer. 

Gut health also plays a critical role in maintaining good emotional health via the gut-brain axis — the system of neural pathways that connects your gut and your brain. Poor gut health can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and mood disorders, along with a negative impact on cognitive functions like memory and focus.

A healthy gut also has a major impact on your immune system. In fact, about 80% of your immune system cells live in your digestive tract. When your gut microbiome is unbalanced, your immune system suffers, making you more prone to illnesses and infections.

Wellness consultations for good gut health

Wellness consultations are an important first step in helping your gut stay healthy. They help create a roadmap and provide you with the tools you need to improve your gut microbiome.

Gut microbiome testing

To truly customize a gut health plan for your needs, you need to know all you can about your personal gut microbiome. Microbiome testing analyzes gut health via a sample of your stool. 

The results provide our team with essential insights about the balance of your gut bacteria, identifying potential issues that could be causing symptoms like bloating or indigestion. The results also help identify possible problems that lead to risk factors for cardiovascular disease, cognitive issues, inflammation, and other health concerns.

Lab tests

Blood tests and other lab work reveal additional information about your overall wellness, including issues that could be affected by your gut health. Your test measures your cholesterol, inflammatory markers, and levels of vitamins and other nutrients. These data points help us develop a plan focused on improving your gut health and your overall wellness.

Biometric screening

Biometric screening uses measurements of your waist, blood pressure, body composition and other parameters to glean insights into how your gut health may affect your overall wellness. It can also identify issues like hypertension or metabolic syndrome. Biometric screening also helps us fine-tune your wellness plan for improved long-term health.

Personalized nutritional consultation

A personalized nutritional consultation sets the stage for improved nutrition and improved gut health by helping identify deficiencies and establishing a plan to correct them. Our team works with you to design a healthy eating plan and establish improved dietary habits. 

Depending on your needs, your plan might include nutritional supplements, prebiotics, probiotics, additional tests or screening, exercise recommendations, and other steps focused on supporting optimal gut health.

Gut health: A key to overall wellness

Following a healthy diet is essential. However, it’s just part of what it takes to maintain a healthy gut. To learn how a wellness consultation can get you started on the path toward better gut health and overall health, call 934-203-8941 or request an appointment online with the team at Health Meets Wellness in Midtown East, New York City today. We also offer telehealth appointments.