When your gut is working well, you feel good energy, clear thinking, comfortable digestion, and regular movement. When it’s not, everything can start to feel off. The tricky part? Gut health issues don’t always show up in blood tests or standard checkups. And that leaves many people stuck in cycles of guesswork, diets, and disappointment.
This page is designed to help you understand what gut health really is, why it matters, and how to get support that goes beyond band-aid fixes. If you’re ready to understand your gut and take practical action, you’re in the right place.
Our Gut Health Services
Why Gut Health Is So Important
The gut is sometimes called the second brain. That’s because it does more than break down food; it’s involved in hormone production, immune support, mental health, and even how well you sleep. The community of microbes in your gut (called your microbiome) plays a huge role in regulating your health every single day.
Here’s how your gut supports your body:
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Digestion and absorption: Turning food into fuel and nutrients
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Immunity: Around 70% of your immune cells live in the gut lining
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Mental health: Your gut produces and regulates neurotransmitters like serotonin
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Inflammation control: A balanced microbiome keeps inflammation in check
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Hormone balance: Gut bacteria influence oestrogen, insulin, and cortisol pathways
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Detoxification: The gut helps clear waste and toxins safely
Your gut is not just a place for food to pass through. It’s a control centre, and when something’s off, the symptoms might show up in unexpected ways.
How Gut Digestion Works (and Where Things Can Go Wrong)
Digestion starts before your first bite. When you smell or see food, your body prepares enzymes and stomach acid. As you chew, food is mixed with saliva and passed into your stomach. From there, it’s broken down by acids and enzymes before moving into your small intestine, where most absorption happens. Gut bacteria help break down fibres and starches, producing nutrients in the process.
This process works best when:
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Your stomach acid levels are balanced
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Your pancreas and liver release the right enzymes
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Your small and large intestines are well-coordinated
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Your microbiome is diverse and balanced
Problems start when any of these steps are disrupted. Low stomach acid? Poor breakdown of food. Slow motility? More chance for gas and overgrowth. Overuse of antibiotics? Microbial imbalance. It’s rarely just one thing, usually a combination.
That's why getting a gut health test can be beneficial and a great place to start if you're having health concerns.
What Is the Gut Microbiome?
The gut microbiome is a collection of bacteria, yeasts, viruses, and microbes living primarily in your large intestine. These organisms aren’t just passengers, they actively help your body:
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Digest tough fibres
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Produce B vitamins and short-chain fatty acids
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Regulate inflammation
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Support immune and brain health
A diverse microbiome is considered a healthy one. But when diversity drops, or when certain bacteria overgrow, symptoms start to appear.
Signs Your Gut Might Need Support
You don’t have to have obvious stomach issues to have an imbalanced gut. Many symptoms linked to gut health are more subtle or seemingly unrelated to digestion at all.
Here are some signs that often point to gut imbalance:
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Bloating or discomfort after meals
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Irregular bowel habits (constipation, diarrhoea, or both)
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Food sensitivities that seem to change over time
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Fatigue or low energy (especially in the afternoon)
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Brain fog or trouble focusing
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Skin issues like acne, eczema, or rosacea
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Low mood, anxiousness, or irritability
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Difficulty sleeping or staying asleep
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Frequent illness or slow recovery
If you’ve been dealing with these kinds of symptoms without clear answers, your gut might be trying to tell you something.
Why Gut
Health Matters
Your gut is central to your overall well-being. And ruling the health of your gut is a delicate balance between good and bad bugs inside of it. When this balance is disrupted, such as through stress, a change in diet, ageing, disease, medications, or other causes, it’s not just your digestion that suffers. A problem with your gut sends shockwaves throughout your body. Bad bugs release toxins, poisoning you from within. Your beneficial bacteria—responsible for hormone production, inflammation reduction, and immune support—are depleted. Without this balance, your body can’t heal, and symptoms pile up.
My Struggle with Gut Health
A few years ago, I felt fatigued, overwhelmed, and exhausted. I tried everything to reclaim my health—supplements, strict diets, prescriptions, countless appointments—but nothing worked. Desperate for answers and juggling one restrictive diet after another, I kept asking myself, “Is this really it? Is this the life I’m meant to accept?” I restored my gut health and now I feel more amazing than ever.
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Benefits of Restoring Your Gut Health
Imagine waking up free from bloating, brain fog, and fatigue–yourself again. Then dining out with friends and ordering anything from the menu without dreading a painful flare-up. What if you could say “yes” to invitations, instead of thinking about what you’ missed?
What Can Disrupt Gut Health?
Gut health is dynamic. It responds to your lifestyle, environment, history, and food. Here are the most common disruptors we see:
1. Stress
Chronic stress slows digestion, reduces stomach acid, and changes your microbiome. Even perceived stress can alter gut function.
2. Diet
Low-fibre diets starve beneficial bacteria. Highly processed foods can fuel the wrong kinds. Food diversity matters, not just food avoidance.
3. Medications
Antibiotics, acid blockers, NSAIDs, and even the pill can impact the microbiome or gut lining.
4. Infections
Travel, food poisoning, or parasites can trigger long-term changes in gut health if not addressed.
5. Lack of Movement
Exercise supports gut motility. Without it, digestion slows and overgrowth risks rise.
6. Poor Sleep
Circadian rhythms affect your gut. Inconsistent sleep or late-night eating disrupts natural cycles.
Gut health can’t be fixed with one meal or one supplement. It’s about creating the right conditions, and that’s where testing can help.
The Link Between Gut Health and Immune Function
Your gut isn’t just about digestion; it’s a key player in how your immune system works. In fact, nearly 70% of your immune cells live along the gut lining. This means your digestive health directly influences how well your body defends against infections, inflammation, and long-term illness.
When your microbiome is balanced and your gut lining is intact, your immune system stays in check. It knows when to act and when to stand down. But when there’s an imbalance like in dysbiosis or leaky gut, your immune system can become overstimulated, confused, or sluggish. This might look like food sensitivities, chronic skin issues, autoimmunity, or catching every cold going around.
We often see clients with:
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Recurring infections
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Chronic inflammation
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Autoimmune flare-ups
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Poor recovery after illness
Supporting gut health can often mean fewer flares, better resilience, and more energy long term.
Everyday Habits for a Healthier Gut
Supporting your gut doesn’t mean you need a restrictive diet or an intensive protocol. It’s often the small, consistent choices that create the biggest change. Gut health thrives on variety, balance, and rhythm.
Here are some simple, research-backed habits you can begin incorporating into your daily life.
1. Eat a Variety of Plants Each Week
Aim for 30 or more different plant foods across your week. This includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices. Each one feeds different microbes in your gut, helping to increase microbiome diversity and resilience. A colourful, diverse plate isn't just good for your body, it feeds your bacteria too.
2. Include Prebiotic-Rich Foods
Prebiotics are types of fiber that nourish beneficial bacteria. Foods like oats, garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, green bananas, and Jerusalem artichokes are excellent sources. These help stimulate the growth of Bifidobacteria and other helpful strains, supporting digestion and inflammation regulation.
3. Try Fermented Foods (If Tolerated)
Fermented foods naturally contain live microbes that may help strengthen the gut barrier and support your microbiome. Examples include plain yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, and tempeh. If you're new to these foods, start small to assess how your body responds, especially if you have histamine sensitivity or SIBO.
4. Slow Down and Chew Your Food Properly
Digestion begins in the mouth. Chewing thoroughly reduces the work your stomach has to do and stimulates enzyme production. Eating slowly also supports better satiety cues, reduced bloating, and improved nutrient absorption. Avoid eating on the run or while multitasking to give your gut the best chance to function well.
5. Space Out Meals to Let Your Gut Rest
Constant snacking prevents the migrating motor complex (MMC) from cleaning your gut between meals. This can contribute to bloating and bacterial overgrowth. Try allowing 3 to 4 hours between meals and limit unnecessary snacking unless you have a medical reason to graze.
6. Move Your Body Daily
Exercise helps stimulate gut motility, reduce stress, and support microbial diversity. Even gentle activities like walking after meals can help prevent sluggish digestion. For those with constipation or bloating, movement is a non-negotiable part of gut support.
7. Prioritise Sleep and Rest
Your gut follows a circadian rhythm, just like your brain. Poor or inconsistent sleep disrupts your microbiome, reduces your ability to manage inflammation, and slows digestion. Aim for 7 to 9 hours of restful sleep, ideally going to bed and waking up at consistent times.
8. Reduce Gut-Damaging Stress
The gut and brain are directly linked via the gut-brain axis. Chronic stress can impair digestion, lower stomach acid, and increase gut permeability. Consider daily tools like breathwork, yoga, journaling, or short meditations to regulate your nervous system and reduce the impact of stress on your digestion.
9. Eat Mindfully, Not Just Healthily
Healthy food choices are only part of the equation. How you eat matters too. Sit down, breathe before eating, avoid screens, and give your gut the environment it needs to digest effectively. A calm mealtime helps trigger the parasympathetic state needed for optimal digestion.
Common Myths About Gut Health
Gut health has become a buzzword, but with popularity comes plenty of misinformation. Let’s clear up a few of the most common myths we hear from clients.
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“If I’m not bloated, my gut must be fine.”
Many gut-related issues don’t cause obvious digestive symptoms. Skin flare-ups, low mood, fatigue, or brain fog can all be signs your gut needs support.
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“Probiotics fix everything.”
While probiotics can be helpful, they’re not a magic pill. In some cases (like SIBO or histamine intolerance), they can even make symptoms worse. The right strain, dose, and timing matter. You should also remove any gut infections before supplementing with probiotics, as this is like adding fuel to the fire.
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“A healthy gut just means eating clean.”
Whole foods are important, but gut health also depends on factors such as stress levels, sleep, movement, and microbial diversity. It’s not just what you eat, but how your entire system functions.
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“It’s normal to feel this way as you age.”
Feeling bloated, tired, or foggy all the time isn’t just a part of getting older. It’s often a sign that something deeper is going on, and it can be improved.
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“All gut health supplements are great.”
There are thousands of gut health supplements on the market, especially on social media. Being able to discern between the quality of the supplement, if it’s safe to use on you, if it’s been TGA tested and if it’s something you need, is really important and will save you money and time.
Conditions We Support
Not every gut health issue comes with a clear-cut diagnosis. In fact, many of the clients we see have bounced between GPs, specialists, or dieticians, yet still feel unwell or unclear about what’s going on. Whether symptoms are vague, persistent, or misdiagnosed.
Below are the common digestive and gut-related conditions we support through a testing-led, personalised approach.
1. IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
IBS is one of the most commonly diagnosed functional gut disorders, but also one of the most misunderstood. It typically includes symptoms like bloating, abdominal cramping, and alternating constipation or diarrhoea. Stress, food sensitivities, hormonal changes, and gut-brain dysregulation all play a role.
Because IBS often overlaps with other conditions like SIBO or dysbiosis, a deeper look through functional testing can help identify what’s really driving your symptoms.
2. SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)
SIBO occurs when bacteria that should stay in the large intestine start growing in the small intestine. This can interfere with digestion and nutrient absorption, often leading to bloating (especially soon after meals), excessive gas, constipation or diarrhoea, and food intolerance.
Many clients are surprised to learn that SIBO may be behind their IBS diagnosis. Breath testing and symptom pattern recognition can help determine if this is an underlying cause.
3. Leaky Gut (Increased Intestinal Permeability)
Leaky gut isn’t often recognised in conventional medicine, but many people experience the effects. It refers to a compromised gut lining that allows toxins, pathogens, or food proteins to leak into the bloodstream, potentially triggering inflammation, fatigue, brain fog, or skin issues.
We see it frequently in clients with autoimmune conditions or those with long-standing digestive complaints.
4. Dysbiosis (Gut Microbial Imbalance)
When the ratio of beneficial and harmful microbes in the gut is disrupted, the body may struggle with digestion, immune function, and mood regulation. Dysbiosis can be caused by antibiotics, poor diet, alcohol, stress, or food poisoning.
It’s also very common in people with persistent bloating or inconsistent bowel movements. Stool testing is often the most effective way to pinpoint this imbalance.
5. Histamine Intolerance and Food Sensitivities
Not all food reactions are allergic. Some clients experience headaches, flushing, hives, bloating, or digestive discomfort after eating aged cheeses, fermented foods, or wine. This could point to histamine intolerance, a condition where the body struggles to break down histamine.
Others may react to FODMAPs, lectins, or oxalates not due to allergy, but due to how their gut processes these compounds. Identifying patterns and triggers can help guide a more effective, sustainable food plan.
6. Candida and Yeast Overgrowth
Fungal overgrowth, especially Candida, can thrive when the gut ecosystem is out of balance. Symptoms often include sugar cravings, bloating, fatigue, brain fog, and sometimes recurrent thrush or skin rashes.
While not everyone needs a "candida cleanse," in some cases, targeted support is necessary to bring the gut microbiome back into balance.
7. Post-Infectious Gut Syndrome
A sudden onset of symptoms following a stomach bug, food poisoning, or travel illness can leave a lasting impact on your digestive function. Even when the acute infection passes, some people develop long-term issues like IBS, SIBO, or gut hypersensitivity.
We often work with clients who feel they "never fully recovered" after a food-related illness.
8. Constipation-Dominant Patterns
Chronic constipation isn’t just uncomfortable; it can also drive toxin reabsorption, bacterial overgrowth, and skin issues. We look beyond fibre and water intake, exploring how nervous system tone, gut motility, microbiome activity, and bile flow affect regularity.
9. Gut-Immune Link Issues
Your gut plays a massive role in immune function. Clients with autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, rheumatoid arthritis, or psoriasis often benefit from gut-focused support. So do those with frequent colds, sinus infections, or chronic inflammation. Improving gut integrity can improve resilience across the board.
10. Skin-Gut Connections
We regularly work with clients who experience skin conditions like acne, eczema, or rosacea that flare with digestive upset. There’s increasing evidence that gut inflammation or dysbiosis can affect the skin via the gut-skin axis. Addressing underlying digestive health often leads to skin improvement, even without topical treatments.
11. Mood and Cognitive Concerns
Many people don’t realise their gut might be involved in symptoms like low mood, anxiety, or brain fog. The gut-brain axis is a two-way communication system, and when the gut is inflamed or imbalanced, it can affect how we think and feel. Clients often report improved mental clarity and emotional stability after gut treatment.
Why Functional Gut Testing Is Different
If you’ve been told your test results are “normal” but you still feel unwell, functional gut testing might be the missing piece. Unlike standard blood work or scans, functional tests ask: How is your gut actually functioning day to day?
At The Gut Guy, we use targeted tools like stool analysis, SIBO breath tests, and microbiome panels to explore:
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Bacterial overgrowth or imbalance
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Inflammation and enzyme function
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Yeast or parasites
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Intestinal permeability
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Food reactivity
These tests reveal what’s really going on, so we can create a practical, personalised plan, not guesswork or endless food eliminations.
With this approach, you get a clear picture of your gut and a path forward that suits your body, not a one-size-fits-all fix.
Our Testing-Led Process
Working with The Gut Guy isn’t just about protocols; it’s about clarity.
Step 1: Functional Testing
We help you choose the right tests to explore microbiome health, inflammation, overgrowth, and digestive markers.
Step 2: Practitioner Review & Report
You’ll receive a personalised Gut Report explaining what’s happening, why, and how to improve it.
Step 3: Personal Gut Support Plan
Your plan includes dietary adjustments, supplement support, nervous system regulation, and education shaped around your results.
This isn’t one-size-fits-all advice. It’s tailored support built around your body and life.
What to Expect: Your Gut Healing Timeline
Gut healing isn’t linear, and it doesn’t happen overnight. While everyone’s journey is different, most clients begin noticing subtle improvements within the first 3 to 4 weeks, things like reduced bloating, more consistent bowel movements, or better energy. By the 8–12 week mark, these changes tend to compound: clearer thinking, fewer food reactions, and improved mood are common.
Some people with deeper imbalances (like long-standing SIBO, leaky gut, or gut-brain dysregulation) may require longer support, typically 3 to 6 months. That’s not a sign of failure; it’s your body recalibrating after years of stress, restriction, or disruption.
We design each plan in phases, so you’re never left guessing what to do next. And we adjust based on how you respond. Gut healing isn’t about perfection, it’s about building consistency, awareness, and a system that works for your life.
Before & After: What a Gut Health Journey Looks Like
Before working with us, most clients feel frustrated, stuck, and unsure what’s causing their symptoms. You might be cycling through diets, avoiding foods you once loved, or bouncing between practitioners with little clarity.
After testing and personalised support, the shift is often deeper than just “less bloating.” We regularly see clients move from brain fog to focus, from fatigue to steady energy, from irregular bowel habits to predictable digestion. Food becomes enjoyable again, not a source of anxiety.
This change isn’t just about what you eat, it’s about knowing how your gut works, what it needs, and how to respond when things feel off. We guide you through the overwhelm and into confidence. With data, education, and practical tools, you begin to feel in control of your health again.
How We Work Differently
We don’t diagnose conditions. We support people.
Here’s what makes our approach unique:
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Testing-first, no guesswork
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Plain English reports and explanations
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Focused on long-term change, not short-term fixes
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1:1 advisor support from someone who’s done this before
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Respect for your pace, history, and preferences
We’re not here to sell you 10 supplements. We’re here to help you understand your gut and build something sustainable.
Trusted Tools and Practitioner Support
Clients often receive:
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Food mapping or gut symptom trackers
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Practitioners-only supplements
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Personalised reports and guides
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Stress tools like breathwork recordings or calming apps
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Microbiome-safe recipes
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Gut Health testing results.
We’ll only recommend what’s useful for you. And we’ll explain the why behind each step.
Frequently asked questions
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