01 · The community
A whole ecosystem, mapped
Hundreds of species, weighed and counted. Low diversity — a thin, lopsided community — is where a surprising amount of trouble begins.
+ Functional Testing
Stool · At-home
A gut microbiome test that explains the bloating instead of just naming it
“It's probably IBS” isn't an answer — it's a shrug. A comprehensive stool test reads the actual state of your gut: the bacteria keeping you well, the ones that shouldn't be there, the yeast and parasites, and how much inflammation and leaky-gut signalling is going on underneath.
At How It Heals we run this as a comprehensive DNA-based stool panel (GI-MAP-style, through Australian labs) — collected at home, ordered and interpreted for you, so the plan targets what's actually there.
+ What the test sees
A gut you can finally read
A stool panel doesn't just count bacteria. It maps the community, the barrier, the invaders and the digestion behind your symptoms — here's the kind of picture that comes back.
02 · The gut wall
How tight your barrier is
Zonulin and inflammatory markers show whether your gut lining is sealed or leaking — the difference behind “everything reactive.”
03 · The invaders
Pathogens named, not guessed
The test detects the exact bacteria, parasites and yeast that drive IBS after a stomach bug and flares — so the plan targets what's actually there.
04 · Digestion & immunity
Are you breaking food down?
Simple markers read your digestive power, how inflamed the gut is, and how well its immune defences are holding — the layers under the symptoms.
+ What it measures
What's living in your gut — and what it's doing to you
Diversity is only half the story. The markers that change your plan are the ones tying your gut to your symptoms, your immune system and even your hormones.
The good bacteria
The friendly bugs that calm inflammation, train your immune system and keep your gut lining fed. A thin, low-variety mix is where a lot of trouble starts.
Bugs that shouldn't be there
The bacteria, parasites and viruses behind IBS that started after a stomach bug, sudden food reactions and flares — found precisely, not guessed at.
Yeast & thrush
Candida and other yeast overgrowth behind recurrent thrush, sugar cravings and brain fog.
H. pylori
The stomach bug behind reflux, gastritis and low stomach acid — plus whether the strain you're carrying is the kind that actually causes trouble.
Inflammation & leaky gut
How inflamed your gut is, how leaky the lining has become, and how well its own defences are coping.
Digestion & the hormone link
Whether you're really breaking your food down — plus a marker that shows how your gut can quietly recycle old oestrogen back into your system, tying gut health straight to your hormones.
+ When it's worth running
When a stool test is worth it
Gut symptoms rarely stay in the gut. If several of these are familiar, mapping the microbiome usually shortcuts months of guessing.
- Bloating, especially as the day goes on
- IBS, or bowels that swing between extremes
- A growing list of foods you “react” to
- Reflux, burping or feeling food sits there
- Recurrent thrush, or sugar cravings you can't shift
- Skin flare-ups — acne, eczema, rosacea
- Autoimmune conditions or a family history of them
- “Everything reactive” and no clear trigger
+ How the test works
One at-home sample, posted back
No clinic collection, no fasting. A single small stool sample, collected privately at home.
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Kit to your door
We order the panel after your consult and a discreet collection kit is posted to you anywhere in Australia.
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Collect at home
A single small sample using the guided kit — five minutes, complete privacy.
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Post & interpret
Pre-paid return to the lab. We read the results with you and build the gut protocol around what actually showed up.
Stool Sample
At home Collection
~2–3 wks Turnaround
DNA mapping Method
+ How we read it
The map is easy. The order of operations is the skill.
A stool report can list a dozen “out of range” markers. Chasing all of them at once is how people end up on twenty supplements and no better.
The real work is sequencing: do we settle inflammation first, clear an overgrowth, rebuild digestion, or feed what's missing? Get the order wrong and even the right protocol backfires — which is exactly how so many gut “protocols” fail.
At How It Heals your results are read against your symptoms, your history and your hormones — because the gut is rarely a solo act. A single gut marker can explain an oestrogen pattern showing up on a hormone test; that connection only gets made when one person is reading both.
You get a staged plan — remove, restore, reinoculate, in the right order for your gut — not a list of everything that scored red.
+ Common questions
Gut microbiome & stool testing, answered
The questions we get asked most, answered straight.
Is this a GI-MAP test?
It's the same style of test — a comprehensive stool panel that uses DNA analysis to detect bacteria, parasites, yeast and inflammation markers. We choose the specific panel (an Australian DNA-based microbiome map, or GI-MAP itself where it's the better fit) based on your picture, so you're not paying for markers you don't need.
How is this different from the microbiome test I can buy online?
Consumer kits tell you your diversity and email you a food list. A clinical stool panel also screens for pathogens, parasites, H. pylori, inflammation and leaky-gut markers — and it's read by a practitioner who builds a treatment plan, not an app that sells you a probiotic.
Do I need a referral, and does it work outside Brisbane?
No referral needed — we order it for you. And the whole thing is done by post, so it works anywhere in Australia with a telehealth consult.
Will it tell me why I'm bloated?
Often, yes — whether it's an overgrowth, low digestive capacity, a pathogen or an inflammatory pattern. It's a far more direct answer than an IBS label. If your bloating points upward (within an hour of eating), we may add a SIBO breath test rather than rely on stool alone. See what sluggish bowels do to your wider health.
+ Keep reading
From the library
The thinking behind this test, in plain language.
+ A test on its own changes nothing
A gut map is a starting point, not a protocol.
Knowing what's there is step one. The results feed straight into a staged gut plan — food and digestion first, then targeted work on what the test found — reviewed as you retest. That's the difference between a report and a recovery.