How do I test my gut health?

If there’s something up with your gut health you can have a variety of symptoms such as stomach pain, diarrhoea, bloating and weight loss. The trouble is, it’s difficult to know from gut symptoms alone if the cause is something that needs treatment by your doctor, such as inflammation, or if it’s something you could manage yourself, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).This is why gut health tests are so important.

At Selph, we understand the frustration many people with gut symptoms feel at having to go back and forth with their GP having this test and that. That’s why we put together our popular Complete Gut Health Test and Symptom Screen which is based on guidelines from the Royal Society of Gastroenterology and combines blood and stool tests to look for the common and important causes of gut symptoms all in one go, giving you answers in days.

We use the blood sample to check for coeliac disease and thyroid disease. The stool sample is used to test for bowel cancer, inflammation, H. pylori and other gut infections. We can also check the pancreas and look at the stool under a microscope for worms and other parasites.

Let’s go through a step-by-step guide on how to test your gut health with our Complete Gut Health Test and Symptom Screen.

Simply head over to our Complete Gut Health Test and Symptom Screen product page to get your test kit. You can choose how to collect your blood sample and even add on tests to your panel if you’d like.

We dispatch orders the same day for orders before 2pm Monday to Friday and use Royal Mail Tracked 24 so you can have your kit the next day.

Before you take your blood or stool sample you need to activate your test kit online. This lets the lab know what tests to run on your kit when they receive it. We also go through any special requirements for your tests. Activation only takes a minute or two.

Before you take your blood test you’ll see there are some special instructions to follow. You’ll need to make sure that you have gluten in your diet during the six weeks before testing to make sure your coeliac disease test is accurate. It’s usually best to take your blood sample in the morning so you can get it in the post to the lab that day. You’ll want to make sure you’re well hydrated.

Taking a finger-prick blood sample is straightforward. We’ve got an article that goes through the process in detail. Essentially you make a small prick in your finger using a lancet and milk a couple of drops of blood into a collection tube.

As with your blood sample, you’ll see there are some special instructions to prepare for your stool sample. For example, if you take proton pump inhibitor medication, you’ll need to stop it two weeks before taking your sample so that your H. pylori test is accurate. We also recommend that women don’t take the sample while on their period to avoid any possibility of contaminating the sample with blood.

We’ve got an article on how to take a stool sample which goes through the process in detail. It’s quick and clean and you don’t need to store anything in your fridge! It’s best to take the sample in the morning so you can get them in the post that day.

Each of your sample kits comes with a self-addressed Tracked 24 return envelope. All you need to do is pop your sample in the envelope and post it through your nearest letterbox. We’ll notify you when we receive the sample in the lab.

We use The Doctor’s Laboratory for all our analyses. They’re one of the largest labs in the UK, are fully accredited with both the CQC and UKAS and test for both NHS hospitals and private companies like us.

We run 11 analyses as standard on the Complete Gut Health Test and Symptom Screen and it takes 4 working days from when we receive the blood and stool samples to get your results and write your report.

You’ll get an email when your report is available in your online dashboard. One of our doctors will go through each of your results in detail, explaining what they mean and if any specific actions need to be taken.You’ll also be able to download your formal lab report to share your results with your GP if necessary.