Amy was 47 years old when she signed up for Quantify, after a decade of struggling with digestive symptoms—bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea—and not getting anywhere with conventional medicine.
A gastroenterologist had diagnosed her with diverticulitis when a gastroendoscopy showed diverticula (small pouches in the wall of her large intestine) that were significantly inflamed, but she didn’t have anything to offer, other than antibiotics, which, she admitted, were only sometimes effective at addressing the condition.
What’s more, when Amy asked her doctor whether her diet might be a contributing factor, her doctor dismissed the question, insisting that “there isn’t any evidence” for dietary interventions, that antibiotics or surgery were her only options, and that she would have the condition for the rest of her life.
Frustrated by her doctor’s obvious bias, Amy decided to pursue a more natural approach.
For years, she dragged herself to acupuncturists, chiropractors, herbalists, and other natural health practitioners, and while she experienced some degree of improvement from their modalities, she also increasingly felt that something was missing, and that her practitioners were effectively trying to guess about the specific approach that was best for her, rather than making decisions based on data.
In her first appointment at Quantify, Amy’s health coach recommended a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) stool analysis and food sensitivity test, to test for parasites, bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and evaluate intestinal permeability, inflammation, the health of her microbiome, and immune reactivity to commonly consumed foods.
Test results
Her first time conducting a comprehensive evaluation of her health, Amy’s qPCR stool analysis showed low secretory IgA, indicating compromised immune function, which often contributes to diverticulitis, IBS, Crohn’s disease, and other digestive conditions by increasing susceptibility to intestinal infections.
Providing an additional clue as to what was going on, her results also showed an overgrowth of Candida albicans (a fungus that typically exists at low levels throughout the gastrointestinal tract, but that often overgrows if immune function falters), which was likely further contributing to her digestive symptoms.
Completing the puzzle, Amy’s food sensitivity test showed a significant sensitivity to both gluten (a protein in wheat, barley, and rye) and whey (a protein in milk), which together had been the foundation of her diet for her entire life.
Recovery
It was a lot to take in, having never been confronted with test results that would require her to make significant changes, but Amy was committed to doing whatever she had to do to reverse the condition that was increasingly compromising her quality of life.
Working closely with her health coach, she eliminated processed foods, sugar, grains, and dairy from her diet, increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, started drinking at least 64 ounces of water per day, and took certain supplements, such as ginger, slippery elm, and marshmallow root.
Within a few months, the digestive symptoms that she had lived with for a decade started to improve, an encouraging indication that she was on the right track.
Within a year, her digestive symptoms had completely resolved, she reported feeling like she had gotten her life back, and a follow-up qPCR stool analysis showed no abnormalities, further validating the work she had done to reverse the condition that she was told she would have to live with.