Sarah was 30 years old when she signed up for Quantify, after struggling for years with digestive symptoms—bloating, indigestion, and diarrhea—and not getting anywhere with conventional medicine.
Her primary care doctor had diagnosed her with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) soon after her symptoms started, but he didn’t have anything to offer, other than antidiarrheal medication, which had a long list of scary side effects that Sarah wanted to avoid.
A software engineer at a venture-backed startup, Sarah knew that making decisions based on data, rather than intuition, was almost always a more effective strategy for solving complex problems, so she was understandably confused why her doctor had diagnosed her with IBS without ordering any tests to investigate the causes.
What’s more, when she asked her doctor whether her diet might be a contributing factor, he dismissed the question, insisting that medication was her only option.
Frustrated by her doctor’s obvious bias, Sarah decided to pursue a more data-driven approach.
In her first appointment at Quantify, Sarah’s health coach recommended a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) stool analysis and gluten sensitivity test, to test for parasites, bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and evaluate intestinal permeability, inflammation, the health of her microbiome, and immune reactivity to gluten, a protein in wheat, barley, and rye.
Test results
Her first time conducting a comprehensive evaluation of her health, Sarah’s qPCR stool analysis showed significant dysbiosis, or an imbalance of good bacteria to bad bacteria, which often contributes to IBS, fatigue, brain fog, and other chronic symptoms.
Providing an additional clue as to what was going on, her results also showed increased intestinal permeability (or, more colloquially, leaky gut), which is when the junctions between the single layer of cells that line your intestines become compromised and widen, ultimately allowing pathogens, toxins, and food antigens into your bloodstream that shouldn’t be there.
Completing the puzzle, Sarah’s gluten sensitivity test was also abnormal, indicating that while Sarah didn’t have celiac disease, she did have a significant sensitivity to gluten, and that her regular consumption of foods containing gluten was likely compromising the integrity of her intestinal barrier, causing leaky gut, inflammation, and, ultimately, her IBS.
Recovery
Like most Americans, Sarah had eaten bread, cereal, pasta, and other gluten-containing foods for her entire life, so to learn that a specific protein in these foods was causing her digestive symptoms was quite the surprise.
An avid gym-goer, she knew that she couldn’t get away with a garbage diet, so she opted for whole wheat options whenever she could, convincing herself that by going whole wheat, she was eating healthy.
Her “healthy” diet, however, unfortunately couldn’t have been less healthy for her, given her significant sensitivity to gluten that ultimately led to her IBS.
Thrilled to finally get answers, Sarah started following her health plan closely, checking in with her health coach regularly to help her stay on track.
She eliminated processed foods, sugar, and grains from her diet, increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods, started drinking at least 64 ounces of water per day, and took certain supplements, such as ginger, marshmallow root, and slippery elm.
Within a few months, not only did her digestive symptoms start to improve, but she also noticed that she felt less tired after meals, a likely indication that her metabolic health was also improving.
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 indication of dysbiosis or leaky gut, further validating the work she had done to address the factors that had caused her IBS.