Comprehensive Stool Analysis
Nutrition and digestion are undeniably important to good health. We are, essentially, what we eat and then absorb. Over the long haul, excellent health is impossible without good nutrition. However, without adequate break down and assimilation, even the best diet offers little help. Additionally, incomplete or faulty digestive processes may lead to a variety of chronic disorders.
Maldigestion, malabsorption and abnormal gut flora and ecology, as well as many complex chronic illnesses and symptoms, lie at the root of most common GI complaints. Thus, nutrition and digestive processes are central to long-term health. Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis (CDSA) provides clinicians with a critical tool for evaluating the status of the GI tract.
The stomach mechanically churns food, breaks up and emulsifies fats and exposed molecules to additional enzymes. In doing this, it produces one to two litres of gastric juices. Gastric juice has several components; including Hydrochloric acid which is secreted by the parietal cells, this activates pepsinogens to convert to pepsin and renders some minerals (e.g. calcium and iron) more absorbable. Stomach acid prevents bacterial overgrowth by creating an essentially sterile environment as most digestion and absorption takes place in the small intestine and is mediated by pancreatic enzymes and bile. A primary role of the large intestine is absorption of water – about one litre daily. The large intestine also provides an environment for microbial fermentation of soluble fibre, starch and undigested carbohydrates.
Signs and symptoms associated with gut imbalances:
- Bloating, belching, burning and flatulence immediately after meals.
- Sense of fullness after eating
- Indigestion, diarrhoea or constipation
- Systemic reactions after eating
- Nausea after taking supplements
- Rectal itching
- Weak, pealing or cracked fingernails
- Dilated capillaries in cheeks and nose (in non alcoholics)
- Post adolescent acne
- Iron deficiency
- Chromins intestinal infections – parasites, yeast, bacteria
- Undigested food in stool
How does the test work?
This test evaluates digestion, absorption, intestinal function and the microbial flora uncovers the fundamental causes of many acute and chronic symptoms.
