Gut health
Read what the gut is
actually driving.
Most chronic inflammation, most nutrient absorption, and a large share of your immune system live in the gut. When the gut goes off, the rest of the system follows. Read it directly.
If you’re concerned
What this shows up as.
- Persistent digestive symptoms (bloating, irregular stools, reflux).
- Food reactions that have crept in or expanded.
- Skin issues (eczema, rosacea, acne) that resist topical treatment.
- Mood instability, anxiety, or brain fog without obvious trigger.
- Autoimmune flares or persistent low-grade inflammation.
The stakes
Most chronic problems start here.
Your gut is the absorptive surface for every nutrient and every supplement in your plan. A large share of your immune system lives in its lining. Gut dysfunction rarely stays in the gut.
The inflammation moves into the rest of the system. The nutrients you eat stop landing the way they should. The metabolic signal that should be coming from butyrate-producing fermentation goes quiet. What shows up as fatigue, brain fog, weight resistance, or unexplained skin trouble is often the gut talking upstream.
The outcome
What changes when the source is found.
- The inflammatory load comes down. Calprotectin moves on a repeat panel.
- Digestion and absorption restore. The food and the supplements start landing.
- The butyrate-producing fermentation that drives GLP-1 and insulin sensitivity comes back online.
- Bloating, irregularity, and post-meal fog fade as the actual cause gets handled.
- Energy holds. The system stops working against you.
These are targets we measure toward, traceable to findings on your panel. Not a cure. Not a guaranteed outcome. The repeat panel is how we know it’s actually moved.
The test
GI Effects Comprehensive Profile.
A stool panel from Genova Diagnostics. One sample reads five things at once. DNA analysis, live culture, and direct microscopy on the same specimen so we avoid treating a ghost and avoid missing a real one.
Order direct
GI Effects Comprehensive Profile.
Genova Diagnostics · one stool sample
- Five readings from one sample: infection, inflammation, microbial structure, metabolic byproducts, digestion.
- DNA + live culture + direct microscopy on the same specimen. The combination is how I treat what's alive.
- Sensitivity report included so treatment is matched to the agent the organism actually responds to.
- Mailed at-home collection kit. Returned to Genova in a pre-paid container.
- Physician interpretation by Dr. Tagge included.
- HSA / FSA eligible.
What it measures
Five readings from one sample.
The readings interact. I don’t read any one of them in isolation.
Infection
Read first. It changes everything else.
Whether a true pathogen or an opportunistic organism is present, and at what level. An active infection changes the entire plan, so I settle this question before anything else. The panel includes a sensitivity report when treatment is warranted, so the right agent is matched to what's actually there.
Inflammation
Whether the lining is irritated.
Calprotectin and secretory IgA tell us whether the gut lining is inflamed and whether your mucosal immune defense is intact or worn down. A weakened defense leaves the door open for opportunistic organisms.
The microbial community
Which species are present, which are thin.
Structure, not a scorecard. Which keystone species are present, which are missing, whether the balance has tilted toward inflammatory patterns. Read in context with the rest of the panel, not as an isolated diversity score.
What they produce
The metabolic lever the gut is supposed to be running.
Your gut bacteria ferment fiber into short-chain fatty acids, the most important being butyrate. Butyrate fuels the cells lining your colon and signals your metabolism directly. When butyrate-producing fermentation is intact, that signal reaches the receptors that release GLP-1 and improve insulin sensitivity. A gut that produces little butyrate is losing a metabolic lever, not just a digestive one.
Digestion + absorption
Whether the food is even landing.
Pancreatic elastase and fat absorption markers tell me whether your enzymes are producing enough and whether food is being absorbed properly. If digestion is adequate, I do not add enzymes you do not need. If it isn't, I know exactly where the gap is.
Why it changes care
A decision tree, not a list.
Most gut testing produces a list of organisms and a diversity score. This produces a decision tree.
An inflammatory marker that stays elevated while metabolic markers improve points away from food and toward a structural source. A microbiome that looks imbalanced but is still producing normal butyrate is a targeted problem, not a collapse, and it gets a targeted fix rather than a blunt one. When an organism does need treatment, the sensitivity report tells us which agent it will actually respond to, and treatment is only initiated when the full course can be completed.
Inside the Partnership
Remove. Restore. Rebuild. Repair.
The sequence is deliberate. Some supports are safe from day one. Others are staged until after the inflammation and any infection are cleared.
Remove
Clear what's driving the problem first. An active infection, a food trigger, a maintenance medication that's destabilizing the system. Some of the rebuild work waits until this step is done.
Restore
Restore digestion upstream of absorption. Pancreatic enzymes if elastase is low. Stomach acid support if indicated. The food you eat starts landing.
Rebuild
Rebuild the community with targeted prebiotics and probiotics. Matched to what your panel showed thin, not a blanket strain pack from the supplement aisle.
Repair
Repair the mucosal lining once the inflammatory load is down. Compounds the lining can actually use. Layered in last because most of them don't do their job while infection or inflammation is still in the picture.
The panel
A testing panel
A snapshot. Yours to keep. Includes the lab work and a physician’s interpretation. The right move when one read is the question.
The relationship
Precision Partnership
Direct access to Dr. Tagge for ongoing care. Whatever panel makes sense, whenever you need it, read in the context of the story you’re building together. The right move when one read isn’t the question.
Become a memberCommon questions
Common questions.
Most direct-to-consumer stool tests run DNA only. DNA tells you what genetic material is present but cannot distinguish living organisms from dead ones, and cannot tell you which agent an organism would respond to if treated. GI Effects runs DNA, live culture, and direct microscopy on the same sample. That combination is how I avoid treating a ghost, avoid missing a real one, and pick the right treatment when one is needed.
Often, yes. The gut is the absorptive surface for every nutrient and supplement in your plan, and a large share of your immune system lives in its lining. Inflammatory and metabolic signals from a quietly dysfunctional gut show up first as fatigue, brain fog, weight resistance, or skin changes, not as classic GI symptoms. If those are in the picture, the gut is worth reading directly.
A mailed at-home stool collection kit, returned to Genova in a pre-paid container. The collection happens over a single morning. No clinic visit required. Results come back in about three weeks and are interpreted with you.
The Genova vendor cost for GI Effects, the physician interpretation by Dr. Tagge, a written plan against your specific findings, and a follow-up review visit. The order moves through Healthie directly so the cost is transparent at checkout.
Yes. GI Effects is eligible for HSA and FSA reimbursement. You'll receive an itemized receipt at checkout.
Yes, and most people whose gut testing belongs inside an ongoing plan are better off as members. The Precision Partnership at $150 per month gives you direct ongoing access to Dr. Tagge, with panels ordered and interpreted as part of the relationship.
Where to next
The pillar
Gut and immune health
Why the gut is the source of so much chronic inflammation, and what reading it actually tells you.
Read the pillarThe panel
GI Effects
Stool-based read on infection, inflammation, the microbial community, what they produce, and digestion and absorption.
See the panelThe writing
Gut essays
Long-form writing on the microbiome, leaky gut as it is and is not, and the gut-immune-brain axis.
Read the writingRead what’s there. Treat what’s driving. Restore the system.
Start with a Precision Call.
No charge. No card. No pressure.