Gut health testing starts by ruling out inflammation, coeliac disease, infection and bowel cancer, then looks at why your gut is unsettled. The Baseline is £695 with a doctor consultation and written plan. The Blueprint adds microbiome sequencing and a nutritionist for £1,595, and The Specialist adds a consultant gastroenterologist for £3,950.
Message the clinic and a doctor replies within 24 hours.
Any of these needs to be seen the same day. If you are severely unwell, go to your nearest emergency department or call 999.
Most people who seek gut testing have bloating, pain, wind or a change in bowel habit. The most common cause is irritable bowel syndrome, which affects around 1 in 10 adults and is a problem with how the gut and brain communicate rather than damage to the bowel.Gut Vasant, 2021
The same symptoms can come from inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease, infection with H. pylori or, less often, bowel cancer. These are what a doctor rules out first, because each has its own treatment.NICE CG61, 2008
Irritable bowel syndrome is likely when tummy pain or discomfort eases after opening your bowels, or comes with a change in how often you go or what your stools look like, for 6 months or more.NICE CG61, 2008
Signs that need checking straight away include bleeding from the bottom, weight loss you cannot explain, a family history of bowel or ovarian cancer, and a new change in bowel habit after 60.NICE CG61, 2008
Send us what you are seeing and we will tell you what it is likely to be.
Calprotectin is a stool test that tells inflammation in the bowel apart from a sensitive gut. A normal level makes inflammatory bowel disease unlikely and often saves a camera test.NICE DG11, 2013
A faecal immunochemical test looks for hidden blood in the stool. A result of 10 micrograms per gram or more means the bowel should be looked at urgently.NICE DG56, 2023
Coeliac disease is checked with a blood test, which is only reliable if you have been eating gluten in more than one meal a day for at least 6 weeks beforehand.NICE NG20, 2015
Indigestion and upper tummy pain are tested for H. pylori with a breath or stool test, and a positive result is treated with a short course of antibiotics.Gut Malfertheiner, 2022
Diet and routine
Regular meals, less alcohol and caffeine, and adjusting fibre. Soluble fibre such as ispaghula helps many people with irritable bowel syndrome.Gut Vasant, 2021
A low FODMAP diet
Cutting out certain fermentable carbohydrates for a few weeks, then bringing them back one at a time. Best done with a nutritionist or dietitian so the diet does not stay restricted.Gut Vasant, 2021
Medicine
Antispasmodics for cramping, and treatment aimed at diarrhoea or constipation. Low dose tricyclic medicine can calm pain signals from the gut.Gut Vasant, 2021
Once serious causes are ruled out, most people with irritable bowel syndrome improve with changes to diet and routine, and some need medicine as well. Symptoms often come and go over years, so the aim is control rather than cure.Gut Vasant, 2021
Microbiome testing describes the bacteria in your gut, but it cannot yet diagnose a disease on its own. An international consensus in 2025 found the evidence too limited for that, so we use it to shape your diet, not to name a condition.The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology Porcari, 2025
Keep a two week diary of what you eat, your symptoms and your bowel habit. Patterns that are invisible day to day often show up clearly over 14 days.Gut Vasant, 2021
Keep eating gluten until any coeliac test is done. Cutting it out beforehand can make the result falsely normal, and you would need 6 weeks back on it before retesting.NICE NG20, 2015
Food intolerance tests that measure IgG antibodies are not a reliable guide to which foods cause your symptoms. They can lead to cutting out whole food groups for no benefit.Gut Vasant, 2021
Be wary of a microbiome kit sold on its own with a supplement plan attached. Without the tests that rule out serious causes, and a clinician to read it, the result can reassure you when it should not.The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology Porcari, 2025
Step 1
Your diet, symptoms and history before any test, so the right samples are taken.
Step 2
Stool and blood tests for inflammation, coeliac disease, H. pylori and hidden blood, with sequencing where your programme includes it.
Step 3
A consultation to go through every result and a written plan, with a nutritionist or consultant depending on the programme.
Ask before you book if you are not sure this is the right appointment.
The Baseline is £695 and covers calprotectin, coeliac blood tests, a bowel cancer check, H. pylori and a gut blood panel with a doctor consultation. The Blueprint is £1,595 and The Specialist £3,950.
The Baseline rules out the serious causes. The Blueprint adds full microbiome sequencing, a session with a registered nutritionist and a food and fibre plan. The Specialist adds functional stool analysis, a breath test for bacterial overgrowth, a consultant gastroenterologist and a follow up with repeat testing.
No. Irritable bowel syndrome is diagnosed from your symptoms once other causes have been ruled out. Sequencing shows which bacteria live in your gut and helps shape your diet, but it is not a diagnostic test for any condition yet.
Not always. Normal calprotectin and a negative test for hidden blood make inflammation and bowel cancer unlikely, and many people never need a camera test. Your doctor refers you for one where the results or your symptoms call for it.
No. Keep eating gluten in more than one meal a day for at least 6 weeks before a coeliac blood test. Stopping early can hide coeliac disease and mean repeating the test later.
Usually not. Bloating on its own is very common and most often linked to diet or irritable bowel syndrome. Persistent bloating in women over 50, or bloating with weight loss or bleeding, should be checked by a doctor promptly.
This page is general information about a condition and it is not a diagnosis. Treatment depends on what a doctor finds when they examine you, and no outcome is guaranteed. If you are severely unwell, or if any of the warnings at the top of this page apply to you, go to your nearest emergency department or call 999.
Gut
Management of Helicobacter pylori infection, the Maastricht VI Florence consensus reportMalfertheiner, 2022
Gut, British Society of Gastroenterology
Guidelines on the management of irritable bowel syndromeVasant, 2021
NICE
Irritable bowel syndrome in adults, diagnosis and managementCG61, 2008
NICE
Faecal calprotectin diagnostic tests for inflammatory diseases of the bowelDG11, 2013
NICE
Coeliac disease, recognition, assessment and managementNG20, 2015
NICE
The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology
International consensus statement on microbiome testing in clinical practicePorcari, 2025
Written and reviewed by the clinical team at The Wellness. Last reviewed 23 September 2026.
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