Persistent skin issues, frequent infections, or unexplained aches could be signs your immune system is on overdrive. This section looks for clues that inflammation, allergies, or hidden sensitivities might be at play.
Do you:
- Have persistent acne, eczema, or rashes?
- Get frequent colds or infections?
- Experience joint pain or swelling?
2+ Yes could signal chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, or toxin exposure.
| Test | Provider | Reasoning | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| GI-MAP + Zonulin | Nutripath | Gut health heavily influences skin & immune system. Comprehensive stool DNA test with zonulin for gut permeability. Identifies gut pathogens, microbiome balance, digestion markers, and intestinal permeability (zonulin) or “leaky gut“. This is the gold-standard functional stool test. | Pessemier et al., 2021 |
| Food sensitivities | KBMO Nutripath | Measures the body immune response to various foods, using IgG antibody levels. Zonulin is a protein that regulates intestinal permeability, or “leaky gut” and is linked to the development of various diseases. | Carroccio et al., 2012 |
| Hair Mineral Analysis | Nutripath | Detects presence of heavy metals (like mercury, lead, arsenic, etc) and mineral imbalances (like calcium, copper, magnesium, selenium, etc) affecting immunity. Heavy metals may promote production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) causing damage to cells dampening our immune system, while stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokines contributing to autoimmunity. | Bjørklund et al., 2024 |
| Mold/ Mycotoxin screening +/- Organic Acids and Environmental Pollutants (inc. Glyphosate) | Nutripath | Most useful if there’s suspicion of mold exposure at any point in their life before symptoms start. When exposed to mold, our body naturally works to remove the mycotoxins. If detox pathways are sluggish or the gut is out of balance, these toxins can linger. Prolonged exposure may result in a cluster of symptoms called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (Read more for the list of symptoms) | Kraft et al., 2021 |
Disclaimer: These are specialised functional tests to identify root causes of your symptom(s). Functional testing should be considered as a complement to conventional medical evaluations from your healthcare provider. We recommend pursuing these specialised assessments after standard medical tests have been done to rule out common conditions, or when conventional testing indicates normal results despite your persistent symptoms.
Conventional tests may include these (not exhaustive), depending on your other symptom(s):
| Test | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| Skin Prick Test | A small drop of allergen is placed on the arm or back, and then a gentle prick on the skin through the drop. A positive test occurs when a red raised bump occurred within 15–20min. |
| Patch Test | This is used to identify contact dermatitis. A patch of allergen is applied onto the skin and left for 48 hours. Redness, itching, raised swelling is considered a delayed allergy reaction. |
| Highly sensitive- C- Reactive Protein (hs- CRP) +/- C- Reactive Protein (CRP) +/- Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) | Assess level of inflammation in the body- this can help in monitoring or assessing response to treatment. |
| Full Blood Count (FBC) or Complete Blood Count (CBC) | Assess general basic nutritional health, including looking at inflammation, infection, general allergy picture eg. raised Eosinophils It can identify active infection- viral or bacterial. However, does not tell us where the source is. |
| Vitamin D | Low Vitamin D has been linked to decreased immune system resulting in susceptibility to infection, as well as increased risk in developing immune-related disease including autoimmunity |