Optimizing Health, Beginning with the Gut
Dealing with inflammation, brain fog, chronic headaches, asthma, inflammatory arthritis, Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia, skin issues, ulcerative colitis, or PCOS?
Feeling fatigued, bloated, or run-down?
Studies show these and other health symptoms may be linked to imbalances or dysfunctions in the GI tract. That's why we prioritize GI health as an essential first step on your journey to lasting wellness.
What do you do?
As a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP) and Restorative Wellness Practitioner (RWS), Margaret Bartlebaugh takes a bio-individual holistic approach toward improving health by taking into consideration the interconnectedness of body systems, addressing the foundations of digestion, nutrition, blood sugar regulation, stress, sleep, and movement, beginning with a focus on digestion.
Why Gut Health and Healing Matters
Your gut fuels every part of you - from your brain to your skin - and sets the tone for overall vitality. Therefore, health begins with proper digestion. When digestion and nutrient absorption falter, every system in your body feels the impact, leaving you fatigued, bloated, run-down, and suffering from other distressing health symptoms. Therefore, we prioritize gastrointestinal (GI) health as an essential first step on your journey to lasting wellness. Because the gastrointestinal tract underpins your immune function, neurotransmitter balance, energy levels, and more, restoring healthy digestion is an essential step on your journey to wellness.
Your “Second Brain”: Gut - Mood Connection
Tucked into your GI tract is a mesh-like network of neurons - known as the enteric (or intrinsic) nervous system - which independently governs digestion. Dubbed the “second brain,” it uses over 30 neurotransmitters, the same ones your central nervous system relies on including acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin. In fact, more than 90% of your body’s serotonin and about half of its dopamine are produced here. So, when your GI tract is out of balance, it disrupts the production of key neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine - the "happy," "feel-good" neurotransmitters - leading to pronounced shifts in mood.
Immune Defense: Your Gut’s Protective Shield
About 70–80% of our immune function lives in the GI tract, making it the body’s first line of defense. The intestines house the largest mass of lymphoid tissue - packed with T and B lymphocytes - that recognize, attack, and neutralize pathogens. Nurturing gut immunity means bolstering your entire body’s ability to stay healthy from the inside out.
How do you figure out what’s going on in the gut?
By testing, not guessing.
We perform a GI-MAP (Gastrointestinal Microbial Assay Plus) test, a comprehensive stool test that uses quantitative PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) technology to analyze the DNA of microbes in the gut. It’s designed to uncover a wide range of information about your digestive health including pathogens, normal and opportunistic microbes, H. pylori and virulence factors, digestive function, immune response, inflammation, and antibiotic resistance genes.
How do you address and restore the gut to optimal health?
Along with the GI-MAP test, we also perform an MRT test (Mediator Release Test) to identify foods sensitivities. The results of both tests reveal imbalances, dysfunctions, and sensitivities which we then account for and seek to address with a thorough "4 R" protocol:
REMOVE
Eliminate pathogens using a course of antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, or antiparasitic therapies in cases where these organisms are present.
REPLENISH
In cases of maldigestion or malabsorption, work to restore proper digestion by supplementing with digestive enzymes and support related to the stomach, pancreas, liver, and gall bladder.
REBALANCE
Employ probiotics and prebiotics to help re-establish the proper microbial balance, recolonizing the gut with healthy, beneficial bacteria.
REPAIR
Restore the integrity of the gut mucosa by supporting repair and restoration of the mucosal cells, the cells lining the GI tract (the intestine’s barrier) as well as immune support.
We then seek to prevent future GI dysfunction by addressing whole body health and lifestyle factors related to the other 5 pillars of health (nutrient-dense diet, blood sugar regulation, sleep, stress, and movement), providing nutritional guidance and education to support overall wellness, tailoring recommendations to each client’s unique needs and lifestyle to achieve optimal health.
Your gut isn’t just the gateway to digestion - it’s your body’s control center for mood, immunity, energy, and the origin of many health problems. Take the first step toward healing from the inside out.
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to see if this is the next right step for you on your health journey.
A Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (FNTP) and Restorative Wellness Practitioner (RWP) is trained to evaluate your nutritional needs and make recommendations of dietary change and nutritional supplements. An FNTP/RWP is not trained to provide medical diagnoses, and no comment or recommendation should be construed as being a medical diagnosis.
Since every human being is unique, I cannot guarantee any specific result from my programs. If you are under the care of another healthcare provider, it is important that you contact your other healthcare providers and alert them to your use of nutritional supplements. Nutritional therapy may be a beneficial adjunct to more traditional care, and it may also alter your need for medication, so it is important you always keep your physician informed of changes in your nutritional program.