Functional Medicine
Gut Health
Functional Medicine
Having gut symptoms can have a significant impact on your physical and mental health, which can affect your ability to enjoy daily life.
You may have lost confidence around food, social occasions, travelling, eating out and even leaving the house, leaving you feeling frustrated, restricted and overwhelmed.
Our GMC registered doctors are here to listen to you and help you better understand the underlying cause of your gut issues wherever you are in the UK.
Functional medicine is a well established medical approach that aims to understand why symptoms have developed and why they continue, rather than focusing on symptom management alone.
Functional medicine sees the gastrointestinal tract as one of the most important systems in the body. We understand the place of conventional medicine and its value especially for established and diagnosed gut conditions. However, having chronic digestive symptoms can benefit most from looking beyond simple symptom management or providing temporary relief with prescriptions alone.
Looking at the gut alongside other systems (hormones, biochemistry, immune system, skin, adrenal system, etc.) can also be clinically relevant and helpful.
We can support you if you are experiencing:
We can support you if you have a diagnosed gastrointestinal condition(s) and are looking for an integrative, functional medicine approach alongside your existing care. Conditions we often see include:
You would like to look at your gut as part of a broader health picture, and understand that the gut is connected to many other systems. We can support you with the following:
We can also support you if you are experiencing symptoms that seem to be triggered by certain foods or environmental factors, including:
We see a lot of people who have already had initial gut testing with their GP but still haven’t found answers to what’s causing their symptoms. Many have already tried different diets, supplements, probiotics, medications, or undergone investigations, yet continue to experience symptoms without fully understanding why.
A functional medicine approach allows us to offer advanced and personalised gut testing. Helping us to ascertain a more detailed understanding of what may be contributing to ongoing symptoms.
Our GMC-registered doctors bring together your symptoms, medical history, previous investigations, conventional medicine and functional testing to understand what may be contributing to your symptoms.
Our role is to step back, review everything that’s happened so far, and understand how each part of your health
fits together
fits together
before deciding what to do next.
Dr Harpal Bains
MBBS, DFSRH, PGCAestMed (Dist)
Our functional medicine doctors see many people with complex gut health issues. Many patients tell us it’s the first time they’ve felt someone has taken the time to review their health as a whole, rather than focusing on a single symptom or diagnosis.
Just like the rest of the body, your gut health is naturally complex. Symptoms can develop for many different reasons, which means that understanding the cause of what’s happening can often be multifaceted.
Our GMC-registered doctors use their clinical expertise to assess your overall health, recommend the most appropriate gut test(s), and build a personalised treatment plan based on a comprehensive understanding of your symptoms and results.
While conventional medicine often focuses on prescription treatments, our functional medicine approach uses tried and tested functional medicine gut healing protocols. Our recommendations are always based on the most recent evidence-based research looking at gut and microbiome health.
We can also support you if:
We work within your capacity of change, whether you need a fully-fledged regime or some smaller gut health changes.
Our doctors look at the whole picture by reviewing your medical and health history during a thorough consultation, looking at previous investigations. We then combine this with recommended functional medicine testing to build as complete a picture as possible.
Rather than relying on a single treatment approach, our functional medicine doctors carefully combine a wide range of clinical tools to address the specific biological factors influencing your health.
Depending on your individual needs, your treatment plan may include:
Your treatment plan will be hyper-personalised to you and your health and may evolve over time as your symptoms change and your health progresses.
The main difference between our consultation options is the level of clinical depth, time with your doctor and number of tests that are interpreted. Your package fee reflects the extensive clinical process, analysis of multiple data points, and in-depth consideration of your symptoms and health history, not simply the time spent in the consultation room.
You don’t have to know exactly what you need, our team will help you understand what will work best for you in a discovery call.
Initial investigations through your GP are an important first step. We see many people who may have already had a blood test, or stool test looking at faecal calprotectin or Faecal Immunochemical Test. You may have also completed imaging or have a referral for further investigations.
In functional medicine, we combine any recently completed conventional investigations with more in-depth functional gut testing.
The most appropriate test depends on your symptoms, medical history and previous investigations. During your initial consultation, your doctor will review your history and recommend the testing most suitable for you.
Depending on your symptoms and medical history, the testing we recommend can assess:
Each gut health test is selected because it answers a specific clinical question, helping your doctor refine and personalise your treatment plan.
Your gut health is important because it is one of the body’s most interconnected systems in your body, impacting many aspects of your health.
Research has established that the gastrointestinal system and gut microbiome interact closely with immune regulation, inflammation signals, metabolism and communication between the gut and brain.
The gastrointestinal tract contains one of the body’s largest collections of immune cells, highlighting its central role in immune function.
Research is also investigating associations between the gut microbiome and hormone metabolism, skin health, autoimmune conditions and certain fatigue-related illnesses. These relationships are complex and do not necessarily mean that changes within the gut are the sole cause of symptoms elsewhere in the body.
Signs of an unhealthy gut are surprisingly varied and differ widely between individuals.
Some of the most common signs of an unhealthy gut include:
Many people experiencing digestive issues also report anxiety, food sensitivities, skin concerns, hormonal symptoms, immune-related issues, or other ongoing health complaints.
Leaky gut is a commonly used term to describe an increase in intestinal permeability.
The lining of the gut acts as a carefully regulated barrier. It lets in nutrients and water, while helping to keep bacteria and toxins within the digestive tract.
While the term “leaky gut syndrome” is widely used, it is not recognised as a standalone medical diagnosis by mainstream gastroenterology. Instead, doctors focus on identifying any underlying gastrointestinal or medical conditions that may be contributing to changes in gut barrier function.
At Harpal Clinic, where clinically appropriate, we can assess markers related to gut barrier function (intestinal permeability) as part of a broader evaluation of your digestive health.
Yes, functional medicine can be really useful for gut health and gut-related health issues.
A functional medicine approach understands that gut health is complex, and therefore requires a complex and detailed analysis and plan.
A functional medicine gut healing protocol simply refers to a gut health plan designed to help address your gut health issues and concerns.
This may include changes to your nutrition, targeted gut health supplementation, lifestyle recommendations and, where clinically appropriate, prescription medication.
While some gut healing protocols are available online, they are not tailored to your individual test results or your personal clinical analysis by a trained doctor. Without having this data and expert clinical insight, it can be difficult to know which recommendations are likely to be most beneficial for you.
At Harpal Clinic, our GMC-registered doctors create highly personalised gut health plans based on your individual clinical picture and test results, ensuring recommendations are appropriate for your specific needs rather than following a blanket approach.
Functional medicine takes a personalised approach to improving gut health. It aims to identify the biological factors that may be contributing to your symptoms and develop a treatment plan tailored to your individual needs.
Depending on your symptoms, medical history, previous investigations and functional gut testing, your doctor will advise a treatment plan which can include a combination of the following:
Initial investigations through your GP are an important first step for many. They may have included a blood test, or stool test looking at faecal calprotectin or Faecal Immunochemical Test. You may have also completed imaging or have a referral for further investigations.
While conventional medicine often focuses on prescription treatments, a functional medicine approach uses tried and tested functional medicine gut health treatment plans. These are based on the most recent evidence based research looking at gut and microbiome health.
Testing can include assessing areas such as digestion, the gut microbiome, inflammation, immune function, food reactions, infections, nutrient absorption, and other factors.
Stool testing is completed at home and blood testing can be arranged at our London clinic or through partner providers that are closer to your home address. We can send a test kit to your home address for you to arrange a phlebotomy appointment local to you.
No. Many patients we see present with symptoms without a formal diagnosis. They feel like they have reached an end of what their GP and the NHS can offer them. Some have even been told their symptoms are ‘all in their head’. Our medical experience with gut health allows us to make an assessment and treatment plan based on your symptoms and clinical history.
Yes. Consultations can be conducted online, by phone, or in-clinic.
You are welcome to have a family member or friend attend your consultation for support, and they may speak on your behalf where helpful. However, you must be present, able to engage in the consultation, and confirm that you understand and agree with what is being discussed.
Patients need to be able to communicate directly with the doctor at some points of the consultation, including understanding the consultation and the medical information discussed. If this is not possible, we may unfortunately be unable to proceed with the appointment.
