REAL CLIENT RESULT: A LIFETIME OF LOOSE STOOLS, RESOLVED IN ONE MONTH
One client had lived with diarrhea and IBS symptoms her entire life. She ate healthy, anti-inflammatory foods and assumed daily loose stools were simply her normal. She also had lifelong dry skin and keratosis pilaris. Testing revealed Giardia (a parasite), SIBO, elevated eosinophils, low Free T3 her primary care had never checked, and high levels of mycotoxins and heavy metals. Her low thyroid function and toxic burden were feeding her dysbiosis, and the dysbiosis was making both worse. Within the first month of her protocol, her stools normalized, and her keratosis pilaris and lifelong dryness disappeared.
This is functional medicine gut health care: finding every root cause, not just the loudest one. Individual results vary.
Does This Sound Familiar?
You go several days without a bowel movement, sometimes a week or more, and you’ve been told every couple of days is normal.
You live with loose stools, urgency, or cramping, and after every test the answer was “IBS. Manage your symptoms.”
You swing between constipation and diarrhea, and have for years, maybe since childhood.
Heartburn, reflux, or GERD has you reaching for Pepcid or a PPI just to get through meals.
Bloating, stomach, or intestinal pain make you plan your day around your gut.
You eat clean, anti-inflammatory foods and still don’t feel well.
Your skin (acne, eczema, rosacea, dryness) or your mood and focus seem to get worse when your gut does.
None of this is “just how your body is.” These are signals, and they have causes that can be found.
Why the Relief Keeps Fading
- Laxatives, antibiotics, and acid blockers act on symptoms, not on why they exist
- The first fix works
- Over time, it works less, or stops working
- New symptoms appear: fatigue, brain fog, skin flares, new food reactions
- Another fix gets added on top
- Mood Imbalances -- depression, anxiety, ADHD, ADD
Antibiotics can clear an overgrowth and still leave the gut more imbalanced than before. Acid blockers can calm heartburn while changing how you digest and absorb food. And chronic constipation isn’t a harmless quirk. When waste sits in the colon for days, it affects the microbiome, inflammation, and the hormones and toxins your body is trying to clear.
Your gut isn’t failing to heal. Something upstream keeps disrupting it.
How I Use Functional Medicine For Gut Health: Remove All 10 Tacks
If you’re sitting on 10 tacks and remove one, you still hurt. That’s what happens when gut issues are treated in a silo. Sustainable results come from finding and removing every root cause and driver, not just the loudest one.
In every gut imbalance I see, dysbiosis is part of the picture. But dysbiosis is usually a consequence, not the starting point. So I look at what’s in the gut, and then I ask why it’s there.
The vagus nerve drives motility. When its signaling is weak, the gut slows and dysbiosis follows, which then weakens vagal signaling further. That’s why I often begin by restoring vagal transmission before anything else.
What I Look At in the Gut, and Upstream:
- Bacterial and yeast overgrowths, SIBO, and H. pylori
- Parasites, often hidden behind eczema and rosacea
- Digestive function: enzymes, stomach acid, bile, absorption
- Inflammation and gut lining integrity
- Food sensitivities, even to the healthiest foods
- Low thyroid function, often missed when only TSH is checked
- Toxic burden: mycotoxins, heavy metals, environmental chemicals
- Vagus nerve dysfunction slowing motility
These drivers feed each other. Address them together, and the whole system starts to respond at once.
How It Works and What It Costs
Comprehensive Health History Consultation — $300
Before we meet, you complete a detailed health history and symptom questionnaire, and I review it thoroughly. Then we spend 50–60 minutes connecting your symptoms, history, diet, and any recent labs. You leave understanding why your gut is reacting, with a personalized plan and my testing recommendations if they’d help.
Functional Gut Testing — Helpful, Never Required
Many clients see sustainable improvement without testing. Testing confirms the patterns we uncover together and makes your plan more targeted, so most clients choose it. After your consultation, I email you only the panels your history calls for, with pricing: often the Gut Zoomer stool test, Wheat Zoomer, Comprehensive Food Sensitivity, a full thyroid panel, and Total Tox Burden. Lab costs are separate, and you can spread them out with a Cherry payment plan available on the website.
What to Expect Over 3 Months
Most committed clients feel real relief within the first month. Months one and two lay the foundation, and the improvements often become dramatic. By month three, progress compounds as your whole system responds: gut, skin, energy, and mood. You leave knowing what supports your body and what harms it, and many clients reconnect 6–9 months later for a lab review.
Ongoing Support & Adjustments
Regular follow-ups, educational resources, and compassionate guidance throughout. Progress is tracked, protocols are adjusted, and your body is supported as it recalibrates. Healing isn't linear -- and you're not doing this alone.
Your Gut Shows Up in Your Skin and Your Mind
Every client I work with has gut involvement, whether they come to me for skin, hormones, mood, or energy. That’s why the gut is where every investigation in my practice begins.
- Acne
- Rosacea
- Eczema & Dermatitis
- Psoriasis
- Brain fog
- Anxiety & Low Mood
- Irritability
- Depression
After 23+ years as a master esthetician, I’ve seen how often the skin reflects what’s happening in the gut. Gut-driven inflammation can also show up in the brain.
When the gut heals, these downstream symptoms often improve along with it.
What Makes My Approach Different
I’m Natalie Maibenko, a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner trained through the School of Applied Functional Medicine (SAFM). I completed three years of rigorous functional medicine training, and I’ve supported clients since 2019.
- I review your full health history before we ever speak, then connect the dots across your body’s systems
- I start upstream: vagus nerve, thyroid, food sensitivities, toxins, not just “kill the bugs and add a probiotic”
- I test strategically: only what your history calls for, and always optional
- I see the gut through the skin, with 23+ years as a master esthetician
- You’re not doing this alone: same-day replies, written summaries, and adjustments as your body responds
- I work alongside your doctor, never in place of them
Is this right for you?
It’s a fit if you’re ready to commit to changing how you eat, sleep, and live, and you want expert guidance and accountability while you do. You can keep working with your doctor or prescriber, and any changes to medications such as PPIs or laxatives stay with them. It’s not a fit if you’re looking for a quick fix.
Gut Health Results From My Clients
Functional Medicine Gut Health: Questions I Hear Most
How is functional medicine for gut health different from seeing a gastroenterologist?
A gastroenterologist rules out disease and treats acute problems, and that matters. I look for why your gut is out of balance: dysbiosis, food sensitivities, thyroid function, toxic burden, and vagus nerve signaling. Then I address them together. Many clients work with both.
Is it normal to have a bowel movement only every few days?
It’s common, but I don’t consider it optimal. When stool sits in the colon for days, it can affect your microbiome, inflammation, and how your body clears hormones and toxins. A daily, well-formed bowel movement is a goal we work toward.
My tests came back normal and I was told I have IBS. Can you still help?
Yes. Standard tests look for disease. Functional testing and a thorough history look at how your gut is functioning, and often uncover parasites, overgrowths, food reactions, or low thyroid function that standard workups miss.
I’ve already tried probiotics and elimination diets. Why would this be different?
Probiotics and diets work on one tack at a time. If low thyroid function, toxins, or a parasite is still driving the imbalance, the gut can’t stay balanced. I identify and address every driver together.
Do I have to stop my PPI or other medications?
No. Medication decisions stay with your prescriber. Many clients continue working with their doctor while we address root causes.
Does this work virtually?
Yes. Sessions are by phone, testing is done at home, and you can message me between sessions. Many clients find virtual care easier to stay consistent with.
How quickly will I feel better?
Most clients who follow their plan feel real relief within the first month, with deeper changes building through months two and three.
Do you accept insurance?
I don’t bill insurance. Cherry payment plans with no hard credit check, usually at 0% interest, can cover the program, supplements, and labs.
Stop Managing Symptoms. Find Out What’s Driving Them.
You’ve spent long enough being told it’s normal, or that it’s just IBS. In one consultation, we’ll map what’s really behind your gut symptoms and build the plan to address it.
In one functional medicine gut health consultation, we’ll map what’s really behind your symptoms and build the plan to address it.
I support gut health clients virtually in Boston, MA, Estero, FL, Naples, FL, and nationwide.
Best Functional Medicine & Skincare Practitioner Award Winner By:
