Understanding the Gut-Longevity Connection
Explore how GI-MAP® and StoolOMX™ work together to assess both gut ecology and microbial function, providing actionable insights into digestion, gut barrier integrity, immune activity, metabolite production, and key aspects of healthy aging.
Continue Learning…
- GI-MAP Interpretive Guide:
Navigate GI‑MAP results with confidence using this comprehensive clinical reference guide.
- StoolOMX Reference Guide:
Learn how to interpret short-chain fatty acids, bile acids, and other key markers of microbial function.
- Watch the Webinar with Dr. Fitzgerald – Optimizing Gut Health for Longevity:
Continue the conversation with Kara Fitzgerald and Tom Fabian as they explore the relationship between microbial function, butyrate production, bile acid metabolism, and healthy aging.
Emerging research suggests that healthy aging is influenced by more than the composition of the microbiome alone. The gut ecosystem—and particularly microbial function—may play important roles in immune balance, metabolic health, intestinal barrier integrity, and mitochondrial function.
For practitioners, this means the gut may be an important area to evaluate when supporting patients who want to maintain vitality, resilience, digestive health, metabolic function, and overall wellness as they age.
It's Not Just Which Microbes Are Present — It's What They're Doing
As we age, beneficial microbial functions, including the production of metabolites such as butyrate and secondary bile acids, can decline. These changes may influence digestive health, immune regulation, inflammation, metabolic function, and overall resilience.
By combining GI-MAP and StoolOMX, clinicians can evaluate both microbiome composition and microbial function, helping uncover functional imbalances, personalize interventions, and support healthier aging trajectories in their patients.
Healthy Aging Is Associated with Beneficial Microbial Function
Research suggests that individuals who age well often maintain:
- Healthy butyrate production
- Balanced bile acid metabolism
- Intestinal barrier integrity
- Diverse and functionally balanced microbial activity
Together, these factors may contribute to a gut environment that supports healthy immune function, metabolic balance, and long-term resilience.
GI-MAP + StoolOMX: A More Complete View of Gut Health
GI-MAP provides comprehensive insight into your patient's gut health, evaluating the microbiome, H. pylori and virulence factors, pathogens, parasites, viruses, and key markers of digestion, immune activity, inflammation, and intestinal barrier function.
The StoolOMX add‑on expands these insights by assessing short‑chain fatty acids and bile acids—important microbial metabolites linked to gut function, metabolic health, and immune balance.
Together, GI-MAP and StoolOMX provide practitioners with a more complete understanding of both microbiome composition and microbial function, helping translate test results into personalized strategies that support digestive health, immune balance, metabolic function, and healthy aging.