Home About Paul Conditions Testimonials Case Studies DECODE YOUR GUT

Bloating, IBS & Gut Issues — Find the Root Cause

You've been told it's IBS. You've tried the low-FODMAP diet. You're still suffering. There's usually a reason — and it can be found.

DECODE YOUR GUT ↓ Or book a clarity call →
Does This Sound Like You?
You're managing it. But you're not living.
"This wasn't weak digestion or stress. This was a system that had been pushed beyond its capacity — and no one had investigated why."
Why Standard Medicine Misses This
Your diagnosis explains your symptoms.
It doesn't explain what's driving them.

Standard gastroenterology is designed to rule out serious pathology — Crohn's disease, coeliac disease, bowel cancer. When those are excluded and symptoms persist, the diagnosis defaults to IBS — a label, not an explanation. IBS tells you what your symptoms are called. It doesn't tell you what's causing them.

In clinical practice, the most common underlying drivers of persistent gut dysfunction include SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), intestinal permeability, gut dysbiosis, impaired motility, and unresolved food reactions driven by immune activation — not simple food intolerance. These rarely show up on standard gastroenterology investigation. They require functional testing to identify.

The gut is also the foundation of systemic health. When gut function is compromised, the downstream effects are wide-ranging — fatigue, brain fog, mood disruption, skin conditions, immune dysregulation, and hormonal imbalance. Treating the gut in isolation misses this. A full picture requires investigating how the gut interacts with every other system.

Root Causes We Investigate
The underlying drivers that standard medicine misses.
SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)
Bacteria that belong in the large intestine have migrated upward. Every time you eat, they ferment your food — producing gas, bloating, and pain within hours of a meal. SIBO is missed by standard gastroenterology and requires breath testing to confirm.
Intestinal Permeability
When the gut lining is compromised, partially digested food particles and bacterial toxins pass into the bloodstream — triggering immune activation, systemic inflammation, and a cascade of symptoms that seem unrelated to the gut.
Gut Dysbiosis
An imbalance in the gut microbiome — too little diversity, overgrowth of specific species, or depletion of key strains — disrupts digestion, immune regulation, and even neurotransmitter production. Standard testing doesn't assess this.
Impaired Motility
When food moves too slowly through the gut, bacterial overgrowth becomes more likely. When it moves too quickly, nutrient absorption is compromised. Motility dysfunction is often the missing link between seemingly unrelated gut symptoms.
Immune-Driven Food Reactions
These are not the same as classical food allergies. They involve delayed immune responses to specific proteins — often gluten, dairy, or eggs — that create low-grade gut inflammation that persists until the trigger is removed and the gut lining is repaired.
Gut-Brain Axis Dysregulation
The gut and brain are in constant two-way communication via the vagus nerve. Chronic gut dysfunction dysregulates this axis — producing anxiety, low mood, cognitive fog, and stress sensitivity that are driven by gut inflammation, not psychology.
What Testing Can Reveal
Beyond ruling things out —
understanding what's actually happening.

Comprehensive stool analysis, SIBO breath testing, intestinal permeability markers, and immune food reaction panels go far beyond what standard gastroenterology investigates. They reveal not just what is present, but how the gut is functioning — which organisms are dominant, which are depleted, where inflammation is active, and whether the gut lining is intact.

Testing is ordered based on the clinical picture that emerges from a detailed case review — not applied as a standard package. The goal is to build a precise map of what's driving your specific presentation, so that the intervention is targeted, not generic.

Free Clinical Tool
DECODE YOUR GUT

7 questions. 2 minutes. We identify which gut dysfunction pattern your symptoms most closely match — and explain what that means clinically.

Question 1 of 7

Question 01 of 07

When does bloating typically hit?

Timing is one of the most useful clinical indicators. It often tells us where in the gut the dysfunction is occurring.

Question 02 of 07

What describes your bowel pattern most accurately?

 

Question 03 of 07

What makes your symptoms significantly worse?

 

Question 04 of 07

When did your gut issues begin, or significantly worsen?

The origin often shapes the underlying pattern — and the correct intervention pathway.

Question 05 of 07

Which of these do you experience alongside your gut symptoms?

Gut dysfunction rarely stays in the gut. What it drives beyond digestion tells us a great deal about the underlying pattern.

Question 06 of 07

Have you tried probiotics or standard gut protocols?

How your gut responds to standard interventions is clinically significant.

Question 07 of 07

How much does stress affect your gut symptoms?

This helps us understand the nervous system layer beneath the gut dysfunction.

YOUR GUT PATTERN

What this pattern means

What This Means For You

• Your symptoms are not random — they follow a pattern

• That pattern has specific underlying drivers

• Those drivers can be investigated and addressed properly

Most people at this stage have already tried probiotics, elimination diets, and standard gut protocols — without lasting results. That’s because the drivers haven’t been properly identified yet.

This is what we investigate properly.

A detailed case review, targeted functional testing, and a protocol built around your specific pattern — not a generic gut plan.

Start Your Case Review →

This tool is for indicative purposes only and does not constitute a clinical diagnosis. Results reflect pattern-matching based on your symptom profile and are not a substitute for professional assessment.

What We See Again and Again
The patterns that standard medicine misses.
Pattern 01
Gut + Fatigue + Thyroid
Gut dysfunction drives systemic inflammation that suppresses thyroid conversion — creating fatigue that responds to neither gut nor thyroid treatment alone. The systems interact. They must be treated together.
Pattern 02
SIBO After Antibiotics or Food Poisoning
A single course of antibiotics or a bout of food poisoning disrupts the gut microbiome and motility. SIBO follows. Years later, the patient has "IBS" with no clear trigger identified — because no one tested for SIBO.
Pattern 03
Gut-Driven Anxiety and Brain Fog
The gut produces over 90% of the body's serotonin. When gut function is compromised, this production is disrupted. Anxiety, low mood, and cognitive fog that began alongside gut symptoms are often gut-driven — not psychological.

"These aren't rare presentations. They are the most common patterns in persistent gut dysfunction — and they are almost always missed by standard investigation."

Real Cases
If this sounds familiar, read these.
GUT · HASHIMOTO'S · CARDIOVASCULAR
Gut, Hashimoto's & Cardiovascular
Gut dysfunction driving autoimmune and cardiovascular markers — resolved through root-cause investigation.
Read the full case study →
GUT · FATIGUE · AUTOIMMUNE
Alopecia Areata, Autoimmune & Gut
Gut-driven autoimmune activation behind hair loss and systemic inflammation — addressed at the root.
Read the full case study →
FATIGUE · ME/CFS · NEUROLOGICAL
Chronic Fatigue, Mycotoxin & Neurological
Gut and toxic burden driving fatigue and neurological symptoms — fully resolved.
Read the full case study →

Sound Familiar?

If this feels like your story — this is exactly what we work with.

DECODE YOUR GUT ↓ Or book a clarity call →
"Paul was very approachable and helped me make some realistic changes to my health and lifestyle. I'd been struggling with bloating for a long time and things are now much more comfortable. I'd happily recommend him to anyone looking to take their health more seriously."
— Female client · Gut · Hashimoto's
Client Voices
What clients say
★★★★★
"
After digestive problems and no clear way forward from my GP, I consulted Paul and it was the best decision I made. Following his dietary approach and supplement protocol, I'm about 95% back to my usual self three months later. I don't think I'd be at this point without his support.
— Female client · Gut · Digestive
★★★★★
"
I had some histamine and low energy issues that turned out to be linked to a gut flora imbalance after food poisoning. Paul identified specific nutritional gaps and helped me bring my markers back into a better range.
— Male client · Gut · Histamine · Low energy
★★★★★
"
I'd been dealing with ongoing health issues that other practitioners hadn't really got to the bottom of. My energy and general enthusiasm for life are a lot better after ten months working with him.
— Female client · Hashimoto's · Chronic fatigue · Anxiety
GUT
Sound Familiar?
You're not broken. You're not lazy.
There are root causes. There are answers. This is solvable.
Book a Clarity Call →

The information provided on this website is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Paul Foley is a registered nutritional therapist, not a medical doctor. Always consult your GP or a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health programme.