GutID

What it is

GutID is an at-home microbiome test. You collect a small sample at home, ship it back in the prepaid packaging, and the lab sequences the bacteria living in your gut — not in rough categories, but right down to the individual strain. That level of detail matters. Two people can look almost identical on a basic test and have completely different gut stories underneath.

What it looks at

Depending on which test we use, GutID can show:

• Your microbiome score, with a plain-language summary of what the results actually mean.
• The diversity, richness, and evenness of your gut community — the markers of a resilient gut.
• Which beneficial bacteria you’re carrying, and which potential troublemakers.
• Bacterial patterns the research links to gut conditions like IBS, SIBO, and IBD, and to metabolic health.
• How well your gut is set up to break down nutrients and specific foods.
• Personalised food and supplement direction based on your own results.

Two ways in

GutID comes at two levels. Core Gut Insights (CGI) is the starting point — a clear read of your microbiome score, your resistome, and your key bacterial markers. The Complete Microbiome Assessment (CMA) goes further, mapping your full microbiome composition, your resilience and biodiversity, with more detailed dietary and supplement guidance. Which one fits depends on what we’re chasing, and we decide that together.

Preferred pricing, once we’ve talked

I’m able to offer preferred pricing on GutID testing to the clients I work with. Testing always starts with a conversation, though — we look at whether it’s the right clue to chase for your situation before any kit is ordered. It’s not something to buy off a shelf, and it works best when it’s pointed at the right question.

How it fits the investigation

A test result on its own is just data. What matters is what it means for you — read alongside your history, your symptoms, and everything else we’ve already mapped. That’s my part. GutID hands me a high-resolution clue. The investigation is what turns it into an answer.

A note on your privacy

GutID’s analysis happens at a lab outside Canada, so if we use it, your sample data crosses the border. That’s the kind of cross-border handling I set out plainly in my Privacy Policy — nothing hidden, and always your choice.

MedCan

What it is

MedCan is a physician-led health-assessment clinic. Their Annual Health Assessment goes well beyond a standard physical — up to 15 screening stations and testing across more than 70 biomarkers in a single day, with imaging, bloodwork, and same-day results reviewed by a physician. They also offer ongoing-care memberships and a dedicated Women’s Health stream, including a menopause and perimenopause program.

Where it fits

This is the layer I don’t provide and can’t replace. I’m not a physician — I don’t order imaging or run a seventy-marker panel. What I do is the root-cause nutrition and lifestyle investigation that medical care so often skips. When a client wants a thorough medical baseline to sit underneath that work — real numbers, real imaging, a proper proactive screen — MedCan is who I point to. Their picture and mine complement each other: they map the medical terrain, and I follow the clues through your history, your symptoms, and your daily life.

Why it matters for the women I work with

So many arrive having been told everything’s fine on a basic panel. A deeper, physician-led assessment can surface what a rushed annual physical misses — and their menopause and perimenopause support speaks directly to the season most of my clients are in.

Starts with a conversation

Whether MedCan is worth it for you depends on where you are and what you’re chasing. We’d talk it through first — it’s a significant step, and it should be pointed at the right question.

DEXA Body Composition Scan

What it is

A DEXA scan (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) is a quick, low-radiation scan that measures what the scale never will: the density of your bones, and what your body is actually made of — how much is muscle, how much is fat, and where it sits. It’s the gold-standard way to see your real structure. Locally, I point clients to BodyComp here in Vancouver.

Why it matters for the women I work with

Two reasons, both tied to the season you’re in. First, your bones. As estrogen drops through perimenopause and beyond, bone loss speeds up — quietly, with no symptoms, often until something breaks. A scan gives you a real baseline instead of a guess. Second, what you’re built of. The number on the scale can hold perfectly still while muscle slips away and fat settles in — a shift that changes how you feel, how you move, and how your body handles food. A body composition scan shows that story. The scale hides it.

How it fits the investigation

Weight on its own is one of the least useful clues in the room. What your weight is made of, and how your bones are holding up, tells me far more. When it’s relevant, I’ll point you toward a scan so we’re working from your real structure — not a single number on a Tuesday morning.

Starts with a conversation

Whether a scan belongs in your picture depends on what we’re looking at. We’d talk it through first, like everything else — and if it’s a fit, I’ll tell you exactly where to go.

LifeLabs

What it is

LifeLabs is one of Canada’s largest medical labs. Alongside the tests your doctor orders, they offer a set of tests you can request and pay for yourself, with no requisition needed. You book it, go in for the blood draw (or a home visit, where that’s offered), and the result comes back to you. It’s the most direct way to check one specific thing when you don’t want to wait for someone to agree it’s worth looking at.

Where it fits

Think of this as the opposite end of the scale from MedCan. MedCan is the full, physician-led work-up — dozens of markers in one sweep. LifeLabs is à la carte: one clue, checked on its own. When we’re chasing a single, specific question — is your vitamin D actually low, what’s your bone turnover doing, where do your hormones sit — this is the quick, targeted way to get that one number.

What you can check

Their self-order menu shifts by province, but the tests that come up most for the women I work with include:

Vitamin D — the “sunshine vitamin” most Canadians run low on, tied to bones, mood, and immunity.
A bone-turnover marker (Serum CTX) — a look at how quickly bone is breaking down, which pairs naturally with a DEXA scan.
Hormone markers — a window into where your hormones actually sit as they shift through midlife.
Gut markers — targeted tests for things like H. pylori or celiac, when a specific gut question needs answering.

How it fits the investigation

A single number rarely tells the whole story. A “normal” result on one marker doesn’t mean the case is closed, and an out-of-range one isn’t a diagnosis. What it gives us is one solid clue to add to everything else we’ve mapped. Knowing which marker is worth checking, and what the result actually means for you, is the part I help with.

Starts with a conversation

You can order these entirely on your own — but it works best when we’ve talked about which marker actually answers your question. One well-chosen test beats a scattergun of ten. Tell me what you’re chasing, and I’ll point you to the one worth getting.

A note on availability

LifeLabs’ self-order tests — and which you can get without a doctor — vary by province, so what’s available to you depends on where you are.

DNA Labs

What it is

DNA Labs is a Canadian genetics company. From a simple cheek swab you do at home, their lab reads specific variations in your genes and turns them into a report on how your body tends to respond to food, nutrients, and the way you live. No blood, no needles — just a swab mailed back.

What it can suggest

Genes don’t tell us everything, but they hint at tendencies worth knowing. Their nutrition-and-lifestyle test looks at areas like:

How your body tends to handle fats, carbs, and caffeine.
Which nutrients you may be genetically wired to need more of — vitamin D, B12, omega-3s.
Food sensitivities your genes lean toward, like lactose or gluten.
How your metabolism and hormones are genetically set up.
How your body is wired for fitness and recovery.

Where it fits

This is the most upstream clue on the page. The other tools tell us what’s happening in your body right now; your genes hint at what your body is predisposed to — the tendencies you’ve been working with your whole life. It’s a starting map, not a verdict. Your DNA loads some of the cards; how you eat, move, and live still plays the hand. That gap between tendency and outcome is exactly where our work lives.

How it fits the investigation

A genetic result is the beginning of a question, not the end of one. “You carry a variant linked to lower vitamin D” isn’t a diagnosis — it’s a lead to follow, weighed against how you actually feel and what your other clues show. Knowing which tendencies matter for you, and what to actually do about them, is my part.

Their other tests

DNA Labs also offers a drug-compatibility test — how your genes affect your response to certain medications — and fertility reports. The medication one is genuinely useful, but it belongs with your doctor or pharmacist to interpret, not me. So if it interests you, that’s who to take it to.

A note on your privacy

Genetic data is the most personal information there is, and DNA Labs operates on both sides of the border, so your sample and results may be handled outside Canada. I set out what that means in my Privacy Policy — and with genetic testing especially, the choice to do it is always, entirely yours.

Starts with a conversation

Genetic testing isn’t a casual first step, and it isn’t for everyone. Whether it’s worth doing — and which of the tendencies it turns up are actually worth acting on — is something we’d talk through together before you ever swab.