Gut & Digestive Issues Root Cause Care
Reviewed by Dr. Martin Hart , DC & Dr. Koji Aoki, DC
Gut Health Care in Columbia, TN
Serving Nashville & Clients Nationwide
Reviewed by Dr. Martin Hart & Dr. Koji Aoki
At Keystone Total Health, we work with individuals whose digestive symptoms have become a constant source of discomfort, disruption, or uncertainty. Our clinic is based in Columbia, Tennessee, serving the greater Nashville area, and we also support clients who travel from across the United States seeking answers when gut and digestive issues persist despite dietary changes, medications, or prior evaluations.
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The digestive system plays a central role in immune balance, inflammation, hormone metabolism, and nervous system regulation. When gut function becomes compromised, symptoms may appear in the abdomen—or far beyond it. Our approach is designed to determine why the digestive system is no longer regulating itself effectively and how broader physiological stressors may be contributing.
Digestive Symptoms as Signals, Not Isolated Problems
Digestive issues are often treated as standalone complaints, yet in many cases they represent early warning signs of deeper system imbalance. Clients may experience bloating, reflux, abdominal pain, irregular stools, food reactions, or chronic inflammation without a clear explanation for why these symptoms persist.
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From a root-cause functional medicine perspective, the gut does not operate independently. It is closely integrated with the immune system, brain, liver, and detoxification pathways. When these systems are under stress, digestive symptoms are often one of the first places the body expresses imbalance.
The Connection Between Gut Issues, Mold Illness, and Lyme Disease
At Keystone Total Health, gut and digestive dysfunction is very commonly associated with mold illness (CIRS) and Lyme disease or other complex infections. These conditions can disrupt gut integrity, alter immune signaling, and impair detoxification pathways, creating a cycle of inflammation and digestive distress.
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Mold-related illness may affect the gut through chronic immune activation, altered bile flow, and impaired detoxification. Lyme disease and related infections can influence gut motility, microbial balance, and nervous system control of digestion. Over time, this burden can contribute to persistent gastrointestinal symptoms that do not respond to conventional care.
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Understanding whether digestive symptoms are being driven by biotoxin exposure, infection, immune dysregulation, or nervous system stress is essential for effective care.
What Are Gut & Digestive Issues?
Gut and digestive issues refer to a wide range of symptoms that arise when the digestive system is no longer functioning in a coordinated, regulated way. While digestion is often thought of as simply breaking down food, the gut plays a far broader role in immune regulation, inflammation control, hormone metabolism, detoxification, and communication with the nervous system.
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When gut function becomes impaired, symptoms may include bloating, abdominal discomfort, reflux, changes in bowel habits, food sensitivities, or unexplained inflammation. In some cases, digestive symptoms are subtle or intermittent; in others, they are persistent and disruptive. From a root-cause perspective, these symptoms are rarely random. They often reflect imbalances in microbial populations, impaired motility, immune activation, or disrupted gut-brain signaling.
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Rather than focusing solely on symptom labels, our role is to understand why the digestive system is no longer regulating itself effectively and what underlying factors may be contributing to dysfunction.
Why Digestive Issues Are Often Overlooked
Many individuals with chronic digestive symptoms undergo basic testing and are told results are normal or that symptoms are stress-related. While stress can influence digestion, this explanation often fails to address why the gut is no longer regulating itself effectively.
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Digestive symptoms may persist when:
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Immune and inflammatory signaling remains activated
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Gut barrier function is impaired
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Infections or biotoxins disrupt normal digestion
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Hormonal and nervous system regulation is altered
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Nutrient absorption is compromised
Without addressing these contributors, symptoms often cycle or worsen over time.
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How We Evaluate Gut & Digestive Issues at Keystone Total Health
Through the Keystone Root Cause Intensive™, our practitioners take a comprehensive, systems-based approach to understanding gut dysfunction. Evaluation focuses on identifying patterns of imbalance, rather than labeling symptoms alone.
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Advanced functional testing may be used when appropriate to assess digestive capacity, inflammatory and immune activity, gut-microbiome patterns, detoxification pathways, and contributors related to mold illness or Lyme disease. Testing is always selected based on each client’s unique history and clinical presentation.
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Results are interpreted by Dr. Martin Hart and Dr. Koji Aoki within the context of the full clinical picture, ensuring findings are integrated thoughtfully rather than treated in isolation.
A Root-Cause Approach to Supporting Gut Health
Care for gut and digestive issues at Keystone Total Health is designed to restore regulation and resilience, not simply suppress symptoms. Recommendations focus on reducing physiological stress on the digestive system while supporting the systems that influence gut function.
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This may involve addressing immune and inflammatory burden, supporting gut-brain communication, improving digestive efficiency, restoring nutrient absorption, and reducing the impact of infectious or environmental stressors. Because each individual’s gut dysfunction has different drivers, care is personalized and adjusted as the body responds.
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Our goal is to help the gut return to its role as a stable foundation for overall health.
Conditions That Commonly Overlap With Gut Issues
Gut and digestive dysfunction rarely occurs in isolation. It commonly overlaps with chronic fatigue, hormone imbalances, autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, mold illness (CIRS), Lyme disease, and mineral imbalances or toxic load.
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This overlap is why digestive symptoms often improve only when the broader system is addressed.
Digestive symptoms like bloating, reflux, irregular stools, and food sensitivities often have deeper underlying drivers. This FAQ covers common gut issues such as SIBO and SIFO, and explains how Keystone Total Health supports clients in Columbia, TN, the Nashville area, and nationwide.
What are gut and digestive issues?
Digestive issues include symptoms such as bloating, reflux, abdominal discomfort, irregular stools, or food sensitivities.
What are SIBO and SIFO?
SIBO is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and SIFO is small intestinal fungal overgrowth. Both may contribute to digestive symptoms.
What are common SIBO symptoms?
Can mold illness affect gut health?
Symptoms may include bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort, altered bowel habits, and food reactions.
Yes. Mold-related immune and inflammatory stress may impact gut function and motility.
Can Lyme disease affect digestion?
Lyme-related nervous system involvement may influence digestion and gut regulation.
How are gut issues evaluated?
Why do gut symptoms persist?
Evaluation includes symptom patterns, history, and personalized testing when appropriate.
Persistent symptoms often involve overlapping immune, inflammatory, and nervous system factors.
Do you support gut health clients nationwide?
Yes. Clients travel from across the U.S. to Keystone Total Health.
Gut Health Practitioners in Columbia, TN
At Keystone Total Health, we provide practitioner-led, root-cause functional medicine care for individuals experiencing chronic gut and digestive issues. Our clinic is located in Columbia, Tennessee, serving the greater Nashville area, while also working with clients who travel from across the United States seeking comprehensive evaluation when digestive symptoms persist despite standard treatment.
Common Types of Digestive Imbalances We Evaluate
At Keystone Total Health, we commonly work with clients who have been diagnosed with—or are suspected to have—specific digestive imbalances that contribute to ongoing symptoms. These patterns may exist on their own or overlap with conditions such as mold illness (CIRS), Lyme disease, chronic fatigue, or autoimmunity.
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Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
SIBO occurs when bacteria that normally reside in the large intestine overgrow in the small intestine. This can interfere with digestion and nutrient absorption and is commonly associated with bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort, and changes in bowel habits. SIBO is often linked to impaired gut motility, nervous system dysregulation, or chronic inflammatory stress.
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Small Intestinal Fungal Overgrowth (SIFO)
SIFO involves an overgrowth of yeast or fungi in the small intestine and may contribute to bloating, abdominal pain, food sensitivities, and systemic symptoms. It is frequently overlooked and may coexist with bacterial imbalances or immune dysfunction.
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Dysbiosis
Dysbiosis refers to an imbalance in the gut microbiome, where beneficial organisms are reduced and opportunistic organisms become dominant. This imbalance can affect digestion, immune signaling, inflammation, and even mood and energy levels.
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Impaired Digestive Function
Some clients experience symptoms due to insufficient digestive enzymes, bile flow, or stomach acid regulation. These issues can lead to poor breakdown and absorption of nutrients, contributing to fatigue, inflammation, and nutrient deficiencies over time.
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Increased Intestinal Permeability (Leaky Gut)
When the gut barrier becomes compromised, substances that are normally contained within the digestive tract may interact with the immune system. This can contribute to inflammation, immune activation, and symptoms that extend beyond the gut itself.
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Post-Infectious or Immune-Mediated Gut Dysfunction
Digestive issues may develop after infections, antibiotic exposure, mold exposure, or immune stress. In these cases, the gut may struggle to return to normal regulation without targeted support.
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Celiac disease develops when the immune system reacts to gluten by damaging the lining of the small intestine. Over time, this immune-driven injury can impair nutrient absorption and disrupt gut regulation, even after dietary changes are made.
These digestive patterns often overlap and influence one another. Identifying which imbalances are present—and why they developed—is a key part of a root-cause approach.
Taking the Next Step
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Book Your Keystone Root Cause Analysis™
During your initial one-hour appointment with one of our practitioners, the Keystone Root Cause Analysis™ provides a comprehensive, root-cause evaluation that reviews physical, environmental, and social factors to understand your symptoms and identify personalized next steps.
Gut Health Expertise
Serving Nashville and Clients Nationwide
Digestive issues look different for every individual. Our role is to help you understand your unique gut patterns and the systems influencing them, then provide structured, personalized guidance based on careful clinical analysis—not assumptions or one-size-fits-all solutions.
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If you are navigating ongoing gut or digestive symptoms and are seeking a physician-led, root-cause-focused evaluation, especially if mold illness or Lyme disease may be involved, we invite you to schedule a complimentary discovery call.