Experts say testing your stool could be the secret to weight loss, health and rebuilding your 'gut garden'. VICTORIA WOODHALL tries it out..
. with surprising results By Victoria Woodhall Published: 12:00, 22 May 2024 | Updated: 12:18, 22 May 2024 e-mail View comments The views could not be more majestic. The swanky Buchinger Wilhelmi medical health retreat in Germany looks out onto the forest-lined shores of Lake Constance towards the soaring snow-topped peaks of the Alps and my ten day stay will cost upwards of £3,817.
I am, however, not engaged in luxury pursuits, but rather matters less uplifting. Having checked in, almost the first thing I do is present a rather serious looking bearded scientist with a stool sample – no way of putting this more delicately - which he then whisks away on a bed of dry ice to a top Swiss laboratory. It's not your usual spa treatment, granted.
But the fact is, this little gift of mine can offer up a goldmine of information. By analysing it, clinic doctors can produce a snapshot of my immune and digestive systems and catch any inflammation before it becomes a problem. Best of all, cutting edge science can use it to radically overhaul my gut bacteria – or microbiome – and thus offer me a complete health reboot.
The swanky Buchinger Wilhelmi medical health retreat in Germany looks out onto the forest-lined shores of Lake Constance towards the soaring snow-topped peaks of the Alps The concept of taking 'readings' from this least glamorous o.
