This article is written in proud partnership with Wellnicity—dedicated to your health & well-being. They kindly gave our editor their product to try, but all opinions are her own. ~ ed.

We’re complex animals.

Our thoughts, moods, sleep, and physical functions are affected by everything from our brain chemistry to our gut microbiome—you know, those 100 trillion microscopic critters comprising 90 percent of the cells of our bodies.

But most of us spend our entire lives never really knowing what’s going on in our bodies. 

Wellnicity offers us an opportunity to change that. Through their personalized, detailed, holistic approach to wellness, we can find out what’s keeping us from being our happiest, healthiest selves—and actually take steps to change it.

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“After a quick trip to my local FedEx shipping store and a week or so of waiting, I received an email that my lab results were ready. With a weirdly high level of excitement, I clicked the link and there it was: my 15-page gut health report. There was also a personal message from my new Wellness Consultant, Jessica, who explained exactly what my results meant.” ~ Nicole

How many of us can place ourselves somewhere on the scale of feeling something’s a bit “off” to full-blown mental or physical crisis point? I’d put my money on most.

But most of us will also avoid going to the doctor until we reach that crisis point. Why?

Yes, the smell of doctors’ rooms, our fear of needles, and frustration with the American healthcare system have something to do with it. But it’s more than that.

Whenever we go to a standard doctor, we end up feeling more like a number than a patient. The doctor spends so little time with us—usually five or ten minutes. And, most of the time, it’s the first time we’ve met them—most likely the last, too.

They hardly ever know anything about us or the big picture of our well-being. Instead of a personalized plan, we usually get the standard protocol or treatment and then we’re sent on our way, typically even more stressed, worried, and emotionally frayed than we were going into it.

We can’t get better if we don’t know what’s broke.

Here’s the good news: we now have a way to avoid this depressing healthcare treadmill and find out what’s really going on inside the complex organism that is us. And we don’t have to venture into a single doctor’s office to do it.

At-home test kits from Wellnicity offer us the opportunity to take ownership of our health and address the underlying issues that may be causing everything from our anxiety to our post-pizza bloat. We may even discover that these two things are related—in fact, they probably are!

The symbiotic relationship between our gut health and how we feel—on a physical, mental, and emotional level—is a hot topic of discussion and research. Scientists, physicians, and mental health practitioners are increasingly aware of the important relationship between the balance of the gut microbiome and our mental health in particular.

According to scientists and researchers at Johns Hopkin’s university, our gut microbes speak directly to our brain, controlling everything from our digestion and immune function, to our mood and stress levels. In fact, more than 90 percent of serotonin (ahhh, the feel-good neurotransmitter) is made and stored in our guts!

In short, if our guts aren’t happy—neither are we.

It’s no wonder then My Gut – Health is one of Wellnicity’s most popular at-home test kits. We asked one of our editors to test run it, and this is what she had to say about her experience and how the results have impacted her health:

My Gut – Health: Nicole’s story

I love food, but food doesn’t always love me back. 

Just about every time I eat, no matter what I eat or when I eat it, I feel sick. 

It’s not a vomit-up-my lunch sick or this-must-be-food-poisoning sick, but a general base-level grossness—a full, bloated, sluggish, hey-there-food coma sensation that leaves me feeling like I need to recover post-meal, every meal. 

Logically, I know this feeling isn’t normal or healthy. Practically, it’s what my body is used to, so I’ve come to accept it as the price I pay for my love of food.

I’ve read enough articles on diet, healthy eating, and foods to stay away from to know there’s no one-stop shop when it comes to health. What works for one body (or hundreds of bodies) won’t necessarily work for mine—or yours. 

I’ve realized that the best way for me to say goodbye to this bloaty, sluggish post-meal feeling is to make decisions based on what’s going on in my body. But I had no clue how to go about doing this…until Wellnicity’s My Gut – Health test.

When my test kit arrived in the mail, I registered it on the website and filled out my health profile—all of which took about 15 minutes. 

Prepping for and providing my test samples was a little more involved. 

I had secretly been hoping for a quick “spit in a vial” test, but the Gut Health kit requires both a saliva sample and two stool samples, given on two separate days. Because what’s more individual than what comes out of our bodies after every meal, right? So I put my initial grossed-outness aside.

It turned out to be fairly easy and squeamish-friendly, thanks to the tools and directions that Wellnicity provides. Whoever is writing their test instructions deserves a giant high-five. Each step of the process is clearly outlined, so as long as you read through the pamphlet it’s pretty tough to screw things up. 

After a quick trip to my local FedEx shipping store and a week or so of waiting, I received an email that my lab results were ready. With a weirdly high level of excitement, I clicked the link and there it was: my 15-page gut health report. There was also a personal message from my new Wellness Consultant, Jessica, who explained exactly what my results meant.

Then came my individual, tailor-made Wellness Plan, including a proposed supplement regimen, clinical recommendations, and lifestyle and diet choices. All designed for the particular madness going on in my body—no generic guidelines or guess-and-test tips.

The most beneficial part of the process was speaking to my Wellness Consultant over the phone a few days later. After years of doctor visits where I felt my health concerns were subject to the clock, it was comforting to feel like what was going on in my body was the most important thing in the room. 

Later that day, my consultant followed up on our conversation with some diet information we had discussed, and two days later my professional-grade supplements arrived in the mail.

After two weeks of sticking to my regimen (four supplements with breakfast and four with dinner), and adjusting my diet slightly (less processed sugar, more foods that come from the ground, and minimizing some “healthy” foods like yogurt and eggs that I used to eat daily), I already feel less bloated and sluggish after meals. It’s less food coma and more food cat nap. 

It’ll take roughly three months for the bad bacteria to get back to normal levels, as long as I can stick to better eating habits, but it’s encouraging to feel the results early on. 

What’s even more encouraging though, is knowing that the changes I’m making and the plan I’m following were made just for me. That I’m in control of my health. That I don’t have to rely on generic guidelines and random tips. And that I don’t have to just accept that my love for food will always have a negative result on my body. 

Find out which Wellnicity at-home test kit your body needs >>