This GI-MAP stool + HTMA hair with Consultation package is a combination of the individual testing that you will find under "testing and consults". You can view more on each individual test below: 
 
GI-MAP test-Gut Health Profile-DNA Stool Analysis +Zonulin HERE
HTMA Hair Analysis + Consultation HERE
 
Individually, both of these tests are extremely beneficial. We see much about the state of the gut and the stage of dysbiosis in the GI-MAP test. We want to know what beneficial microbiome are off balance so we can protect our system from the harmful pathogens that try to enter. However, if we have stage 2 and 3 dysbiosis, we are seeing issues in pancreatic, stomach acid, and gallbladder function. When this happens, we can't kill off the pathogens that start entering out system. The longer this goes on, the more we start to compromise our GI tract. Inflammation in our GI starts to lead to leaky gut, more inflammation, and many food sensitivities/allergies. From there pathogens can thrive and live in our systems. GI symptoms may not always be present but can show up in a number of differnt ways in our systems (See GI-MAP page for details). 
 
In the HTMA Hair Analysis test, we are able to look at actual mineral deficiencies and heavy metal toxicities. Because mineral imbalances and toxicities drive our glandular system, it is also at the core of our bodies. For example, zinc aids in digestion, but it is also key in our thyroid function. However, when zinc is too high, it can lower copper which is also needed for our thyroid function and is a synergist to the production and balance of Magnesium and calcium. Heavy metal toxicity occurs when we have an abundance over time but also plays a role when our bodies are depleted in crucial minerals. Heavy metals bind to cells in something called "ionic mimicry". Certain metals play similar but less efficient roles at a cellular level, so when we have an over abundance of a toxic metal, or a deficiency in a correlating mineral, the metal will accumulate in the body. 
 
Without understanding how compromised our gut is and understanding how to actually heal it, working to balance the minerals through supplement and lifestyle may not be enough to shift. We have to be able to absorb nutrients in our systems for them to work how they should. Inflammation in the gut will override the ability to use minerals properly and detox the way we need to. And if we don't fix our microbiome that is there to protect us, we continue to let pathogens in that will cause more and more problems. If we work on the GI system by iteself, we may not understand what minerals need to be balanced and what our systems need to properly function and heal. Heavy metal toxcicities will still exist, wreak havoc, and interfere with mineral absorption. 
 
This paragraph above is really why these tests work well together. Minerals cannot abosorb  and heavy metals cannot detoxify with a compromised gut. But typically mineral imbalances and heavy metal toxicities DO lead to gut dysbiosis, and vice versa becasue of the role that minerals and the gut play together. Allowing us to assess the level of gut dysbiosis, the order of importance of your system as a whole, and the priority in which each needs to be addressed takes a lot of the guess work out.