Gut-Mental Health connection - What markers to look out for on Gut tests?

[ZenAlex]

Hey guys. 

So If I was about to do some in depth tests on my gut, just to see if there was anything wrong going on down there that could be impacting my mental health and causing depression, poor appetite, irritability, anxiety etc...

What sorts of markers on gut tests should I look out for?

I know through watching videos on the subject there's an obvious link and through healthy diet and exercise you can make your gut health better and therefore your mental health, the issue is I've had an issues with - 

- low appetite

- Emotional flatness an anhedonia

- Uneasy/anxious feelings that aren't related to worrying, they're just there by default.

And at times I've noticed slight improvement in some things, but not much through therapy, meditation, but dietary changes and lifestyle. However I'm in a place now where I'm meeting my nutritional requirements, I'm not aware of any allergies, I don't have any strong indication that there's anything wrong with my diet.

At times I've lived very healthy. Whole foods diet, optimising nutrition, using apps and blood tests to monitor for any nutritional deficiencies, no alcohol, drugs, cigarettes or caffeine. 

Hiking, working out. I've done it all.

But despite my lifestyle being super healthy and being very aware of my mind and body, I still never managed to completely figure out anhedonia/emotional flatness, low appetite and random feelings of uneasiness, which have only ever gotten better by accident when experimenting with diet. I'm in a place where I'm not aware of any other patterns or connections that lead me in a certain direction towards an answer that will fix this.

I have a feeling that it may be related to gut health. Or at least it may play a role. I've spent a lot of money and time on physical health, therapy, zen and meditation. I've completely reinvented myself, and although I've seen improvement, the issues are far from resolved. 

But I admit despite doing many tests involving bloods with private and NHS doctors, I've never really took an extensive look at my Gut health. 

TL;DR - If I was gut testing for things that may be impacting mental and emotional health, as well as many low appetite, is there anything specific, any particular test/markers that I should pay attention to or look for?

Edited June 13 by ZenAlex