Q&A: AI-powered app ‘digestive health companion’ empowers patients to improve gut health
Key takeaways:
- The online platform Gastro Girl has launched an evidence-based, AI-powered app to help patients take control of their gut health.
- The app can track hydration, bowel movements, nutrition, exercise and more.
For more than a decade, Gastro Girl has offered “trusted, evidence-based resources” that empower patients to make informed decisions about their digestive health, according to Jacqueline Gaulin, founder of the online platform.
What began as a small blog and passion project for Gaulin has expanded to a large online platform and resource center for patients wanting to better understand gut health. Gastro Girl has been the official patient education partner for the ACG since 2016.
In their latest venture, Gaulin and her team, led by business partner and CEO Daniel Corcoran, launched Ask Gastro Girl, an AI-powered app that aligns with their mission to do something that mattered for patients with digestive health issues and their families.
“It started with creating a trusted entry point for patients to explore their digestive health. That vision drove the launch of the app—to harness this incredible technology in a responsible and transparent way that empowers rather than overwhelms patients,” Gaulin, who also serves as Gastro Girl’s chief strategy officer, said.
“Today, more than ever, patients are taking ownership of their digestive health, researching, learning and collaborating with their health care providers as they navigate the evolving understanding of how gut health impacts overall well-being.”
According to Gaulin, Ask Gastro Girl allows a patient’s journey to be “easier, more accessible and more effective, putting science-backed, expert-reviewed information directly at their fingertips.”
In an interview with Healio, Gaulin further describes the app and how it can be used to empower and educate patients seeking to improve or better understand their gut health.
Healio: Why was the Ask Gastro Girl app created?
Gaulin: The app was created to provide patients with the help they need — when and how they need it.
Unlike generic health apps, Ask Gastro Girl is built on a proprietary, expert-driven knowledge base, developed using insights from leading GI clinicians, the latest research, and evidence-based clinical guidelines. This ensures that the information patients receive is aligned with the very standards their health care providers rely on, helping to reinforce, rather than contradict, expert medical advice.
By integrating AI responsibly, the Ask Gastro Girl app provides personalized support while maintaining the highest standards of trust and care. This ethical approach to innovation ensures that the app strengthens the patient-provider connection and truly serves patient needs.
The app will continue to evolve, introducing self-guided or personalized coaching programs with the ability to talk to a live person if they want more coaching, innovative tools.
Healio: How can patients utilize the app?
Gaulin: The app was built to cut through the clutter and confusion surrounding digestive health. The internet is flooded with information — some good, some bad — but it is often scattered, inconsistent and difficult to navigate.
The app provides a trusted digestive health companion that patients can turn to when they are looking for some clarity. It dispenses clear, science-backed answers in real time, based on the same guidelines that gastroenterologists and advanced practice providers rely on to deliver the highest standard of digestive care.
Patients can use the app to:
- Access reliable, evidence-based information to gain a clearer understanding of digestive health.
- Track hydration, bowel habits, exercise and mood with an easy-to-use digital journal to identify patterns and make informed health decisions.
- Receive personalized nutrition plans and holistic wellness tips tailored to individual needs.
- Feel more confident during appointments by knowing the right questions to ask health care providers.
- Get trusted answers to common digestive health questions from a provider-recommended resource.
- Strengthen communication between patients and providers, supporting more informed and collaborative care.
We intentionally steered away from making this about weight loss—it is about health and wellness. In the digestive health space, many people already struggle with food avoidance and restrictive eating, and we didn’t want to add to that. The app creates a supportive framework tailored to the patient’s needs, offering a trusted starting point for learning and guidance.
Healio: What is the overall goal of the app?
Gaulin: The app exists to ensure that patients know they are not alone in their digestive health struggles. It does not replace the patient-provider relationship but rather enhances it by making communication and decision-making more informed and collaborative.
The Ask Gastro Girl app is also a valuable tool for health care providers, helping them deliver science-backed, guideline-driven information to their patients. In a world where social media is flooded with misinformation, the app provides real answers based on the latest clinical research and treatment guidelines, ensuring patients have the most reliable, up-to-date insights to make informed health decisions.
Healio: Does the app focus on specific GI conditions?
Gaulin: One of the app’s greatest strengths is its ability to guide patients through their digestive health journey, no matter their specific condition. Since digestive health concerns do not always begin with a clear diagnosis, the app was designed to offer reliable information across a broad spectrum of conditions, ensuring both patients and providers have the insights they need.
We are not looking to keep patients in a silo. There are incredible patient organizations that are dedicated to specific conditions, offering strong communities and valuable resources—but many patients may not know they exist. The Ask Gastro Girl app helps connect them to these resources, making it easier to navigate uncertainty, whether they are trying to understand symptoms or adjust to a new diagnosis.
Healio: Can health care providers use the app to guide patient care or is it strictly for patients?
Gaulin: With gastroenterologists in high demand, many patients face wait times of 3 to 6 months for an appointment. As a result, they often turn to their primary care providers — internal medicine physicians, family doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants — for guidance. That is a lot of pressure on the practices and the health system bandwidth.
We have seen strong engagement from providers who are looking for credible, patient-friendly resources to use both for their own education and to share with patients.
The Ask Gastro Girl app is designed to complement, not replace, the care providers already give, helping patients:
- Better understand their digestive health using a proprietary, expert-driven knowledge base.
- Monitor key health factors over time, such as hydration, bowel habits, exercise, and mood, which providers can use to enhance discussions during visits.
- Reinforce provider recommendations and make it easier to implement suggested dietary and lifestyle changes while tracking health goals to support overall well-being.
By integrating science-backed insights into an easy-to-use patient tool, providers can feel confident recommending Ask Gastro Girl as an extension of their care approach.
The app also plays a role in bridging communication gaps between patients and providers. It helps patients ask more informed questions during appointments, ensuring that the time spent with their health care team is as productive and meaningful as possible.
We are currently piloting Ask Gastro Girl in five diverse practice settings — ranging from large multiprovider groups to health systems — because providers see it as a valuable addition to their workflow.
Their enthusiasm reflects a growing demand for digital resources that help patients navigate their digestive health while reinforcing the care they already receive from their health care team.
Healio: Should there be more apps like Ask Gastro Girl to improve patient care?
Gaulin: The short answer is yes. Our approach has never been about operating in isolation. Instead, we have actively sought collaborations with organizations that prioritize patients, because improving digestive health should be a collective effort.
However, we have seen that many organizations pursuing outside investment often shape their offerings around investor exit strategies rather than patient needs. This can lead to misalignment, where the focus shifts away from truly serving patients.
In contrast, Ask Gastro Girl remains debt-free and self-funded, allowing us to stay laser-focused on our mission: empowering patients with trusted, evidence-based information and resources.
Our guiding principle is clear: How does this ultimately serve the needs of patients? That question shapes every decision, every resource investment, and every action we take.
Reference:
- Ask Gastro Girl app: AI-powered support for gut health. https://gastrogirl.com/ask-gastro-girl-app-ai-powered-support-for-gut-health/. Accessed Feb. 14, 2025.
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