Paige Dunlop
Functional Gastrointestinal Practitioner | Nutritionist
Co-Founder of Bay Functional Health
BSc (Microbiology), BNatMed, NutDip, NMHNZ, CNA
Paige is a comprehensive and dedicated practitioner with a clinical focus on complex digestive disorders and microbiome-related dysfunction. Many of her clients have spent 10+ years living with abnormal, debilitating symptoms, often dismissed, misdiagnosed, or left unresolved. Her work offers not only answers but clarity, compassion, and education.
Paige’s approach targets the microbiota–gut–brain–immune axis, with a strong emphasis on the gut-brain connection, the bidirectional communication network that links our digestive system with our brain. This network is mediated through the nervous system, the neuroendocrine system, and the immune system, influencing everything from mood and cognition to pain sensitivity, immune response, and metabolic health.
She reminds her clients that they’re not just feeding themselves, they’re feeding 36 trillion microbes that collectively weigh up to 2 kilograms of our body mass. This vast microbial ecosystem, known as the microbiome, plays a central role in how we think, feel, digest, and move. Paige’s clinical lens goes far beyond symptom suppression, her work is centred on restoring microbial balance and regulating the systems it influences.
To complement her thorough assessments, Paige is registered with PathLab and refers clients for investigative blood work. This not only strengthens her diagnostic insight but ensures every treatment strategy is grounded in measurable data.
Professional Background
Paige holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a Bachelor of Natural Medicine, alongside currently completing a diploma in clinical nutrition. With this foundation, she bridges conventional science with evidence-based natural medicine, creating highly individualised treatment plans for chronic and complex gastrointestinal presentations.
Her diagnostic toolkit includes functional stool analysis, microbiome mapping, SIBO breath testing, and integrative blood chemistry interpretation. She also robustly understands post-infectious gut syndromes, histamine intolerance, intestinal permeability, and inflammatory presentations of gut dysfunction.
Paige has trained under Sharon Erdrich, one of New Zealand’s most experienced functional medicine educators, refining her expertise in working with dysbiosis, IBS, leaky gut, and complex gut-brain axis cases. Her clinical decisions are always informed by current research, yet anchored in deep, personalised care.
At Bay Functional Health, Paige works alongside Lisa to elevate the standard of integrative care in Aotearoa. She is trusted for her methodical investigative process, the clarity she brings to complex health puzzles, and her belief that no case is too chronic, too confusing, or too far gone to turn around.
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Tuesday 8:30 am - 5:30 pm
Thursday 8:30 am - 4:30 pm(Monday and Wednesday are solely for administration)
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In-person clinic 141a Grange Road, Otumoetai, 3110
Online consultations available
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paige@bayfunctionalhealth.com
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Chronic Digestive Distress – Bloating, reflux, constipation, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea, excessive gas, and post-infectious symptoms like “Bali belly”
Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders – IBS, IBD, GERD, gastritis, peptic ulcers, SIBO, SIFO, and IMO
Gut–Brain Axis Dysfunction – Fatigue, brain fog, low mood, generalised anxiety, and post-gastroenteritis complications
Post-Infectious Syndromes – Long COVID, viral inflammation, and chronic immune-gastrointestinal disruption
Microbiome Restoration – Rebalancing gut flora following antibiotics, infections, or long-term dysfunction