10 Things Viome's Gut Test Can Reveal About Your Gut Microbiome

Viome offers 20 gut microbiome scores to support personalized food and supplement recommendations

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Aug 20, 2019, 09:00 ET

SEATTLE, Aug. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Viome, a company redefining health through personalized nutrition based on individual biology, today releases further insights on how analyzing and understanding the gut microbiome is linked to overall health. Through artificial intelligence, Viome discovers what foods and supplements are ideal for each individual based on their gut microbiome in order to achieve optimal health.

No one microbiome is the same, which is why an individual's gut health is not only determined by the amount of microbial richness and diversity but also the balance of unique functions they perform. With Viome's 20 gut microbiome scores that measure digestive efficiency, protein fermentation, intestinal barrier health, and more, users are able to identify the functions that need to be optimized and discover which foods are best to consume in order to attain and maintain a healthy balance.

See below for 10 surprising things Viome's gut test can reveal:

Spinach Isn't a Superfood For Everyone
Certain components found in a variety of healthy foods may be difficult for different individuals to break down, and Viome discovered that many users have low microbial oxalate metabolism activity. For these people, limiting foods high in oxalates like spinach and almonds might be beneficial and keep your risk of kidney stones at bay.
Your Microbiome Can Impact Your Blood Sugar Response
In a new clinical research study from Viome, individuals consuming similar foods showed big differences in their glycemic response. This study shows a new perspective on how the gut microbiome may be influencing changes in people's glycemic response and just how complex the interactions of our microbiome are between the foods we ingest and our bodies.
Why Broccoli Might Make You Gassy
Many people feel uncomfortable and bloated after consuming vegetables rich with glucosinolates, like broccoli. If your test shows highly active pathways that result in sulfide gas, glucosinolates may not be good for you, because they can be turned into more sulfide gas by your gut microbiome. This can cause "leaky gut" syndrome which occurs when your intestinal lining doesn't have "healthy boundaries" and if untreated it can lead to various health conditions.
Your Microbes Might Be Asking You to Cut Out Salt
Salt can also impact the health of your gut microbiome. Certain beneficial or probiotic microbes found in our gut microbiome can find it difficult to colonize in a high salt environment, while other not-so-good microbes thrive in high-salt environments. When your gut balance gets swayed due to high salt concentrations, this situation may promote more harmful bacteria or higher harmful activities to ensue.
Your Body May Be Passing On Those Berry Benefits
Polyphenol antioxidants in foods are considered very healthy, but you may not be getting their full benefit. Certain microbes can actually help us gain access to more beneficial compounds by converting them into antioxidants our body can readily absorb. One example is a polyphenol called ellagic acid. Viome can detect if your gut microbiome is metabolizing ellagic acid and converting it into urolithin A, an easily absorbable antioxidant. Without the microbes to do this conversion, you will not benefit from ellagic acid in certain foods.
When You Need To Take It Easy On the Seafood
Various microbes are known to digest compounds called purines, typically found in a variety of meats, seafood, sodas, and beer. When metabolized, purines can get converted to uric acid and can increase your risk of developing gout. If your results show you have a high level of uric acid production activity, you might benefit from reducing the portion of these purine containing foods you're eating until these patterns change in your gut microbiome.
You May Be Consuming More Protein Than You Can Handle
Protein helps build muscle and provide energy, but if your microbes are working extra hard to break it down, it can have some negative consequences. Protein digestion begins when you first start chewing and continues down through your stomach and into your small intestine. If the protein is not fully broken down by the end of this process, your microbes will digest the excess protein available in your colon and may convert it into harmful byproducts like ammonia.
Inflammation in Your Body May Originate in Your Gut
When we think about joint pain and chronic discomfort, we tend to attribute it to "getting older," but maybe your gut microbiome is just making you feel older. When gut inflammation occurs, it can send signals or triggers to your immune system and lead to systemic inflammation. If you have a condition with "-itis" in it, it's possible that if you balance your microbiome, your symptoms may be reduced.
Your Gut Environment is a War Zone
Your microbiome is a living ecosystem inside your gut. Microbial communities fight 'turf wars', compete for food sources, run from threats, and communicate in their own ways with their molecular signals if there is a danger or unfavorable conditions. They actually have their own equivalents of "fight or flight" or "freeze" responses.
Butyrate Is Your Gut Shield Defense, But Do You Have Enough?
Some microbes in your gut can take dietary fiber that we can't digest and convert it into butyrate, a beneficial short-chain fatty acid. Interestingly, butyrate is the favorite food source of our colonocytes – or the human cells that line our digestive tract. When our colonocytes have a healthy serving of butyrate, it promotes the health of our gut lining and combats leaky gut.

Given the research emerging daily about the importance of the gut microbiome on your quality of life, prioritizing health is essential. Viome is continuously working to better understand the microbial functions inside of your gut so that they can provide more valuable insight and offer the tools needed to take control of your own health. The benefits of understanding what is actively going on inside of the gut, paired with a personalized diet empowers users to optimize their health in the most biologically-informed way.

To learn more about Viome and its mission to make illness optional, visit www.viome.com.

About Viome
Viome is defining the future of health through personalized nutrition based on individual biology. The company uses advanced technology developed for National Security at the Los Alamos National Lab and is developing a therapeutics platform to prevent and reverse chronic diseases using food as a medicine based on functional analysis of gene expression. The intelligence platform transforms powerful insights into actions by delivering precise, personalized nutrition recommendations for healthy living.

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SOURCE Viome