The Trend of At-Home Gut Health Testing Grows 

The Trend of At-Home Gut Health Testing Grows. Credit | Getty Images
The Trend of At-Home Gut Health Testing Grows. Credit | Getty Images

United States: Our bodies are full of amazing things, like our brains and kidneys, but they can also be a bit confusing. One big mystery is the gut microbiome which is actually  a group of tiny helpers in our stomachs that really keeps us healthy. 

And also there are a lot of scientists  who have learned a lot about it in the last twenty years and a big thanks to new technology, but we still don’t know everything. Nowadays, you might see a lot of products and social media posts promising quick fixes for gut health, but understanding it is still a work in progress. 

Home Testing Kits 

Among these products: at-home microbiome testing kits, which customers can order and use to take a stool sample and mail it for analysis. The company then sends back a report on the customer’s gut health along with dietary recommendations. 

According to a video Paris Hilton posted on Instagram  when she sent in her stool sample to Viome – a company that produces at-home testing kits and in which Hilton has invested – she learned that her “superfoods” include avocados and apples, but that she should avoid broccoli. 

The Trend of At-Home Gut Health Testing Grows. Credit | Alamy
The Trend of At-Home Gut Health Testing Grows. Credit | Alamy

Thousands of the TikTok and Instagram posts claim that these kits help with the conditions as varied as bloating joint pain and anxiety and leaky git a nebulous term that encompasses ailments including the bloating, diarrhea and the low energy.  

According to the Mayo Clinic and it is a hypothetical conditions that not currently recognized as a medical diagnosis. 

What is a microbiome? 

Microbiome is a general term used to refer to a community of microorganisms – organisms you can’t see without a microscope, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses – explains Dr Jonathan Eisen, professor and microbiologist at the University of California Davis. 

Microbiomes are found on our skin, in our mouths, and in our reproductive systems. There are also ocean microbiomes, soil microbiomes, and air microbiomes. 

Does it affect gut health? 

Each person’s microbiome is different. And unlike, say, our genes, which are primarily fixed throughout our lives, our microbiomes are ever-evolving, changing based on factors like age, nutrition, lifestyle and hormone changes.  

“It is horrifically complicated and unstable,” Eisen says. 

In general, though, Newman describes a healthy gut as “one that allows for the complete digestion of the food, absorption of nutrients, and elimination of waste.” 

How it’s affecting one’s health overall? 

“It’s clear that the microbial community in the gut has a big impact on the health of mammals,” Eisen says. 

But how the gut’s microbial balance affects specific health conditions is still largely unclear. Wellness influences and companies selling at-home testing kits claim that learning the balance of your microbiome and making dietary adjustments accordingly can boost a person’s energy, improve their skin and help with anxiety. 

But most of these claims are based on studies that identified correlations rather than causation, Eisen says, adding that many such studies were “probably not done in big enough populations to be convincing”.