You have received your Genefitletics’ gut microbiome functional analysis & recommendations! Going through the report or on your mobile/laptop screen, you must be wondering what these scores mean for you, how you got those scores.
You must be observing a brief explanation for each of the 18 biomarkers & trying to gauge what each of this score means for different biological functions taking place inside your body. We are going to decode each of biomarker for you & even explain how these are tied together, how each of these score demystifies specific sources of inflammation & reflects dysregulation of biological functions happening inside your body.
Next Generation Sequencing technology (16s rRNA sequencing technology) deployed by us allow us to see down to strain -level how each of bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, and viruses living in your gut are impacting various biochemical activities taking place inside the body. We use & transform the data derived from sequencing your microbiome profile into various functional activity scores- which will give insights & signals in simple terms about pro-inflammatory & anti-inflammatory activities taking place & to what extent.
Our proprietary method of unique scoring model incorporates your current dietary choices, symptoms & current health conditions provided by you in our scientifically designed phenotype assessment application & your gut microbiome profiling & functional analysis conducted by us using your fecal sample as provided by you through 16s rRNA sequencing technology.
This blended analysis help us to decode what your gut microbes are doing inside your body.
What your microbes do in the gut depends on:
- What we give them (like food components, elements in drinks, etc.)
- What we expose them to in the gut environment, like toxins, or substances of our digestive system (bile acids, cholesterol, etc.).
To analyse this information and tell you what happens next, we identify and examine various functional activity scores. These biological scores tell us biochemical events happening inside the body:
- Which beneficial products might be made by your microbiome?
- What are they releasing in your bloodstream?
- Which microbial activities may be harmful to you?
- What do the microbes reflect about your diet and your GI environment?
We have done a comprehensive microbiome assessment to create 18 meaningful functional scores for related wellness & diet recommendations. Besides, we also give you information on your gut microbial abundance, diversity & pathogen profile. This Translational Science effort is what allows the information gathered from thousands of data points to be “translated” into action that can play a valuable role in your personal wellness journey.
These scores incorporating both pro- inflammatory & anti-inflammatory activities of microbes allows us to decode specific sources of inflammation & address them through mechanisms of action in form of unique dietary recommendations.
With our new algorithm as described above, you can now have access to following functional scores:
Score related to single activity markers include:
- Methane gas production
- Ammonia gas production
- H2S gas production
- Bile Acid Metabolism
- Oxalate Metabolism
- LPS production
- TMAO production
- Uric acid production
- Salt Stress
- Putrescine production
- Butyrate production
Score related to multiple activity markers include:
- Inflammatory Activity
- Protein Fermentation
- Digestive Efficiency
- Intestinal Permeability
- Metabolic Health
- Overall gas production
- Gut Wellness Score
Your food recommendations unique to your individual biology would be driven by the level of scores for each of these functional activities.
When you retest your gut microbiome, you can compare your current functional score with previous ones to determine how your food recommendations have reduced/eliminated dysregulations in biological functions.
Let us discuss each one of them
- Methane Gas Production: This score assesses activities taking place inside the gut that results in release of methane gas in the gut. This kind of activity when at a high frequency, can lead to motility issues, can kick start onset of digestive disorders & can even lead to leaky gut. A low score is considered to be good & means that the digestive system is performing all normal biological functions.
- Ammonia Gas Production: This score evaluates activity of microbes living in the gut that leads to production of ammonia. Ammonia can be made from amino acid as a byproduct of breakdown of protein or from ingested nitrate of nitrate molecules found in products such as preservative foods, additives, preserved meat & dried fruits. A high production of this gas reflects an abnormal level of pro-inflammatory activity which can harm gut lining & can even lead to leaky gut. This also reflects slow food motility & the fact that protein is either not digested properly or the customer is consuming protein during evening/last meal. A low score is considered to be good & means that activity of ammonia production is low.
- H2S Production: This score assesses all activities of microbes living in the gut that leads to production of hydrogen sulphide gas in the gut. H2s can be made from some proteins that contain sulphur amino acids from ingested sulphate, sulphite molecules/preservatives found in dried fruits & frozen meat, alcoholic beverages & even saturated fats. When H2S activity is high ( colon pH level is Alkaline), it can lead to pro-inflammatory activity which can harm/weaken our gut lining & create situations of leaky gut. A high level of H2S can also lead to Chronic Diarrhea, fast gut transit time & even Ulcerative Colitis. A low score is considered to be good.
- Bile Acid Metabolism: This score assesses the levels of activity of all metabolic pathways that include bile acids. Normally bile acids are made by the liver to help with fat digestion. Bile acids enter the colon in the form of bile salts. Your gut microbiota can change them back into bile acids, after which they can even be recycled back to the liver. If this activity is relatively high or excessive, it may be an indicator of your inability to break down fat or absorb nutrients properly, which can contribute to a pro-inflammatory environment or negative liver-related effects, as the microbiome’s bile acid pathways have been implicated in fatty deposits in the liver. A good score means these pathway activity levels are low in your sample.
- Oxalate Metabolism: This score assesses activities of all microbes living in the gut that results in detoxifying oxalate. High level of circulating oxalate in the bloodstream results in kidney stones. Oxalate neutralising microbes can help you detoxify oxalate that you ingest from your food. A good score means oxalate detoxifying microbes are high in your current microbiome profile.
- TMA Production: This score assesses all metabolic activity that results in production of Trimethylamine(TMA). TMA is a molecule that gets converted into Trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) in the liver. It is this TMAO that creates plaque in arteries & increases risk of cardiovascular diseases. The biggest sources for the release of TMA by our gut microbes are Choline & Cartenine. To arrive at a score, we have developed our custom pathways covering the level of TMA production. Unique level of pathway activities helps us understand your overall biology & biological functions taking place inside your body & address your health concern with personalised recommendations for food. A low score means TMA production is low.
- LPS Production: This score measures production of lipopolysaccharides(LPS) in the gut. LPS is a proinflammatory molecule that gut microbes make which can trigger an immune system response specifically if it passes to the bloodstream through gut lining. LPS is a fairly large molecule and should not be able to pass through the gut lining into the bloodstream to circulate the body if the intestinal barrier is strong. So, if a person has a strong mucosal layer and intestinal lining—that is helpful for mitigating the negative effects of producing too much LPS. If someone has high Uric Acid or Oxalic acid metabolism foods such as high in preservatives, protein & even Spinach, it can stimulate increased LPS production. This score is important in assessing inflammatory activity patterns. A low score is considered to be good & means LPS production is low.
- Uric Acid Production: This score assesses the level of activity of microbes in the gut that result in uric acid production. Uric acid is a byproduct that comes from consumption of purines which is generally found in beer, sugary soda, seafood, turkey, bacon & organ meat. Excessive Uric Acid Production can contribute to gout & impact our bone health & can even lead to Osteoporosis. A low score is considered to be good & means that uric acid production is low.
- Salt Stress Score: This score assesses excessive salt in the gut environment. This means that an individual needs to adjust its salt/sodium intake & hydration levels. Too much salt for the gut microbiome makes the environment of the gut microbiome less favorable for some beneficial microbes. A low score is considered to be good & means that microbial salt stress is low.
- Putrescine Production: This score assesses the levels of activity of all microbial activities related to putrescine production. Putrescine is a molecular byproduct of protein fermentation – a microbial breakdown of protein. If the activity of this activity is high, it can be harmful to the gut environment and the intestinal barrier lining.
- Butyrate Production: This score assesses all biochemical activities that promote production of beneficial nutrients- Butyrate. Butyrate is an essential short chain fatty acid that impacts various areas including gut lining, insulin sensitivity, satiety level, hormonal balance, metabolism & production of various neurotransmitters. A low score essentially means that this particular beneficial nutrient production needs a boost. A high score is considered to be good & means that body has enough butyrate production.
- Inflammatory Activity: This score measures the activities of your microbes that can contribute to or reflect inflammation in your gut. Inflammation in your gut can be caused by harmful things your microbes produce when you are either inefficiently digesting your proteins, have excessive microbial gas production, feeding more of pathogens in your gut rather than beneficial folks or food you are feeding your microbes with them are being fermented into harmful byproducts. A suboptimal score means there are more pro-inflammatory activities & it needs improvement. This also means that some of the recommendations would focus on suppressing pro-inflammatory activities while others would focus promoting anti-inflammatory activities.
- Protein Fermentation: This score indicates whether your body is digesting protein properly. The digestion of protein begins the moment you start chewing it & continues down to the stomach. If protein is not fully broken down in the process due to high protein content in your last meal, low stomach acid or if you are consuming too much protein, gut microbes will ferment the excess protein & release harmful byproducts. High protein fermentation means your score is sub-optimal which needs to be improved, translating into inefficient digestion of protein.
- Digestive Efficiency: This is a complete analysis of microbial reflection of your gastrointestinal tract functions. This score consists of multiple activity patterns related to digestion such as movement of food, specific macro breakdown ability & your gut transit time. If this score is low, it means your digestive system needs support & changes in food that is consumed to feed microbes living in the large intestine. To arrive at a score, we combine multiple functional activities, each one having an individual score contributing to integrated health but with a specific level of impact. This is based on scientific research, phenotype information & information from your biological testing.
- Intestinal Permeability: This score assesses strength of gut lining or intestinal barrier & mucosa layer that protects it. When gut lining is compromised, things from the outside environment such as toxins, medications, harmful bacteria & even food particles can enter the bloodstream from the gut & can negatively impact the immune system. A high score is good & means that biochemical activities are supporting strength of gut lining & there are very few harmful microbes present.
- Metabolic Health: This assesses activities associated with blood sugar, insulin resistance & weight control. A good score means that your metabolic health is top notch & you have less to no chances of developing diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance or PCOS.
- Overall Gas Production: Overall gas production is associated with digestive difficulties, discomfort bloating, constipation & inflammation. It consists of Ammonia, Methane & H2S gas production. To arrive at a score, we have developed our custom pathways covering three harmful gas production. A low score indicates that gut microbes are not involved in gas production functions. Unique level of pathway activities helps us understand your overall biology & biological functions taking place inside your body & address your health concern with personalized recommendations for food.
- Gut Wellness Score: This score assimilates 17 gut functional scores as discussed above. When this score is low, it means that gut microbiome may be producing harmful byproducts such as methane gas, H2S gas, Ammonia gas, LPS that are causing inflammation or not producing enough nutrients that body needs such as Butyrate, Serotonin & other vitamins & antioxidants.
Based on these scores, we map microbial activities & phenotype information with molecules in the food to provide unique food recommendations to address an individual’s dysregulation in biological functions by suppressing pro-inflammatory harmful activities & promoting beneficial anti-inflammatory activities.
These recommendations are categorised into
- Foods to be consumed frequently,
- Foods to be consumed in moderation
- Foods to be minimised
- Foods to be avoided
These recommendations:
- Fuel microbes known to produce beneficial compounds or nutrients
- Encourage your microbes to metabolize compounds in beneficial byproducts that provides required nutrients to the body
- Minimize foods that may be metabolized by your microbes into potentially harmful byproducts.
- Facilitates stabilizing blood sugar level
- Strengthens gut lining
- Promotes production of serotonin & strikes hormonal imbalances
- Avoid compounds in a certain food that is unfavorable to your microbiome and gut integrity
A food may be beneficial for specific microbiome functions based on the necessary nutrient(s) content. However, if there are any health conditions inferred from the Phenotype assessment form, then the food may go on “Minimize” or “Avoid” list. The main reason we take phenotype information into account is to assure we do no harm while we address dysregulation in an individual’s unique biology.
We are sure that this new algorithm, the first one in India, will give you never-seen insights & help you deep dive into dysregulation of biological functions to take corrective action through molecular intervention via food recommendations given by us & kick out chronic illness from your life dictionary.
To hop on this life changing journey, sign up for our UP THE GUT solution here or sign up for a free discovery call here.
