If one analyzes the microbiome, the trillions of microorganisms living in the digestive system, can a person construct the ultimate weight-loss diet?
That’s the promise of several new startups, which say the microbiome knows what the body wants and needs to optimize its chances for the healthiest lifestyle, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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In determining the perfect nutritional plan, everyone has a unique set of microbiomes that respond to food differently, the companies say.
To study your own microbiome, acquire a home kit with a companion application. Companies like Zoe, which explains to each customer how different foods affect their own blood sugar, blood fat and the gut microbiome, need stool samples or blood samples and may require subjects to take individualized diet supplements.
The companies, which also include Viome, Biomes and DayTwo, say the kits can reduce inflammation, enhance dissolution and resist autoimmunity, all in conjunction to weight loss.
The companies collect genetic information they say they hope will one day be used to study diseases.
“It’s really important to break the mold about what we’ve been told about nutrition,” Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and director of the Twins U.K. study, told the Journal. He is also the founder of Zoe.
Low-calorie, low-fat and “eat-this-not-that” approaches aren’t working, Spector says. When it comes to nutrition, “we’ve had a lot of amazing advice that’s gotten us nowhere.”
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