Back in April I submitted my first uBiome sample and after approximately 3 weeks I got the results back. Here are the results from that sample.
My knowledge in this area is pretty rudimentary, so there’s not much insight I can offer, so I’ll just go ahead and show you what my results are and the recommendations that were provided.
Of course uBiome makes sure that you click on a statement acknowledging that none of the statements made have been evaluated by the FDA and that the results aren’t intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Under the “Insights” tab there are three four main sections: Body weight bacteria match, Probiotics match, Diversity percentile, and Most uncommon bacteria.
Body Weight
It’s nice that they provide a “Take Action” section, where they recommend that I eat more garlic, onion, and bananas since my population of Akkermansia is a whopping 0.00%.
The only reason I’ve heard of Akkermansia is that Grace Liu, Pharm D (@Gut_Goddess) always talks about how amazingly beneficial it is. So now I feel bad because I don’t have any. It’s correlated with reduced inflammation and overall improved metabolic health. I could use both of those things.
Looks like the BJJ Cavewife will have to deal with more garlic and onion breath from me… Lucky her! On the other hand I have a large population of Bacteroidetes, “which is correlated with weight loss and lower body weight.” Hah… jokes on them. My weight has essentially remained the same for the past two years.
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Probiotics
Looks like I have ZERO of the two main bacteria found in probiotics:
Bifidobacterium – which have been “shown to improve gastrointestinal issues.”
Lactobacillus – which have been “shown to improve mental health, including anxiety, and mood, in addition to improving gut health.”
They recommend yogurt with live cultures, probiotics, and fermented vegetables.
Microbiome Diversity
Looks like my gut diversity is in the 28th percentile… which if this were a college class would equate to an “F.”
What can I do?
Eat more fiber and exercise.
Unique Bacteria
Not sure what to do with this information. Should I be proud that my poop has Raoltella which only 1.8% of other samples also have? Is it like I have a rare Pokemon or something? Who the hell knows.
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COMPARISONS:
There’s also a pretty fun function where you can compare your profile to those of others like (omnivores, vegans, vegetarians, paleo, heavy drinkers, antibiotics, weight gain, and weight loss).
Here are just a select few comparisons of my gut biome:
BJJ Caveman vs Paleo
BJJ Caveman vs Weight Gain
BJJ Caveman vs Vegans
Is it just me or do all of these charts look the same?
Final Thoughts
My initial plan was to submit this uBiome sample, and then take the two probiotics Grace Liu recommended for me: Prescript Assist and D-Lactate Free Probiotic Powder, and then retest things while correlating with my cholesterol levels.
Well, I diligently took the probiotics… and then just never got around to doing the uBiome again. This was around the time where I changed jobs, moved across the country, and bought a house, so the last thing on my mind was testing my poop.
Now that things have settled down a bit I’ll be getting back to testing things. I’m not exactly sure what to do next.
I’ve been messing with probiotics alone and haven’t really seen significant correlation between taking probiotics and improving my cholesterol, so I think I’ll step back a little at this point.
I want to see the effects of Berberine by itself on my cholesterol next, so that’s where my next efforts will be directed.
However, I still have 2 extra uBiome kits sitting around, so there will definitely be at least 2 more poop experiments in my near future…
If you’re interested in getting your own uBiome done, you can use this link for 15% off.
A couple of things:
1. I don’t want to admit how stupidly-interesting this is. Please do a follow up “post-treatment” w/ probiotics
2. My pinterest chrome extension amusingly pops up on every one of your images like it really wants me to add your poop bacteria graphs to one of my pinterest boards.
3. There may be some good band names on your unique bacteria chart
Great idea about the band name thing… I’d definitely see a band called “Shuttleworthia”
I think I’ll do the probiotics with followup in a few months! Will keep you posted.
No Bifidobacterium means you have trouble sleeping, don’t you? Low Akkermansia might just mean you took it from the, er, middle of the sample (Akkermansia lives on the outside). Klebsiella makes Vitamin K — interesting you have so much.
Please post the JSON taxonomy files and I’ll tell you more details about your sample (you can find it in the “Advanced/downloads” section of the uBiome Explorer. Then you can look at the experimental species information that uBiome doesn’t report on their main site, and also you can then compare your sample head-to-head with other people.
1. Sleep – I don’t really have problems. I feel good with 6:30 hrs of sleep… anything less and I get cranky. Can’t seem to sleep more than 7 hrs. Are these the symptoms of low bifido?
2. Akkermansia – Middle of sample? Hmmm I honestly can’t remember whether this was in an early wipe, mid wipe, or late wipe sample. For future samples, which would be better? What does living on the outside mean? Outside of what?
3. I will e-mail you the JSON info. Thank you for your help!