What is measured
- Bacterial composition: which groups are abundant and which are sparse
- Diversity: how many different types are present
- Related markers reported by the laboratory, read against your symptoms
This differs from a stool test for infectious organisms or for H. pylori. Both use a stool sample, but they answer entirely different questions.
How the test is done
You collect the stool sample at home with the kit provided, then send it to the partner laboratory.
Avoid collecting within four weeks of antibiotics, because the profile will show the effect of the medicine rather than your usual state. Recent travel, food poisoning and a bout of diarrhoea also shift the result.
Note what you ate in the days before collection. Short-term diet changes the profile, so that context is needed when the report is read.
How results are read
There is no single microbiome profile universally accepted as healthy.
The field is young. Research shows patterns associated with certain conditions, but association is not cause, and two healthy people can have very different profiles. Laboratory reports often come with a score and automated recommendations. We read the underlying data against your symptoms and do not take that score at face value.
The real value shows up on repeat. One profile gives a baseline, and a second profile months later shows the direction of travel. That is more meaningful than a single snapshot.
