Overview
- Products: Gut Microbiome Test (snapshot), Gut Microbiome Test (Time Lapse)
- Cost: Gut Microbiome Test (snapshot) – $138, Gut Microbiome Test (Time Lapse) – $416
- Reports: Gut Health Report
- Raw data access: Yes
- Privacy: Biomesight claims not to sell or give any of your information to third parties for any purpose.
- Alternatives: SelfDecode – The best option for health-focused DNA analysis with personalized reports, symptom analysis, and health recommendations.
Pros
- Personalized nutrition and probiotic recommendations
- Free shipping to the UK and US
- Downloadable reports can be further analyzed by your own specialist
Cons
- Stool samples can be difficult and awkward to obtain
- The microbial analysis only provides information about the type of bacteria present in your microbiome.
About Biomesight
Biomesight is an AI-driven wellness analytics platform with a primary focus on the gut microbiome as a leading indicator of wellness. The company was founded in October 2019 and is based in the UK.
Rose Walbrugh, the CEO & Founder, is a senior technologist & serial entrepreneur with 20 years of experience across software, cloud & machine learning technologies. Biomesight’s lab is located in Culver City, California.
Review of Biomesight Products & Features
There are two test kits available on their main site’s shop, the Gut Microbiome Test (snapshot) and the Gut Microbiome Test (Time Lapse).
The Biomesight snapshot microbiome test provides a snapshot of the gut microbiome utilizing 16S rRNA sequencing technology. This method allows you to receive a count and relative abundance percentage of the bacteria in your microbiome, ranging from Phylum down to the species level.
The Time Lapse version contains 3 individual Gut Microbiome (snapshot) Tests, allowing you to test at 3 consecutive points and track progress over time.
Biomesight provides an interpretation using Dr. Jason Hawrelak’s recommended ranges for a subset of key bacteria (Probiotics, Commensals and Pathogens). Dr. Hawrelak is considered one of the leading experts in the treatment of gastrointestinal conditions with natural medicines.
Also provided are a scoring system, diversity calculation, and personalized recommendations for food, prebiotic supplements, and lifestyle adjustments based on up-to-date research findings, which are not included in the reports.
Review of Biomesight Reports
Results are viewed online on the Biomesight web app with an overall gut wellness score. The score is a summary of 4 sections: diversity, probiotics, commensals, and pathobionts. The company also lets you download your raw data.
Gut Wellness Score
Selecting a particular gauge leads to a sub-report, with detailed metrics. For example, in the probiotics section, all the probiotics ranges are listed and you can see how your results compare to the ‘ideal’ ranges. Biomesight is using Dr. Hawrelak’s ranges as a starting point and they intend to continue revising these as the research in the field progresses.
Bacterial Listing
Expanding each bacteria listing provides a detailed description of the bacteria as well as food and prebiotic recommendations for increasing or decreasing the particular bacteria.
General and Prebiotic recommendations
The prebiotic recommendations consist of some that are easier to find than others. The food recommendations mostly consist of foods that are easy to find in local shops, but it is made clear that not all the food recommendations are necessary to realize the benefits.
Advanced Results
The Taxonomic Relative Abundance by Species table shows you how common or rare a bacterium species is relative to other species in your gut.
Taxonomic Relative Abundance by Species
You can use the timeline which allows you to filter by microbe, as seen below. This is particularly useful when comparing results over time, and can even take into account the data you upload from other microbiome testing providers.
Timeline Comparison
Cost of Biomesight
The Gut Microbiome Test (snapshot) is $138, and the Gut Microbiome Test (Time Lapse) is $416. Shipping is free to the US and UK. A more detailed analysis of your report data by a specialist is not included.
You can book a session with an independent practitioner from within the web app for an additional fee. Prices and session duration are displayed beneath each picture and description. Independent practitioners are accredited therapists or citizen scientists, familiar with gut microbiome tests such as Biomesight.
Health Recommendations from Biomesight
The general recommendations given in each section of the web app are limited in nature. Depending on the section you are viewing, you will be shown basic food, probiotic, or exercise recommendations. Only your microbiome results are used to make these recommendations, as they do not take into consideration any other health indicators.
Review of Biomesight Privacy & Data Security
Biomesight collects a wide range of data from all of their customers, including sensitive personal information obtained from their mandatory questionnaire. The company claims that the results of a customer’s analysis will never be shared with a third party without consent.
SelfDecode vs Biomesight
- SelfDecode delivers natural supplement, diet, and lifestyle suggestions based on your genes that you can implement right away. Biomesight suggestions are based on analysis of your gut microbiome rather than a more holistic approach.
- SelfDecode tells you why they make each recommendation so that you can understand the science behind the suggestion. Biomesight does not explain the science behind their suggestions.
- SelfDecode prioritizes recommendations based on their analysis of all the relevant genes instead of one gene at a time (through reports). Biomesight displays general recommendations for each section and topic.
- SelfDecode takes a holistic approach to give recommendations that are best for your genes AND the health topic. Biomesight gives general, rather than holistic, recommendations under each section.
- SelfDecode has the world’s first and only personalized genetics blog that allows you to get new gene-based recommendations daily. Biomesight does not offer a personalized blog at this time.
- SelfDecode is the most comprehensive and looks at more genes & SNPs (over 150,000) to deliver the best analysis of genetic risks. Biomesight looks at the bacterial count of your microbiome to determine health indicators.
- SelfDecode supports everything with peer-reviewed scientific studies in their research and checks for contradicting information. Biomesight does not list scientific studies in their reports.
- SelfDecode never sells your data or gives it away. Biomesight claims not to sell or give any of your information to any third parties for any purposes.
Comparisons
SelfDecode | Biomesight | Nutrahacker | Viome | |
| Personalized & holistic health recommendations | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Personalized blog posts | Yes | No | No | No |
| Products | DNA testing, wellness reports, research-based personalized blog posts, health recommendations, patient and provider options | Gut microbiome testing, gut health report | DNA analysis, basic and limited health recommendations | Gut intelligence report, health intelligence report, nutrition and supplement recommendations, supplement offerings |
| Raw data access | Yes | Yes | N/A | No |
| Cost (USD) | $97 – $389 | $138 – $416 | $0 (limited) – $85 per report | $0 (limited) – $700 |
Biomesight Reviews
Amazon – 8 Customers Average Rating of Gut Microbiome Test – 4.7 of 5 stars
The majority of the customers on Amazon praised the test kit’s ease of use, and the actionable information provided by the gut test results.
Trustpilot – 8 Users Average Rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars
Trustpilot users rated Biomesight’s customer service and report information very highly. Most of them felt that the recommendations led to their better overall health.
Alternatives to Biomesight
SelfDecode: The best option for health-focused DNA analysis with personalized reports and recommendations to improve your quality of life.
Biomesight Review Summary
Biomesight offers a quick overview of your gut health and includes easy to follow recommendations. It’s also a great service for someone who wants to do their own research and use Biomesight’s tools for analysis. These advanced tools may not appeal to everyone, but Biomesight has a significant offering for the citizen scientists out there.
Biomesight’s health recommendations are limited to the findings of your microbiome analysis. To get more complete and personalized reports, additional health indicators should be considered.
An alternative such as SelfDecode provides you with science-backed and comprehensive holistic health reports based on your DNA in addition to a personalized genetics blog to help you take control of your health. Check out our Gut Report, one of over 30 customized DNA Wellness Reports available with SelfDecode.