Biomesight Review: Can a Gut Microbiome Test Help You?

Overview

1. Products: Gut Microbiome Test (snapshot), Gut Microbiome Test (Time Lapse)
2. Cost: Gut Microbiome Test (snapshot) – $138, Gut Microbiome Test (Time Lapse) – $416
3. Reports: Gut Health Report
4. Raw data access: Yes
5. Privacy: Biomesight claims not to sell or give any of your information to third parties for any purpose.
6. Alternatives: SelfDecode – The best option for health-focused DNA analysis with personalized reports, symptom analysis, and health recommendations.

Pros

• Nutrition and prebiotic recommendations based on test results
• 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 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.

Their lab is located in Culver City, California. They focus of gut microbiome testing to give customers food and prebiotic recommendations.

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.

Also provided are a scoring system, diversity calculation, and recommendations for food, prebiotic supplements, and lifestyle adjustments based on research findings, but these references 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.

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

Biomesight focuses only on delivering results based on gut microbiome and does not take into consideration other factor that can influence overall health.

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 feature can also 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. The cost for a consultation is upwards of $100.

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.

You can book a consultation with a practitioner to further discuss your results, but this is not included with your test. Independent practitioners are accredited therapists or citizen scientists, familiar with gut microbiome tests such as Biomesight, but there are not many options available.

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. SelfDecode is the most comprehensive and looks at more genes & SNPs (over 83 million) to deliver the best analysis of genetic risks. Biomesight looks at the bacterial count of your microbiome to determine health indicators.
7. 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.
8. 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

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. One user wasn’t impressed with the reports they receive, saying that it wasn’t intuitive and the recommendations weren’t easy to follow.

Trustpilot – 8 Users Average Rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars

Trustpilot users rated the customer service and reports well, although there aren’t many Biomesight reviews available.

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 a few dietary and prebiotic recommendations. Their advanced tools can be a good way to further explore your microbiome results. Since they are not very intuitive, however, these tools may not appeal to everyone.

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, labs, and environmental data. SelfDecode is the only company that uses AI in genomics to provide genetic risk scores and personalized recommendations aimed at improving overall health.

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