Metatranscriptomic Analysis — The Next Frontier in Microbiome Technology is Available Today

May 21, 2018

Metatranscriptomic Analysis — The Next Frontier in Microbiome Technology is Available Today

May 21, 2018

Metatranscriptomic Analysis — The Next Frontier in Microbiome Technology is Available Today

May 21, 2018

Why Viome’s Technology is Superior – Understanding Metatranscriptomic Analysis

Viome’s technology is superior because it captures everything that is happening in the gut microbiome – the key word here is happening. Not only can we identify the teeny tiny viruses, single cell eukaryotes, and elusive prokaryotes that lack a cell nucleus, we can determine the enzymes and other proteins these microbes are producing. This shows us what biochemical pathways are active in all of your gut microbes. Viome follows these pathways, just like trails in a forest, to see where they end up, what stops they make along the way, and whether they end at an amazing view or a dangerous cliff. The pathways are the functions of your microbes – or what they are actually doing in your body. Our technology is capable of seeing such precise detail that we not only see the outcomes of functions, but the process as well. The ability to see every step of a pathway is part of what makes Viome’s technology so powerful.

May 27, 2018

Feel Like Hercules – Hack Your Gut for Optimal Performance

Your gut microbiome is a unique collection of microorganisms that reside in your gastrointestinal tract. These microbes hold powerful sway over your hormones, metabolism, and energy production. This trifecta of influence means your gut microbiome influences the most important elements of your daily performance. From your energy levels, to your motivation, to your mood.

Jun 08, 2018

Fight Dad Bod with Your Mighty Microbes

The dreaded “dad bod” can creep up on us as we age. It seems each year it becomes more difficult to keep stubborn fat away. Looking for solutions, you’ll waste a lot of time reading all of the overwhelming and conflicting dietary advice.

Jun 10, 2018

Why Viome’s Technology is Superior – Understanding Metatranscriptomic Analysis

Viome’s technology is superior because it captures everything that is happening in the gut microbiome – the key word here is happening. Not only can we identify the teeny tiny viruses, single cell eukaryotes, and elusive prokaryotes that lack a cell nucleus, we can determine the enzymes and other proteins these microbes are producing. This shows us what biochemical pathways are active in all of your gut microbes. Viome follows these pathways, just like trails in a forest, to see where they end up, what stops they make along the way, and whether they end at an amazing view or a dangerous cliff. The pathways are the functions of your microbes – or what they are actually doing in your body. Our technology is capable of seeing such precise detail that we not only see the outcomes of functions, but the process as well. The ability to see every step of a pathway is part of what makes Viome’s technology so powerful.

May 27, 2018

Feel Like Hercules – Hack Your Gut for Optimal Performance

Your gut microbiome is a unique collection of microorganisms that reside in your gastrointestinal tract. These microbes hold powerful sway over your hormones, metabolism, and energy production. This trifecta of influence means your gut microbiome influences the most important elements of your daily performance. From your energy levels, to your motivation, to your mood.

Jun 08, 2018

Fight Dad Bod with Your Mighty Microbes

The dreaded “dad bod” can creep up on us as we age. It seems each year it becomes more difficult to keep stubborn fat away. Looking for solutions, you’ll waste a lot of time reading all of the overwhelming and conflicting dietary advice.

Jun 10, 2018

A Suspicious Gut Microbiome: 19 Conditions Linked to Dysbiosis

Your gut can either be a fountain of youth...or the biggest drag on your health. When the ecosystem of 40 trillion microorganisms living in your gut are thrown into chaos, they can wreak havoc on your health. Microbial imbalance or dysbiosis is linked to all sorts of conditions. We aren’t the first to see that the gut is the epicenter of overall health – Hippocrates the ‘Father of Medicine’ famously stated over 2,000 years ago that, “All disease begins in the gut.” This statement is proving to be more true than anyone fully realized.

Jul 09, 2018

How An Unhealthy Gut Microbiome Can Make You Fat

Science continues to prove that the old adage “you are what you eat” is profoundly true. This is because you have trillions of microorganisms living in your gut, which are directly responsible for nearly every aspect of your health. These microbes make up what’s called your, “gut microbiota.” They are especially influential in determining your likelihood of gaining excessive weight, becoming obese, and developing obesity-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and premature death.

Jul 13, 2018

Gas? Bloating? Do Probiotics Help? Gas-X? What to Do for TRUE Digestive Relief

Before you reach for that antacid to stop your heartburn, or Gas-X to alleviate your gas and bloating, pause for a second… because you could actually be making matters worse. How could something that stops your discomfort so quickly end up making matters worse? Well, many common remedies for these types of digestive issues don’t address the root cause of the problem, they just temporarily relieve the symptoms. One example is when we take medications like antacids, they reduce the concentration of hydrochloric acid in our stomachs, which can change the entire environment of the gut.

Aug 30, 2018

Are Antimicrobial Cleaning Products Making Children Fat? New Study Says Yes

Everyday household cleaners may be contributing to obesity in children by altering their gut microbiome, a new study says.

Oct 03, 2018

19 Science-Backed Ways to Improve Your Gut Health

You’ve probably noticed the monsoon of gut health advice flooding the internet. This surge was triggered by the discovery of the gut microbiota – or the 40 trillion microorganisms living in your gut. Researchers continue to uncover how this ecosystem plays a role in nearly every biological function in the body, which makes anyone concerned with their health ask the obvious question: How do you improve gut health naturally?

Oct 04, 2018

The Mind-Gut Connection – How Your Gut Microbiome Controls Your Behavior

The microbes that live in your gut actually influence your feelings and behaviors. Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria and other microbes that directly communicate with your brain along the gut-brain axis, also known as the vagus nerve. We initially thought the brain was doing most of the talking in this relationship, but new gut microbiome research indicates that your microbes are quite chatty.

Nov 30, 2018

Heal Your Heart Through Your Gut: Understanding the Gut-Heart Connection

The old saying may be true, maybe the way to a man’s heart really is through his stomach. Studies show that gut health and heart health are intricately linked and the key to a strong heart might lay within your gut.

Dec 17, 2018

14 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Your Gut Microbiome

Unless you’ve been living on some remote island, without access to the Internet, sipping piña coladas – there is no way you’ve missed all the hype about gut health. It seems every day somebody’s coming out with a new colon cleanse, a gut health reboot, or a fancy new probiotic sure to solve your tummy troubles. Unlike other health fads, the focus on gut health is here to stay!

Jan 31, 2019

Ready for a Retest? 5 Signs You're Ready to Level Up

You did it! You put your Viome recommendations into action. Were you surprised by how following the recommendations made you feel? The good news is there is still room for improvement. Your gut microbiome is constantly changing and when you retest you build on the progress you’ve started.

Dec 10, 2018

A Suspicious Gut Microbiome: 19 Conditions Linked to Dysbiosis

Your gut can either be a fountain of youth...or the biggest drag on your health. When the ecosystem of 40 trillion microorganisms living in your gut are thrown into chaos, they can wreak havoc on your health. Microbial imbalance or dysbiosis is linked to all sorts of conditions. We aren’t the first to see that the gut is the epicenter of overall health – Hippocrates the ‘Father of Medicine’ famously stated over 2,000 years ago that, “All disease begins in the gut.” This statement is proving to be more true than anyone fully realized.

Jul 09, 2018

How An Unhealthy Gut Microbiome Can Make You Fat

Science continues to prove that the old adage “you are what you eat” is profoundly true. This is because you have trillions of microorganisms living in your gut, which are directly responsible for nearly every aspect of your health. These microbes make up what’s called your, “gut microbiota.” They are especially influential in determining your likelihood of gaining excessive weight, becoming obese, and developing obesity-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and premature death.

Jul 13, 2018

Let’s Talk About Depression

It’s estimated that almost 20 million adults in the United States have experienced depression at some point in their life. Although feeling sadness and grief are normal human emotions, experiencing depression can be a life-threatening disorder - including putting your own life at risk. It can feel like living in a tower of solitude, isolated by an overwhelming ocean in a storm with no end in sight. For families, having a loved one suffering from this disease can feel like drowning, without hope in sight for what seems like an impenetrable condition. The economic burden associated with depression each year costs America over 210 billion dollars. That includes lost income at work, to the cost of medication, down to the costs associated with hospital visits. Ultimately, the greatest cost of mental health disorders are the number of lives that are taken each year, too soon.

Aug 19, 2019

Is Gut Imbalance to Blame for Your Hormonal Changes?

Not surprisingly, the man who wrote “women age like fine wine,” forgot to mention the unpleasant changes many women experience as they age. Whereas, we like to believe women enter their more mature years as graceful and radiant creatures, the truth is many women are more likely to be experiencing waves of hot flashes that seem to frequent as quickly as they appear. Although there are many things to appreciate in life as we age - like wisdom and our growing families - mood swings and other biological changes don’t quite make the list.

Sep 13, 2019

10 Things Viome's Gut Test Can Reveal About Your Gut Microbiome

There’s a lot of tests out there that offer personalized diet recommendations. Viome’s food recommendations are supported by an in-depth analysis of your living microorganisms and their behavior on a molecular level. Think of it as the Instagram to your inner world—a snapshot of what’s happening inside your body, and each day we're getting a bigger picture. Curious to know some things this gut test can reveal about you? You may be more than a little surprised by what you find.

Sep 14, 2019

Time to Table the Salt? How Salt May Be Affecting Your Microbiome

When you consume foods high in salt, the food passes through your digestive system and into your intestines, where most of your nutrients are absorbed and released into your blood. Excessive levels of sodium in your bloodstream can have very harmful health effects. It can cause many serious conditions like hypertension, or high blood pressure. Hypertension is known as a silent killer because most people can live for years without experiencing any symptoms. However, if left untreated, hypertension can increase your risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack or stroke. More recently, salt intake has been linked to inflammatory conditions like Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and autoimmune disorders, and now the list even extends to our gut health.

Sep 15, 2019

The Neurodegenerative Disease: Alzheimer’s and the Gut Microbiome

The heartbreak of having a loved one struggle with Alzheimer’s disease comes not only from losing them after a difficult battle, but from watching with devastation as they slowly lose themselves. Alzheimer’s continues to be one of the most under-diagnosed and under-treated diseases in America, costing over 170 billion dollars per year in healthcare costs1.

Sep 01, 2019

Race to 2 Million: Join Us In the Battle Against Chronic Diseases

Viome’s mission has always been to make chronic illness optional – a goal we firmly believe is not only achievable, but within grasp when enough people care to solve the problem. Artificial intelligence requires a massive amount of data in order to identify patterns, especially when you factor in the many different activities that may cause the same disease in different individuals. We’re racing to 2 million gut microbiomes in an effort to unmask the mystery that clouds many chronic diseases including how individualized the activity of one’s gut microbiome truly is. Each month of our Race to 2 Million campaign we focus on a chronic disease and what we’re learning about it in relation to the gut microbiome. For the month of August, we’re zeroing in on depression.

Aug 12, 2019

Healthy Glowing Skin From the Inside Out

At Viome, we talk a lot about your gut microbiome and its role in your health, but did you know that we have a number of other microbiomes found all over our body? The colonies found on our skin make up the skin microbiome, giving us another example of how beneficial microbes are to maintaining our health and wellbeing. These colonies play an integral role in protecting our skin. They shape how our skin looks and feels – acting as protectors of the skin barrier against outside pathogens and toxins.

Sep 16, 2019

The “Superfood” Conundrum: How Someone’s Superfood May Not Be So Super for You

If you follow health trends, you might notice the word “superfood” gets tossed around quite a bit. It seems like every month a new food is deemed super – like quinoa, broccoli, spinach, and blueberries. It’s not hard to see why: these foods are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals - and often times powerful natural anti-inflammatories. But one of the most common mistakes we make is assuming one superfood is a super food for all and frankly, our gut microbiome has its own opinion on that.

Sep 23, 2019

Did You Know Gut Microbes Can Affect Cancer Treatment Response?

The gut microbiome is vital to our overall health – it's part pharmacy, part powerhouse, and part immune system. Scientists have also found that certain gut microbes determine whether or not you'll respond to disease treatments and drugs well. Meaning, one day in the future it could be possible to manipulate the gut microbiome so you respond to treatments better.

Oct 02, 2019

How Viome is Redefining the One-Size-Fits-All Health Industry

Like all revolutions, it started small: research began uncovering how individuals following a “healthy” diet experienced a wide variety of results. As time went on, it expanded as other studies unmasked nutritional status or dietary connections to a variety of diseases. Then came the discovery of the gut microbiome and the essential roles of microbes in digestion. This breakthrough shed light on why many diet trends missed the target for countless seeking weight-loss solutions.

Oct 11, 2019

Gut Health and Cancer

Incidences of cancer in America are on the rise, with your probability of being diagnosed in your lifetime greater than 1 in 3 - a statistic supported by the nearly 5,000 people who are diagnosed with some form of cancer each day. Although the number of cancer deaths has slowly been declining over the last 30 years (thanks to advancements in treatment) cancer mortality is still at nearly 40%, a number that is all too high.

Oct 01, 2019

Recent Links Between The Gut Microbiome and Cancer

Cancer research has come a long way in the last few decades. Although progress is often slow, taxing, and difficult to generate clinical relevance, the studies you read about today may very well be the tipping point for future therapies. Similarly, some studies have shown the gut microbiome may play a pivotal role in how cancerous conditions occur, creating a field of research that has left many scientists excited to explore.

Oct 13, 2019

Meet Your Second Brain: The Gut Microbiome and Your Digestion

If you’re an avid reader of the Viome blog, you might have read some interesting news about the gut-brain axis and mental health and behavior, but you might not realize how connected it is to normal digestion, too. The gut-brain axis is “bidirectional” which means messages and signals are sent both from the gut to the brain via the vagus nerve, and from the brain to the gut. That means, your gut microbes might be telling your brain what to eat, but your brain is also telling your gut when to start digesting and how quickly it occurs. The messages being sent to your GI tract are just as important as the ones being sent from it – but these interactions may affect you in several different ways.

Oct 10, 2019

The Case of the Blood Sugar Disease: A Brief History of Diabetes

Despite how it seems, diabetes used to be a very rare condition. It also represented primarily incidences of type 1 diabetes, over the more common type 2. But rates are climbing with 30 million Americans currently diagnosed with diabetes, and another 84 million right on the cusp of developing it. Between the two, that accounts for more than a third of the American population. It might be near impossible to encounter an adult who hasn’t heard of diabetes.

Nov 01, 2019

Fighting Cookie Season: Sugar and Your Gut

Joining together with friends and family and eating a little extra before the winter-time blues set in is not only normal but can often bring a sense of happiness and contentment. Some of the biggest ways in which people fall off the wagon of their new “trendy diet” are by making extremely stringent dietary restrictions. Viome knows there’s more to health than just a strict diet – it’s about embracing a healthy lifestyle, and sometimes that includes a little flexibility here and there.

Nov 19, 2019

The Gut Microbiome and Sleep: 3 Ways Your Gut Can Impact Your Sleeping Patterns

You’ve heard it in the news and you’ve heard it online – getting more sleep is one of the hottest health trends being talked about. Although making sure you stick to a healthy sleep schedule and aim for 8 hours a day is more than just your typical health “craze”, there is a lot more to managing your night-time routine.

Dec 15, 2019

Celebrating the Greatest Scientific Discoveries of the Last Century

We’re approaching more than just a new year - we are entering a very new decade! The roaring 20’s are back with a vengeance and this time they have a hundred years’ worth of advancements in modern medicine. We thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the greatest scientific discoveries that have happened over the last century and which direction we think science is going in the next decade. In truth, it is nearly impossible to prioritize the best advancement for each decade, but we took our best shot. Take a look at what we picked:

Dec 31, 2019

Why RNA, and Not DNA: How Viome Assesses Microbial Activity

As a health and wellness platform, how we generate our results is a common question among users and the public alike. If you’re considering changing your lifestyle to embrace a healthier diet, it’s important to find a reliable guide you can trust. This is why Viome has worked so hard to develop a novel and scientifically reliable way of analyzing your samples. When we embarked on this path, we sought to ensure we were using state of the art technology. By combining innovative gut microbiome sequencing technology straight from the Los Alamos National Labs with a highly specialized machine-learning model, we’ve created one of the most advanced platforms to analyze your gut microbiome activity. There are many things that set us apart from our competition, whether it be the advanced algorithms we use, our world-class team, or our determination to redefine the healthcare industry. This includes our technology– and why we choose to examine RNA over DNA.

Jan 12, 2020

Gas? Bloating? Do Probiotics Help? Gas-X? What to Do for TRUE Digestive Relief

Before you reach for that antacid to stop your heartburn, or Gas-X to alleviate your gas and bloating, pause for a second… because you could actually be making matters worse. How could something that stops your discomfort so quickly end up making matters worse? Well, many common remedies for these types of digestive issues don’t address the root cause of the problem, they just temporarily relieve the symptoms. One example is when we take medications like antacids, they reduce the concentration of hydrochloric acid in our stomachs, which can change the entire environment of the gut.

Aug 30, 2018

What Your Poop Says About You

For a company that analyzes your gut microbiome based on a sample of your stool, we’ll be the first to admit just how special your poop is. Although you might take your bowel movement for granted, there is an unfathomable amount of information you can gather from it. How you go, how frequently you go, and the appearance of your stool are all things that can say a lot about your digestive health – and it can speak volumes about your overall health as well.

Nov 09, 2020

TMI on TMAO? How Your Diet Impacts Your Heart Health

Americans have been facing an uphill battle against cardiovascular disease for the last forty years. Every 37 seconds, a person dies from cardiovascular disease in the United States, with nearly 650,000 deaths from heart disease each year. A staggering number – translating to nearly 1 in every 4 deaths that can be attributed to cardiovascular events. Yet, there are many ways people can begin to take control over their heart health today. Scientists have found strong associations that dietary and lifestyle changes can significantly strengthen the heart, lessening the impact of many cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Feb 26, 2020

Supporting Your Immunity Through Your Gut Microbiome

The latest science illustrates that our innate immunity relies on a healthy gut microbiome. So, how do you support your gut microbiome to help strengthen your immunity? We asked our scientists, researchers, and physicians at the Viome Research Institute to share the research papers and articles which they have been following on ways to boost immunity and the gut-immune system connection, with links throughout this blog to help you learn more.

Apr 09, 2020

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Bariatric Surgery

There are dozens of ways an imbalanced gut microbiome can affect us, and it varies from individual to individual. Diet, lifestyle, environment, age, gender – all of these can alter the gut microbiome balance. When compromised, the most immediate effects can be seen through our digestion and even heighten our risk for weight gain.

Apr 13, 2020

High-Priced Beauty Products vs. Beauty from the Inside Out

New evidence shows the foods we eat affect inflammation in our body and that skin conditions could be a direct result of this internal inflammation. If saving money on skincare solutions and getting your whole body to work for you in all areas at the same time sounds like a good deal, read on.

Apr 23, 2020

Types of Acne, Treatments, and How Your Gut Microbiome Affects Your Skin Health

May 22, 2020

Hot Dogs and Headaches: Saying ‘NO’ to Migraines

Nothing can be more interrupting in your day than the onset of a painful, light-sensitive migraine. We’ve all been there before - one moment you’re fine and then the next, you feel an overhaul of pressure building along your temples. This pain can be all-consuming. It can leave you debilitated and unable to work, socialize, or do normal daytime activities. Some migraines can last hours, others days. Each person can experience a wide array of other symptoms such as nausea and aches. For most, medications may dull the pain but for many, sleeping seems to be the only respite. But is the answer really in developing stronger pain medications?

Jun 17, 2020

Gut Microbiome Health and Cellular Health are the Keys to Optimizing Physical Performance

It's becoming clear that a cornerstone of great health and stronger immunity is through the right food and nutrition which helps nourish your gut microbiome, as well as your human cells, right down to the mitochondrial and molecular levels. People are becoming more conscious of this relationship. But, lesser-known is that your gut and your cellular health also play a fundamental role in fitness.

Jul 08, 2020

Are Antimicrobial Cleaning Products Making Children Fat? New Study Says Yes

Everyday household cleaners may be contributing to obesity in children by altering their gut microbiome, a new study says.

Oct 03, 2018

19 Science-Backed Ways to Improve Your Gut Health

You’ve probably noticed the monsoon of gut health advice flooding the internet. This surge was triggered by the discovery of the gut microbiota – or the 40 trillion microorganisms living in your gut. Researchers continue to uncover how this ecosystem plays a role in nearly every biological function in the body, which makes anyone concerned with their health ask the obvious question: How do you improve gut health naturally?

Oct 04, 2018

The Mind-Gut Connection – How Your Gut Microbiome Controls Your Behavior

The microbes that live in your gut actually influence your feelings and behaviors. Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria and other microbes that directly communicate with your brain along the gut-brain axis, also known as the vagus nerve. We initially thought the brain was doing most of the talking in this relationship, but new gut microbiome research indicates that your microbes are quite chatty.

Nov 30, 2018

Ready for a Retest? 5 Signs You're Ready to Level Up

You did it! You put your Viome recommendations into action. Were you surprised by how following the recommendations made you feel? The good news is there is still room for improvement. Your gut microbiome is constantly changing and when you retest you build on the progress you’ve started.

Dec 10, 2018

Inflammation, Immunity, and the Gut: Part 1

Viome’s roots originated in the growing evidence that chronic disease stemmed from the gut. You might call it a ‘gut instinct’ but research is constantly unmasking complex relationships between the state of our gut and that of the rest of our body. But how did it start? How does our gut health, and that of our gut microbiome, really impact immunity and chronic diseases?

Oct 15, 2020

Inflammation, Immunity, and the Blood: Part 2

As part of our series on inflammation and disease, we started by learning how systemic inflammation is an overactive immune response generated to help our body fight trauma. We also learned about the close role our gut ecosystem plays on a healthy immune response. And finally, how gut dysbiosis not only impacts normal communications between the two – but how it can lead to the migration of gut microbes into our blood and other tissues.

Oct 20, 2020

What is Prediabetes and What Steps Can You Take To Reduce the Risk?

For the millions living with diabetes mellitus, this time is an opportunity to exchange stories and learn more about the disease that affects 10% of our nation. At Viome, we’re sharing the latest in diabetes research and offering evidence-based tips you can use to optimize your health.

Nov 03, 2020

Heal Your Heart Through Your Gut: Understanding the Gut-Heart Connection

The old saying may be true, maybe the way to a man’s heart really is through his stomach. Studies show that gut health and heart health are intricately linked and the key to a strong heart might lay within your gut.

Dec 17, 2018

10 Things Viome’s Health Intelligence Test Can Tell You About Your Health

In the last few months, we’ve expanded from one single, first-class gut microbiome test into a new and improved therapeutic platform with our new Health Intelligence Test. We’ve integrated new scores on our Viome App that explore new tantalizing results right at your fingertips - quite literally. With a small finger prick sample, we now have the ability to assess your blood transcriptome and get a more in-depth picture of how your gut microbiome is affecting the rest of your body. But what does that really mean for you?

Jan 20, 2021

14 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Your Gut Microbiome

Unless you’ve been living on some remote island, without access to the Internet, sipping piña coladas – there is no way you’ve missed all the hype about gut health. It seems every day somebody’s coming out with a new colon cleanse, a gut health reboot, or a fancy new probiotic sure to solve your tummy troubles. Unlike other health fads, the focus on gut health is here to stay!

Jan 31, 2019

Do you have microbes on your mind?

Welcome to 2021, where we’re finally becoming more open and honest about how we feel when depression rolls in. It may be that our minds are finally becoming more aware of the concept of mental health, or maybe being in a global pandemic has made it a more predominant issue. As we faced a whole new world once COVID-19 hit our shores, mental health around the nation took a steep nosedive. For years to come, researchers will be studying the impact of COVID-19 on mental health long-term, including what supported people during such trying times. How our body responds to external stress can say a lot about our ability to face adversity. But is there a way to make our bodies more resilient to challenges? And can nutrition play a role in how capable you are of overcoming mental health disorders?

May 17, 2021