As we launch NEW Viome Precision Supplements™ we have looked around the wellness industry to see how we can improve on the products and services available, and wanted to share why we designed the new supplements service to focus on the individual and their current health at a molecular level.
Are “personalized” supplements truly made for you and your body?
Google “personalized supplements,” and you can find pages and pages of results with companies proposing their supplements as personalized for you.
More often than not, these supplements are automatically selected for you by filling out a quick, 5-minute quiz or questionnaire, with many questions aimed at finding out what your health goals are. Would you like to sleep better? Clearer skin? Better digestion? Stronger immunity? Some supplements help those areas. But asking you a few questions about where you live, what diet you eat, and what areas you’d like to improve doesn’t precisely measure your health. And it doesn’t quite cut it when it comes to giving your body just what you need to support specific areas that need help in functioning optimally for better health.
In fact, many of these companies are selecting only off the shelf capsules, and simply assembling them into packages… this may be slightly more convenient, but is not truly personalized, let alone precise.
What about blood tests?
Another method of personalization is testing your blood to measure levels of a small handful of different vitamins in your bloodstream, like Vitamin D, Zinc, and Magnesium.
While this is a scientific lab test that can show those results, this is not necessarily an indicator of exactly what your body needs at that moment to be healthy. Optimum levels of certain vitamins in your blood don’t automatically equal good health. What about other areas of functionality within your body that may not be optimum such as your gut microbiome health, mitochondrial health (how your cells produce the energy they need to function), cellular senescence (how well your cells are reproducing and dealing with aging), and inflammation in your body?
Can’t DNA show which supplements your body needs?
Various vitamin DNA tests claim to check “genetic markers to determine your need” for certain vitamins, or whether or not you can absorb certain vitamins at 100% efficiency. Not every person on earth needs to absorb all vitamins 100% efficiently—and these companies are still going to the shelf to give you mass-produced vitamins that aren’t made precisely for you.
Your DNA will never change, no matter how many vitamins you take. So it doesn’t make the best sense to use that as your measurement to improve your health. After you answer a questionnaire or even take a blood or DNA test, you are still not given supplements that are made specifically for you. These personalized bottles or packs are assembled from off the shelf, prefab vitamins, in categories or groupings, in predetermined dosages. Not super personal.
Nor does it offer a level of truly precise personalization that gives you just the nutrition you need, and nothing that you don’t.
Why do I need to buy and take so many different supplements?
Since most high quality, natural supplements are often sold in single-ingredient format, getting all of the supplements you really need, in the right dosages, can be difficult. At Viome we know that many people need between 20 and 40 individual supplement ingredients, and multiple probiotic strains and prebiotics to achieve their health goals. Purchasing all of those ingredients separately would be both extremely time consuming and expensive.
The key lies in precisely measuring your health
A much better, and more accurate measurement of your body and its current health is to look at RNA (ribonucleic acid), or what is produced when your genes are expressed (carry out the specific functions they are designed for).
Viome Health Intelligence service uses proprietary testing technology that looks at the RNA (gene expression) in both blood and stool samples, called Blood Transcriptomics and Metatranscriptomics. With Health Intelligence, you measure the health and current functionality of your cells, mitochondria, and gut microbiome to see which specific areas are at less than optimum function and need nutritional help.
What makes Viome Precision Supplements unique?
Precision Supplements are not put together from categories or DNA results. Your precise supplemental formulation is created directly from your body’s health measurements on a molecular level, from over 30 different health scores included with your Health Intelligence test.
When certain scores from your Health Intelligence results are identified as “Not Optimum,” specific nutrition is recommended for each to boost that function, calculated using Viome’s robust AI platform and Bioinformatics technology. Since these nutrition recommendations come directly from your unique health measurements, this is where true precision can be achieved for superior supplemental nutrition.
How do Precision Supplements work?
Once your Health Intelligence results are calculated, a precise formula is designed that is unique to your individual needs in precise dosages, from a menu of over 200 specific strains of probiotics, prebiotics, vitamins, food extracts, minerals, herbs, enzymes, amino acids, and other natural extracts like antioxidants and polyphenols.
Your individual formula is used to create a set of made to order supplement capsules, 8 included in each personalized Daily Precision Supplement pack, and prebiotic and probiotic powder sachets to mix with water, juice, or other cold beverage. Your supplements are packed in a sleek, countertop box, and shipped directly to your door every month. Along with your monthly supplements, you also receive precise food recommendations to additionally boost your personal nutritional needs, through the Viome app.
Viome also lets you see improvements in your health markers and have your supplement formulation adjusted, based on new information, when you retest with Health Intelligence.
Measuring makes the difference
So the difference between general categories of vitamins and supplements and true, precise personalization? Measure. When you precisely measure your personal health, down to the molecular level, only then are you able to get recommendations for the specific health of your body at that moment, to help you feel better, healthier, see the difference when you close that loop by retesting, and see how you, your health markers, and even your Precision Supplements have changed. Our 3-step process of Measure - Nourish - Improve gives you the tools keep up your momentum, and move along on your personal health journey.
Find out more about Viome Precision Supplements and order your test, and your supplements today.
The information on the Viome website is provided for informational purposes only and with the understanding that Viome is not engaged in rendering medical advice or recommendations. Viome provides this educational information to share the exciting developments being reported in the scientific literature about the human microbiome and your health. Viome products are not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
