Viome Gut Health Test Review. Are They Worth It?

Viome gut health tests are designed to help you understand the health of your gut and your colon function, through analysing your microbiome.

Its all about improving your digestive health, which contributes to your overall wellness. Its not a food allergy test or food intolerance test – these issues are linked to your immune system, not your microbiome.

These microbiome tests check microorganisms in your sample, and look at the levels of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes, to see what could be a risk to your overall health and wellness.

Highlights:

What Do Gut Tests Do?

The goal of the Viome microbiome test is to help individuals understand the unique balance of microorganisms that live in their digestive system. This community of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes play crucial roles in digestion, immune function, healthy poos and your overall wellness.

Viome's microbiome test specifically analyzes the RNA (ribonucleic acid) of the microorganisms in your gut. RNA testing goes a step further by looking at which microbes are active and what functions they are performing at the time of the sample.

The test results come with personalized dietary and lifestyle recommendations aimed at improving your gut health based on the specific microbes found in your samples.

Is It Worth It?

Its a really detailed report and you get a lot of insights into the different aspects of gut health. Its worth it when you make use of the information and make changes to your diet. So you have to do a bit of work to get the benefits of the report.

Its not like a DNA test where you sit back and read about your history, you get advice and actionable recommendations. So you have to use the results to work on your diet, which helps improve your gut health. There's no other way to get a report like this at this price, so its definitely worthwhile in our opinion.

Gut Health Test Types

Gut Health Test

Full Body Health Test

Gut Intelligence Test: This test is designed to analyze the microbiome in the gut to provide insights and personalized dietary recommendations based on the microbial activity in your gut. The aim is to help improve digestive health, enhance nutrient absorption, and potentially alleviate symptoms associated with various gut-related health issues.

Full Body Health Intelligence Test: This is a more comprehensive test that includes the features of the Gut Intelligence Test but also incorporates genetic testing and analysis of human cellular functions. It evaluates both the microbiome and the host's (the human body’s) cellular health to provide a more holistic view of your overall health.

Choose a Gut Test

Do We Recommend Them?

We do, the sample users appreciated the personalized dietary advice based on their microbiome report. They were impressed with the level of detail in the analysis, which surpassed what they'd experienced with other health tests or even medical consultations in this category. One user said their nightly inflammation had gone and they could finally poo without pain.

Overall, most users found the test insightful and valuable for managing their health, particularly praising its detailed analysis and the actionable recommendations that follow.

The main criticisms, primarily concerned the wait time from sending in samples to getting results back. The site says 3 weeks, the test cases took anywhere between 3-5 weeks. Viome do explain on their site, that RNA sequencing is a longer than average lab process, so these won't be instant like infection blood tests in a hospital.

Viome Testimonials

Top Products:

Taking the samples

Stool and saliva sample was easy
Sample instructions were clear once reading through
There's a lot in the small box, which you need to keep neat when unpacked
The blood sample is a little tricky, a finger prick that you let bleed into a vile
You can overfill the blood as well so don't fill too much

Packing it up

Sending back is a little confusing once you have all the samples, as there's a lot of packets
It's a precise process so needs care and attention, to keep organised
After rereading the documents, the samples were packaged away correctly

Feedback

Reviewing the recent feedback, it's clear that many users find the personalized dietary recommendations valuable and actionable:

Specificity and Personalization:
- Users appreciate the detailed breakdown of food categories such as “avoid,” “minimize,” and “enjoy,” which are personalized based on their microbiome analysis. The reasons for categorizing foods are explained in the report, which helps users understand why certain foods may not be beneficial for them specifically.
Positive Health Outcomes:
- Some users highlight noticeable improvements in health symptoms after following the recommended diet changes. Benefits reported include weight loss, reduced inflammation, fewer digestive issues like bloating and gas, clearer skin, and overall better health.
Usefulness Over Time:
- Some customers conduct the tests periodically to adapt their diets to seasonal changes or to reassess their gut health. They find this approach useful for maintaining optimal health throughout the year.
Comparative Advantage:
- Several users mention that these tests and the resulting dietary recommendations are more helpful than traditional elimination diets or generic health advice because they are tailored to individual needs based on scientific analysis.
Customer Service and Experience:
- Positive experiences with customer service were noted, especially in instances where users needed help with the testing process or had questions about their results. Quick response times and helpful guidance from customer service enhance user satisfaction.
Critical Views and Skepticism:
- Despite many positive reports, some skepticism remains, particularly around the accuracy and specificity of the results. One user felt the results were somewhat generic and questioned the depth of the analysis.

More Info:

The test is only part of the discovery process and you can either act upon the suggestions or just keep them in mind. Personally its too much info to waste on not doing anything, so the subscription is beneficial if you plan on taking the advice on board to make changes to your diet.

Your customized list of over 400 foods is organized into categories based on whether you should avoid, minimize, enjoy them, or consider them as superfoods. This dietary framework aims to optimize nutrient absorption, enhance gut health by promoting beneficial microbes and inhibiting harmful ones, and reduce risks associated with toxic byproducts and “leaky gut.”

The approach is personalized to improve digestive health, manage blood sugar levels effectively, and lower food-related inflammation. It also supports oral health by targeting bacteria linked to things like bad breath and balancing oral pH.

Supplements

Personalized supplement recommendations are uniquely tailored based on your results, health needs, suboptimal health scores, and life stage. The selected ingredients include vitamins, digestive enzymes, polyphenols, amino acids, minerals, herbs, and food extracts.

Each component is chosen to specifically support various health functions crucial for your personal well-being. These recommendations are accompanied by insights to help you understand the importance and impact of each supplement, ensuring that your intake is informed and targeted to your specific health requirements.

Who are we?

We're a bunch of people who buy at-home testing products to review. If they're any good we write about them and publish them on this blog.

We've worked in digital, healthcare and the fitness industry for around 20 years. And now we work in content development, influencer marketing and digital PR in this home wellness and testing space.

We can earn influencer commissions through sales. But only where the purchase is authentic and organic, and of the consumer's own free will.

We're not paid to write positively about a product or brand and we're not employed by any of the brands we work with. We find good products to write about knowing that are writeups can be helpful.