Should You Have Your Microbiome Tested?

Your ​gut and your brain communicate throughout the day. And the trillions of tiny bacteria, viruses and fungi living in your digestive tract — known as your gut microbiome — may influence your mood, cognition and more, according to recent research. Knowing this might lead you to wonder: How healthy is my microbiome? Is there a way to check?

It’s not common for healthcare providers to test their patients’ microbiomes. A doctor might order a stool test to check for infections if a patient comes in with gastrointestinal problems. But these types of diagnostic tests are not intended to give you a comprehensive breakdown of your personal set of microbes.

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​​​You won’t be surprised, however, to learn that the Internet offers plenty of options if you ​have $150 to $400+ to spare. A quick Google search will pull up a dozen or so companies offering at-home microbiome testing kits. They all work roughly the same way: You mail in a ​​​​stool sample, wait a few weeks, and receive a report detailing the composition of your microbiome. Some even come with recommendations on foods to eat or avoid. ​     ​​

​​For the average person, are these kits worth the money? “Probably not,” says ​​​​Chris Damman, M.D., a gastroenterologist at the Digestive Health Center at the University of ​Washington​ Medical Center. “I think they can be fun and interesting, but how actionable they are is questionable.”

There are a few reasons for this. For starters, researchers still don’t know what an ​​​​optimal microbiome looks like — the research isn’t there yet. So while you can find out which microbes are in your gut, you won’t know what the results ​actually ​mean. Not to mention that, by the time you get your report, the composition of your microbiome may have changed; it can fluctuate based on what you’ve been eating ​lately​ and the medications you take, and even whether you exercised or not during the week of your test.

And although there’s a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to the gut microbiome’s role in human health, it’s still a stretch for a company to claim it can give you customized health guidance based on your test results. “We’re still in the very early days,” Damman says.

The bottom line: Save your money. There’s an easy way to support the health and diversity of your gut microbiome without knowing the who’s who of your own personal microbes: Eat a wide variety of plant foods, exercise and spend time outside.