What your gut reveals about you.

We analyse the composition of your gut flora from a stool sample. Four things are central. First, microbial diversity, since high diversity is regarded as a marker of a resilient gut. Second, the ratio of bacterial groups to one another and whether individual strains are notably over- or under-represented. Third, the short-chain fatty acids butyrate, propionate and acetate, the metabolic products through which the microbiome acts on the gut lining and on inflammation. Fourth, indications of overgrowth, for example by yeasts. You do not receive the result as a raw data set but medically interpreted and placed in the context of your other findings.

You take the sample at home, not at the clinic. You receive a kit with tubes, instructions and return packaging. Collection itself takes a few minutes and is straightforward. Two points matter for a usable result: the sample should reach the laboratory promptly, and it should not be taken directly after a course of antibiotics, because the microbiome remains altered for weeks afterwards. As a rule of thumb we advise an interval of at least four weeks. An acute gastrointestinal infection also distorts the picture. If either applies to you, let us know and we will postpone collection rather than produce a result that says nothing.

The practical benefit lies mainly in nutrition. If the analysis shows that your diversity is low or that short-chain fatty acid production is weak, that can be addressed specifically through fibre, fermented foods and the variety of plant sources in your diet. A second application is symptoms without a clear diagnosis, such as bloating, intolerances or recurring digestive problems, where a look at composition can offer a lead. And because the microbiome responds to dietary changes within weeks, it works as a parameter to track over time. What you do not get is a list of foods to avoid. The evidence is not solid enough for that.

Restraint is warranted here, because a great deal is promised in this field. There is as yet no generally accepted definition of a healthy microbiome against which your result could be compared. Composition varies widely between people, between regions and even within the same person over time. A finding therefore permits no diagnosis: it cannot establish depression, autoimmune disease or obesity, and the direction of causality is unresolved, since illness often changes the microbiome rather than the other way round. Personalised probiotics based on such profiles are also not sufficiently evidenced. We use the analysis as a supplementary building block, not as a diagnostic tool.

The microbiome analysis is part of the Ultimate program, which costs 16,900 euros and bundles the most comprehensive diagnostics at YEARS. There it sits alongside medical genomics, epigenomics and around 230 laboratory biomarkers. It is not included in Core at 1,900 euros or Evolve at 7,600 euros. That is a deliberate decision: a microbiome finding only gains value once it sits next to inflammatory markers, metabolic values and your dietary history. Viewed in isolation it remains hard to interpret. If gut health is your main concern and a full program does not fit, raise it with us in the free intro call. We will tell you honestly whether the analysis is the right route for your question at all.