Edit A healthy normal microbiota

<div>Unfortunately, at present, the conclusions of these microbiome tests cannot credibly tell you much about your health for the following reasons:</div> <div> </div> <div><strong>1.</strong> There is no single reference range for what constitutes a healthy normal microbiota.</div> <div>Typically, medical tests that evaluate levels of substances which could include vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, hormones, biochemical markers and enzymes are all measured against a known “normal” and healthy reference range – but there is no such standard for the gut microbiota. </div> <div> </div> <div><strong>2.</strong> The clinical microbiome test data will not be specific enough to have any meaning.</div> <div>When considering any particular bacterium, just knowing the group to which it belongs is not detailed enough because within each particular group there are many potential strains – all with their own distinct behaviour and all genetically unique. Some bacteria within the same umbrella group could be advocated as probiotics (healthy bacteria) whereas others can cause debilitating illnesses.</div> <div> </div> <div><strong>3.</strong> Claims that certain gut bacteria increase specific disease risk and that modifying the microbiota can prevent disease is not an established scientific fact.</div> <div>It is recognised that certain diseases are associated with certain signature patterns of gut bacteria but what is not known is whether this is cause or effect. Does the pattern of organisms cause the disease or is the pattern a result of the disease process? Not only is there currently no way of establishing yet whether certain gut bacteria will cause any disease, especially given that other factors are associated with it such as genetics or the environment, there is also no guaranteed way of preventing the disease even if such an association could be proved.</div> <div> </div> <div><strong>4.</strong> There is not yet any proof way that gut microbiota can be modified in a lasting way.</div> <div>It has been established that you can influence your microbiota by modifying your diet – for example switching from a fibre rich plant based diet to one that is high in animal fats and proteins can cause significant change within days – but we do not know which specific foods will change a person’s microbiota down to the species/ strain level.</div>

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