Listen to your microbiome, transform your health

The reliability of gut microbiome tests has exponentially thanks to next-generation sequencing technology. At Vivabioma, we use Shotgun technology, which analyzes the entire ecosystem of the stool sample, offering significantly higher accuracy than traditional methods. However, it is vital to understand that the results are a "snapshot" of your ecosystem at a specific moment in time. Reliability also lies in the use of kits with stabilizing liquid, which protect the sample from degradation during shipping. Although it is not a direct clinical diagnostic tool for acute diseases, it is a scientific resource of enormous value for understanding trends, imbalances, and the functional health of your digestive system over the long term.

Of course! It is a safe and non-invasive test, ideal for monitoring the first years of life, a key period where the foundations of the immune and metabolic systems are established. However, it is important to highlight that a baby's microbiome is much less heterogeneous than an adult's. Being an ecosystem in full formation and still lacking diversity, some specific indicators or reports included in the standard test cannot be generated, as they would have no scientific validity or clinical utility at such an early stage. Despite this technical limitation, the test offers a fundamental starting point for understanding your child's health and guiding their nutrition with a solid scientific basis while their microbiome gains complexity.

The difference is comparable to identifying a forest from a plane (16S) versus studying each tree and its fruit (Shotgun). The traditional 16S method only analyzes a specific gene to classify bacteria, losing a lot of information along the way. Vivabioma's Shotgun metagenomic sequencing sequences all available DNA. This allows us to identify not only bacteria, but also fungi, viruses, and archaea with full species and strain resolution. Additionally, Shotgun reveals the functional capacity of your ecosystem: it allows us to see if your bacteria can produce vitamins or neurotransmitters like GABA, and analyze the "Resistome" to know your level of antibiotic resistance. It is the most complete tool available in science today.

It is essential to clarify that this test does not replace a traditional medical diagnosis, but complements it with an unprecedented layer of personalized information. The clinical importance lies in prevention and precision medicine. Your results reveal predispositions to inflammatory processes, intestinal permeability problems, or metabolic inefficiencies that often go unnoticed in common blood tests. For a health professional, having a map of your microbiome is like having a blueprint of your internal engine: it allows for much more specific adjustments to diets, supplementation, or treatments, avoiding trial and error and addressing the root of many chronic problems, both digestive and systemic.

The microbiome is a living and sensitive ecosystem. The most drastic factor is the use of antibiotics, which can alter the composition for months. However, everyday elements also influence it: your daily diet (fiber, fats, processed foods), the level of chronic stress through the gut-brain axis, sleep quality, and physical exercise. Even alcohol consumption, tobacco, or geographical changes affect your bacteria. That is why it is vital to collect the sample at a time of relative "normality" and avoid doing so during acute infections or immediately after intense pharmacological treatments, unless the goal is precisely to measure the impact of said intervention on your intestinal ecosystem.

Absolutely. As we have explained, the microbiome is a changing environment. A one-time test tells you where you are today, but tracking is what allows you to evaluate your evolution and the success of your habit changes. Is that probiotic you're taking actually colonizing? Is your new diet increasing your bacterial diversity? Without a second or third test, you can only guess. The true power of Vivabioma lies in recurrence: comparing your reports over time to verify if you are correcting a dysbiosis or if your immune system is strengthening. It is the difference between seeing a single photo and understanding the complete movie of your health, allowing you to adjust your lifestyle with real data.