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I’ve got to admit I’ve been skeptical of probiotics. I have lots of friends that sell them and sing their praises. But I’ve had my doubts and read research debunking probiotics. I think I may have found a way to do a little science experiment to test probiotics out. Follow this story and let me know what you think.
A few months ago I was contacted by a company, Thryve. They offered to send me a test kit to test my gut health. Based on my test results they will send me a probiotic formula to take and recommend foods to eat and activities that will help improve my gut health.
So here’s the catch (or one of them).
The test is…how can I put this nicely? A little dirty. You have to send in a stool sample for the test. I know, I know. Gross right? That’s exactly why it took me so long to send in my test. I seriously left my test box in my bathroom for a month in a half before I got up the courage to get my sample.
I’ve got to say it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Without going into too much graphic detail, you get a very small sample from a piece of toilet paper with a cotton swab stick they send you. You mix it in their formula, seal the bottle, put it in the box and send it on its way. No gross physical contact needed.
I sent my kit and honestly forgot about it until I got my email a month later letting me know my results were in. Even with a good amount of unhealthy eating, my wellness score came it at 76 out of 100. According to their website, people in the western hemisphere generally get lower scores so I was pretty pleased with my results.
What was the outcome?
The report told me which bacteria I was deficient in. Thryve sent me a custom 30 day supply of probiotics based on these deficiencies. I’ve just now started taking these probiotics and will submit a new test after I have finished my probiotics. I’m curious to see if the results improve.
I’ve made other changes as well since my first test. I’ve actually started eating vegetarian. So I’m curious to see if my vegetarian diet decreases or increases my bacteria levels.
What do you think about probiotics? Are they helpful or no? Would you be interested to take a gut health test?
I’ve been considering doing some DNA testing for health (vs ancestry, though that would be fantastic too) and that’s how I found you talking about Thryve. I was looking at a cheek-swab test from BC Canada that’s more about DNA testing, not microbiome per se. Curious if you’ve got any updates? Did you feel any affects from taking the tailored probiotics? Did you have a second test to see if the bacteria in your gut has changed at all? And how’s “going vegetarian” going?