61: Gut Microbiome Analysis Powered by AI: Testing My Gut Health & Inflammation

61: Gut Microbiome Analysis Powered by AI: Testing My Gut Health & Inflammation

Michael Kummer: Today, I'm diving into a topic that for many of us holds far more significance than we might realize, our gut microbiome. Think about this for a second. Inside your body, there's an entire ecosystem, an invisible universe of microorganisms that play a critical role in how you feel, how your body processes food, and even how your immune system functions.

It's like the hidden control room of our bodies, making decisions on digestion, inflammation, and more. But here's the question, how much do you actually know about the microorganisms living in you?

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Michael Kummer: That's where things get interesting. I recently used a platform called Jona, an AI powered analytics platform that doesn't just give you basic data on your gut microbiome.

It uses all available scientific research to provide unique, Actionable insights into your gut microbiome, and I'm excited to share with you my experience with it. So, what makes Jonah different? Well, traditionally microbiome tests tend to be limited. They give you a surface level view listing a few microorganisms, throwing in some generic recommendations like eat more fiber, and calling it a day.

But Jona does much more than that. It's a platform powered by artificial intelligence trained on an expansive library on scientific research about the human gut microbiome. This allows you to give you insights that are much more aligned with your personal lifestyle and health status. For example, Jonah doesn't just tell you what's in your gut, it connects those findings with current research showing you what certain microorganisms are known to do and how they could be impacting your health.

It goes deeper than recommending dietary changes. It equips you with the knowledge to make decisions whether or not you follow traditional dietary advice. And that's a big advantage over most of the testing kits out there. So what did Jona find in my gut? Let's dig in and find out. Now, according to my results, I have 246 different microorganisms living in my gut.

Some of them are in incredibly high abundance. Like, you know, 90 plus percentile of a quote unquote healthy population. Now, if you're like me, you're thinking, well, is that normal? Well, everyone's gut microbiome is unique, but here is what's fascinating. Among those microorganisms was one pathogen, Clostridium perfringis.

Now, this is a bacteria that can cause Issues, gut issues in particular, especially in higher amounts. But here's the kicker. It hasn't caused any issues for me. And that's likely because it's just reflecting my macro biome, meaning the environment that I live in. And since I raise livestock and I'm around animals a lot, and you know, I get some of their germs.

into my mouth and my microbiome, um, those kinds of pathogens show up. Um, and that doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with it. I don't have any symptoms whatsoever. And I actually talked to Jonah's chief medical officer and he said, well, you know, uh, that type of bacteria. Um, is found in livestock and in the amounts that I have it in my gut, if I don't have any issues, you know, or any, any symptoms, I should say, then it's not an issue.

It's simply a reflection of the environment that I live in. And, you know, that's something Jonah helps you understand. It gives you context to your results, and it even links out to relevant studies. So you can learn more and have a more fruitful discussion with your health care provider, if necessary, you know, if there is something wrong, if you have already symptoms, if you have already diagnosed conditions and Chona kind of maps them together and provides a, a link between your microbiome and those conditions, then you can take that back to your healthcare professional and say, Hey, you know, this is what we found, you know, what can we do?

to maybe support the healing process. Another interesting finding, the only probiotics in my gut are from fermented dairy products like kefir and cheese, and this again aligns with my diet, which is largely animal based, uh, and supports the idea that what I eat directly impacts the composition of my gut flora.

You know, I don't eat a whole lot of plants and quote unquote probiotics to feed the good bacteria in my gut. And so. As a result, you don't find any of those probiotics or most of those probiotics in my gut either. Now here is where it gets really exciting. You know, many of the microorganisms that are in high abundance in my gut have anti inflammatory properties.

And so this might explain why my inflammatory markers are so low. Specifically my CRP is always below 0. 3. That's incredibly low and it's likely thanks to these microorganisms working behind the scenes to keep inflammation at bay. And it's one of those times where the science really lines up with how I feel on a day to day basis and you know what the markers in my blood show as well.

Now, one of the findings from the Jonah analysis was that I like a lot of the plant, uh, fiber digesting bacteria that are typically found in people who consume more fiber. And this is again, a reflection of my diet, which is relatively low in plant matter. It's something I've always known, but seeing it laid out in scientific terms really drives home the idea that your microbiome is a mirror.

of your, not only a dietary lifestyle, but really the environment that you live in. And there is a lot of control you have over it. So you can make changes and, you know, see how that impacts your, the composition of your gut flora by taking those tests. Not once, but maybe every once a year or once every six months to kind of see how you can shift that composition to your benefit.

Now first, uh, my gut microbiome is a direct reflection of the environment and diet, right? Raising livestock, being outdoors, having dirty hands all the time, and following an animal based diet have shaped what microorganisms thrive in my gut. And it's fascinating to see that Connection so clearly. Second, even though I consume dairy, I am not particularly good at adjusting lactose.

And this was something I suspected because I do very, very well with fermented dairy like kefir, but less well, I feel some mild discomfort when I just drink milk, even if it's raw milk. And Jonah confirmed. That by, you know, telling me very clearly that I don't have a whole lot of lactose Digesting and metabolizing bacteria in my gut and that's likely why I have this problem some symptoms when I consume raw dairy, for example, or just dairy that's not been fermented first.

And finally, Jonah is an excellent tool for understanding the composition of your microbiome and its potential effects on your health. You know, it's not a medical diagnosis by any means, but it's a powerful resource to consider when thinking about potential Interventions like dietary changes and this is especially valuable for anyone who suffers from specific health conditions Or is just looking to optimize their gut health now with jonah You can fill out a survey before or you know while you're waiting while you wait for the test results You know, you can already tell jonah if you have certain conditions if there are certain symptoms Um, like, you know, if you have a lot of anxiety, if a lot of stress, you know, I just selected a lot of the things that I sometimes feel, you know, sometimes I'm stressed, obviously, sometimes I feel anxious, sometimes I am bloated, especially when I eat things that I'm not supposed to, you know, so nothing really surprising, nothing really, um, that I suffer from on a consistent basis, but I just throw everything, you know, in that could potentially be going on to kind of see how Jonah responds and how it correlates Those symptoms, those self reported symptoms with the composition of my gut and what recommendations it would give me to, you know, potentially fix those or mitigate those issues.

If there were something that I, you know, that I was suffering from on a daily basis, which fortunately I'm not. And. You know, as with any AI powered platform, there are areas where I didn't completely agree with Jonah's recommendations. For example, since I follow a, an animal based diet, some of the suggestions, like, you know, adding more kale to my diet didn't really quite fit.

Um, however, I spoke with Jonah's founder and, uh, and he mentioned that they are planning to implement the ability to take dietary preferences into account. So in the future, people like me who prefer an animal based lifestyle, won't be getting generic plant based advice. And it's also important to understand is that, you know, if Jonah tells you, hey, you know, eat more kale, that doesn't necessarily mean that, you know, eating kale is good.

It just means that based on the scientific evidence, based on observational studies, in some cases, in some cases, clinical trials, it's really a combination of both. And you have to really look at the, the linked scientific evidence to understand How strong it is. I mean, Jonah gives an indication, it tells you how strong the scientific evidence is for a specific recommendation, for a specific correlation, so you can tell if it's a very weak evidence, if there is emerging evidence, if there is fairly strong evidence, um, and you know, take this into account, but the bottom line here really is that You know, if Jonah recommends eating more kale, it might be because there are studies out there that show, you know, for those who eat higher amounts of kale, have a different or a more beneficial maybe microbiome composition and so you can kind of, you know, assess that recommendation and see if it makes sense for you.

But going forward, I'm super excited if I can tell Jonah, you know, hi, I'm on an animal based diet. You know, instead of recommending me, you know, eat more kale, maybe, you know, maybe it says eat more liver, you know, uh, which in my opinion would be the better recommendation for everyone. But of course, if you're on a plant based diet, you know, the liver recommendation wouldn't really work for you.

So having that context, I think is a really, a really good idea. To wrap things up, I highly recommend Jonah for anyone who wants to get a deeper understanding of their gut microbiome. It provides insights that go beyond what traditional tests offer and connect those findings to the latest research.

Empowering you to make decisions based on, on real science and on obviously how you feel and what makes most sense to you. Now, if you're curious about what's living inside you, this might be the tool to try. If you do, make sure you use code Michael50, that's M I C H A E L 5 0, to get 50 off the MSRP, which is, as of this recording, 4.

85. Thanks for tuning in to this episode. If you found this interesting, make sure to subscribe and stay tuned for more in depth dives into health, nutrition, and the latest scientific tools we have at our disposal. Until next time.