Atlas Biomed Microbiome Test Reviews

Your microbiome, which many scientists now regard as an organ unto itself, comprises the total amount of microorganisms in your body. Specific subdivisions of your microbiome are related to particular body parts or functions. Of these, your gut microbiome may be the most important.

Atlas Biomed is one of a growing number of microbiome testing companies to sell tests directly to consumers. The focus of the company provides: 1. Testing to achieve an understanding of your microbiome and 2. Personalized food recommendations to help optimize your gut microbiome.

Atlas Biomed designs microbiome tests to show the composition of your gut microbiome and assist in determining the most effective dietary changes for improving your overall health. The tests also provide information on which nationality your microbiome most closely resembles. This report summarizes several reviews of experiences with Atlas Biomed’s microbiome test.

More on Atlas Biomed

Atlas Biomed was founded in 2016 by endocrinologist Andrey Perfiliev and current CEO Sergey Musienko. Their DNA and microbiome tests were developed by a team of bioinformaticians, doctors, scientists, and IT experts.

Operating from their headquarters in London, UK, they sell these two types of tests with the aim of enabling customers to take control of their health and promote preventative rather than reactive responses to disease. In terms of shipping, Atlas Biomed ships to 16 countries across Europe and Canada, including Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Russia, and Japan. However, it doesn’t ship to the US. If you are based in the US, you can check out some of the top gut health microbiome tests available by referring to these article links [previous article links].

Something to keep in mind, the scientific and medical evidence regarding the microbiome, microbiome testing, and probiotic supplementation may not fully support all of the claims Atlas Biomed makes about what its tests and diet recommendations can do.

Brand Reputation and Customer Reviews

The company has a track record at Trustpilot, where they get a 4.5 out of 5 stars from 99 current reviews.

How Does Atlas Biomed Protect Your Privacy?

The company website states that they keep your personal data protected at every stage, from ordering the test kit to receiving the results. The Information Governance Policy provides more details on this. User data is securely stored on certified servers located within the European Union. They use SHA-256 with RSA encryption and are fully compliant with UK GDPR and EU GDPR.

Quick Facts on Atlas Biomed Microbiome Test

Offers at-home testing kit
Uses 16s RNA technology to identify gut bacteria
Explains how your diet affects your gut bacteria
Provides personalized food recommendations
Test requires stool samples
Results accessible in a mobile app

How Does Atlas Biomed Work?

Order a test kit: You’ll receive your kit through mail. This summary review focuses on the microbiome test.
Collect sample: You collect the stool sample yourself and place in a tube.
Send back the samples for lab testing: Atlas Biomed analyzes gut bacteria using 16s RNA technology. After they process your sample, they will send you an email to view your gut health report.

Atlas Biomed Microbiome Test

Atlas Biomed offers the Microbiome Test, which is a gut microbiome test. The kit includes a small booklet with printed instructions. To receive the report about the bacteria present in your stool, which provides a snapshot of the good and bad bacteria in your gut, you need to send them a small stool sample. You can use the same box you receive to seal and mail the sample back to the company. It is important to note that the Microbiome Test currently only identifies the bacteria in your gut microbiome.

Atlas Biomed Microbiome Test Price/Cost

The Microbiome Test costs $180. There is an additional shipping cost to receive the test. However, sample return shipping is included in the cost of the test. In addition, customers have the option to subscribe and receive a microbiome test every three months for $120, charged every time the user receives a kit. Although the test kit usually takes 4-8 weeks to arrive, they are good about notifying you if there are any changes to that time frame. Furthermore, as soon as the results are available, Atlas Biomed sends customers a notification email.

Test Results

As soon as it’s ready, your personalized gut health report will be available on Atlas Biomed’s website and app via the account you set up when registering the test kit. There are major 4 sections/subsections to the report.

The first section is Health which provides information about your risk profile for five health conditions (diabetes type 2, obesity, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and atherosclerosis).

The next section is Microbiome Rating which is based on a scale of 1-10 and takes into account disease protection, dietary fiber intake, vitamin synthesis and microbiome diversity.

Moving on to the next section, we have Ancestry, which is based on comparing your gut bacteria to those of people around the world. Following that, the last section is Microbiome type, which shows which of three types of dominant bacterial species, also known as ‘enterotypes’, yours is closest to. To elaborate, Enterotype 1 is dominated by Bacteroides and is commonly found in Western, protein-rich diets. In contrast, Enterotype 2 is dominated by Prevotella, which is largely found in tribes people from the Amazon and Africa or a western vegetarian diet rich in plant fiber with hardly any simple sugars, meat, or fat. Lastly, Enterotype 3 is dominated by Ruminococcus, which is the most common enterotype found in the Danish experimental sample that they use for comparison.

Furthermore, in addition to these sections mentioned above, you will also receive diet and food recommendations based on your score and your sample analysis. Additionally, a useful app feature stemming from the diet recommendations is the food diary. Customers can take a picture of their meal, and the company rates it depending on how beneficial it is for the microbiome.

Test Reviews

Overall, the reviews of the Microbiome Test from Atlas Biomed are positive and agree that the test results provided loads of information about an individual’s gut bacteria. Furthermore, they appreciate finding out the nationality of their microbiome and thought that the food recommendations provided a helpful way to act on the information provided. However, on the other hand, there was also a lot of complex information that was hard to understand for the average consumer.

Atlas Biomed Microbiome Pros

Tests use 16s RNA sequencing as opposed to DNA
Offers genetic and gut microbiome tests
Sample stability up to at least 3 weeks
Personalized report with diet and food recommendations
User-friendly app
Uses EU-certified and ISO accredited labs
Good privacy protections
For an additional fee, a counselor will go over your results with you

Atlas Biomed Microbiome Test Cons

No personalized consultations with a doctor or dietician
Microbiome science is still somewhat new
Samples can take a month to arrive at the lab
Results take 4-8 weeks before available to view
Doesn’t check for viruses, parasites, yeasts, and fungi that inhabit your gut
Results can be confusing
The company does not allow for raw data uploading
Some health claims may be exaggerated