For a comprehensive review of Ombre and its Gut Health Test, please refer to the following article, Everything You Need To Know About Ombre Gut Health Test (formerly Thryve).
Ombre’s Gut Health test aims to analyze your gut microbiome and provide insights into the best dietary changes and probiotics to enhance your gut and overall health. Additionally, Ombre offers probiotic blends and a prebiotic that aligns with their test results. You can also purchase supplements from Ombre without taking their gut health test.
Sections of the Test Results:
Expect your results within two to four weeks, but I received mine in just 9 days. Once ready, you’ll receive an email notification, and your personalized gut health report will be accessible on Ombre’s website. The results are presented on a dashboard page, with the different sections also displayed in a banner at the top of the page. Ombre offers additional premium reports for a more comprehensive analysis, which will be briefly covered later in this article.
Now, let’s explore the various sections!
Ombre Score:
This significant result appears at the top of the dashboard page and ranges from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the better. This serves as a benchmark for comparing future test results and gauging how your gut microbiome responds to probiotics and dietary recommendations over time. The Ombre Score is derived from four subcategories, which we will examine below.
Diversity Score: This percentage-based score considers both evenness and the number of unique bacterial species. Higher gut bacteria diversity is associated with better gut and overall health outcomes. Lower diversity is linked to acute and chronic symptoms and diseases. Ombre compares your results with the average healthy population from the American Gut Project (AGP).
Comparison Score: Measures the difference between your bacteria levels and the “average” range from Ombre’s database (AGP database mentioned earlier). Increasing this score aims to optimize the gut ecosystem by nourishing beneficial bacteria and addressing imbalances.
Ecosystem Score: Evaluates the balance of good, neutral, and pathogenic bacteria. A balanced gut microbiota ecosystem contributes to overall well-being. Beneficial bacteria support metabolic, immune, mental, and skin health by producing metabolites that combat pathogenic growth, toxins, and inflammation.
Symptoms Score: Reflects the symptoms provided, where fewer symptoms result in a higher score. While the other Ombre Score categories offer insights into your gut microbiota balance, the Symptoms score helps assess how these imbalances personally affect your gut health and overall well-being.
Progress at a Glance: Not part of the overall scoring process, this feature allows you to track your Ombre Score over time with future tests.
Probiotic Recommended for You:
Another prominent section on the dashboard page, Ombre recommends one or more of their probiotic blends based on the survey you filled out during test registration and the deficiencies revealed by your gut microbiome analysis.
Bacteria Levels:
This section follows the top two sections mentioned above. Here, you can delve deep into the various bacteria, both beneficial and harmful, constituting your gut microbiome. It is divided into six sections, which we will explore further.
Good/Bad Bacteria: Provides a list of your predominant good and bad bacteria, indicating the percentage of each and how they compare to the average healthy population from the AGP. This page also breaks down your bacterial population into different categories and their respective percentages in your gut microbiome.
Commensals: Lists the top 10 commensal bacteria, which form the largest community of bacteria living symbiotically with us. Commensal bacteria provide crucial health functions in return for nutrients and a habitat. The list displays their percentage, comparison to the healthy AGP population, and whether you have an abundance, normal amount, or deficiency. Clicking on each bacterium provides additional information from scientific sources.
Probiotics: Highlights probiotic bacteria residing in the gastrointestinal tract, known for their positive health effects such as supporting inflammation control and gut lining integrity. These bacteria offer benefits beyond gastrointestinal health. Clicking on each bacterium provides further information from scientific sources.
Pathogenic: Focuses on bacteria that can have negative health effects on the host, both directly and indirectly. Pathogens can weaken our immune-fighting commensals by inducing inflammation and contributing to dysbiosis. The section displays the percentage of each bacterial group, their comparison to the healthy AGP population, and whether you have an abundance, normal amount, or deficiency. Clicking on each bacterium provides additional information from scientific sources.
Pathobionts: Addresses a type of bacteria known as pathobionts, which can be opportunistic pathogens. These bacteria can contribute to disease development under certain circumstances, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. Some pathobionts produce by-products that may contribute to common gastrointestinal symptoms. The section presents the percentage of each bacterial group, their comparison to the healthy AGP population, and whether you have an abundance, normal amount, or deficiency. Clicking on each bacterium provides additional information from scientific sources.
View All Bacteria: Lists all the bacteria found in your gut microbiome, classifying them based on taxonomic rank. It displays the percentage of each bacterial group, their comparison to the healthy AGP population, and whether you have an abundance, normal amount, or deficiency. Clicking on each bacterium provides additional information from scientific sources.
Food Suggestions:
This section provides food recommendations and foods to avoid based on your test results, specific diets you follow, and any food allergies you have. It covers categories like vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds, grains, fish and shellfish, meats, herbs and spices, oils, beverages, and more. The section offers extensive suggestions that could be beneficial. Clicking on each food provides in-depth dietary information, its impact on improving specific deficient bacteria, the strength of supporting research, and recipes if available. However, keep in mind that adhering strictly to the foods to avoid suggestions may require significant changes to your diet, which may not be warranted if your Ombre Score is already satisfactory.
Premium Results:
These results, available at an additional cost of $9.99 (likely covered by a coupon), provide insights into how your gut microbiome relates to other health issues. The results are divided into four sections, each containing informative sub-sections. These results prove interesting and helpful, particularly concerning deficient bacteria and systemic implications associated with their absence.
Compare: Shows how your gut microbiome compares to that of other individuals. It covers sections such as “Your Microbiome,” “Comparison,” “Trends,” and “Family Tree.”
Repair: Explores “Inflammation,” “Food Intolerance,” and “Intestinal Permeability” and evaluates how your gut microbiome aligns with these processes.
Optimize: Focuses on “Metabolism,” “Sleep Hormones,” and “Vitamin Absorption” and assesses whether your gut microbiome is sufficient or deficient in supporting these processes.
Prevent: Investigates how your gut microbiome and its byproducts play a role in “Cardiovascular Health” and “Autoimmunity.”
Overall, I’m pleased with the presentation and depth of information in the general and premium results. The results are scientifically supported, with explanations and provided scientific sources. The information is generally understandable, although some instances employ complex terminology. It’s important to note that while Ombre’s analysis offers insights into your gut microbiome, it doesn’t provide a complete picture of your overall health as the microbiome is just one aspect of the complex digestive system. Therefore, consulting a doctor or registered dietitian is recommended before making significant dietary changes to avoid unnecessary restrictions and potential nutrient deficiencies. Furthermore, it’s crucial to consider that while research on the gut microbiome and probiotics is growing, not all claims made by Ombre regarding test results and probiotic supplements may be fully supported by scientific and medical evidence.
