“The gut microbiome…is known as the second brain. It is the most important organ that drives many of the chronic illnesses that we have been seeing, especially in the developed world in the last few decades,” says Guru Banavar, Chief Technology Officer at Viome. Why is this the case? According to Banavar, we’ve essentially destroyed our own gut microbiomes with the widespread use of antimicrobial liquids, sprays, and antibiotics since around the time of the Industrial Revolution. In order to re-establish balance, he says, we must restore the right kind of activity in the microbiome. With the aim of chronic disease prevention, the team at Viome is conducting microbiome research using stool samples from about 100,000 current customers. Banavar joins the podcast to discuss what they’ve learned so far, and what you can learn about your own microbiome.

On today’s episode, you will discover:

• How Viome can tell you which types of foods can turn on or off inflammatory pathways in your gut microbiome
• What differs between the microbiomes of people who have a high versus low glycemic index, or normal GI phenotype versus irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• What we might learn from longitudinal studies of the microbiome currently being conducted by the team at Viome

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