Browsing: Tests

Dear Doctors: I read your column about improving gut health and want to do it. But I have also read that it’s best to start with a test to get your gut microbiome analyzed. How do those tests work? Do I really need one? I’m on a fixed income and they’re not within my budget

Spruiked by online influencers as a way of gaining insight into our health, experts say at-home tests oversimplify complex factors and can cause unnecessary distress

Home Gut Microbiome Tests Give Varying Results June 24, 2026 By:Stephanie Servetas Stephanie Servetas is a microbiologist at NIST who studies the gut microbiome. Credit: Megan King/NIST