Starting a weight loss journey doesn’t usually have a straightforward path. And really, most days it doesn’t even feel like the road is well paved. Losing weight can be hard, especially when it seems like your body isn’t responding the way it should. Despite what you may think, it’s not always as simple as cutting down on calories. It may actually have more to do with how well your body responds to certain foods, and what your gut microbiome might be saying about them.
And frankly, how our body interacts with the foods we eat can depend on a ton of different factors: like how easily we digest it, how our body uses the energy it produces, and what might be controlling how much we store as fat.
After all, that’s what fat is: stored energy. So when we try to figure out why one person stores more fat than another even with identical diets, it may turn out to have little to do with the amount of calories. In fact, something dwelling inside your gut might be making those decisions instead.
Gut Richness to Fitness
It’s a well-known fact that the quality of your diet is the most important indicator of your weight. If you’re caught up in the wave of the American diet, you’ll find that the foods you’re eating are rich in saturated fats and sugar, and high in calories. These kinds of foods aren’t great for our health because they can disrupt our cholesterol levels and spike our blood sugar (and a whole lot more). But they also can support a perfect storm growing inside your gut.
Healthy foods provide essential nutrients we need for our cells to function at their best. But they also provide essential nutrients to the commensal microbes that thrive inside us. Even when we can’t digest these nutrients ourselves, they become part of the gut microbiome’s diet. Healthy gut bacteria can help us become more resilient to pathogens, maintain our gut lining, and even support how well we absorb the nutrients we need. But there is a trend when it comes to harmful microbial colonies that disrupt the health of our gut.
Foods rich in saturated fats, sugar, and lack nutrients end up supporting the growth of bacteria we don’t necessarily want. Not only can these microbes begin to harm our gut lining and lead to leaky gut syndrome, but they can actually send signals to your brain and induce cravings for all the wrong foods that promote weight gain. It becomes a cycle - how can they get more of the wrong foods inside us to keep up the gut dysbiosis brewing?
The consequences of a poor diet and gut dysbiosis can spread from our brain to other tissues. As the wrong microbes prosper, it can change the way we metabolize foods and how well our body can use or store energy. It also can hurt how well we combat illnesses and leave us susceptible to disease.
But What If My Diet Isn’t Bad?
If you’re following along with Viome and learning of our goals and mission - you’re probably a little more aware of how food impacts your health. Making the switch to a healthier diet is a mental challenge, but you may be ready and you’re learning, and maybe you’ve even started the journey to eat healthier and enjoy the rainbow of fruits and vegetables our incredible Earth has to offer.
However… maybe despite your diet, your weight isn’t moving. If you’ve jumped from diet to diet, watched your weight go up then down, and tried every cleanse on the market (including some that probably left you feeling ill), you’re not alone.
One of the greatest misconceptions we have about a weight loss journey is that what works for our neighbor (or our celebrity idols) will work for us. And no matter what high profile diet for rapid weight loss that might be pasted on a magazine, there is no guarantee that taking that extreme of an approach will work for you, or that it is remotely healthy.
After trying other options, Viome customer Shayna Reed decided to try a Gut Intelligence test as a last resort before turning to the drastic measure of gastric bypass surgery. She said she “trusted the process,” and followed her food recommendations. Within 5 months she dropped 60 pounds. She personally elected to not have the surgery, and is doing well today.*
The Truth About Diet Culture
If you want to lose weight and lead a healthier life, we strongly believe that you should be equipped with the best tools for success. There is direct scientific research that shows how getting to a healthy weight (in a healthy time period) can strongly impact your health. Scientists have seen that it can improve symptoms of:
Sleep apnea
Depression
Sexual dysfunction
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
Infertility
Hypertension
Hypercholesterolemia
Insulin resistance
Cardiovascular disease
And even overall mortality!
But there is a right way to promote health and it doesn’t necessarily mean restricting your calories, following a limited diet, or even the number you see on the scale. The easiest way to reach your goals is to start learning how to appreciate your body and how capable it is. Each person is unique. We have unique needs, unique qualities, and every person is beautiful as they are. And as you learn to be thankful for the biological miracle that is you, you’ll find that treating your body with respect starts with feeding it the right things it needs for optimal health.
At Viome, we don’t help people lose weight. We help people understand how incredibly dynamic and alive we are, from the inside out. And the best way to help lead healthier lives and combat chronic diseases is to support our body and our individual gut microbiome with just the right foods. But through this journey, we are proud that so many of our wonderful users who have struggled with weight loss have lost weight. When your body is healthy, when your system is healthy, and when your internal microbial ecosystems are healthy - you become healthy.
The 3 Top Tips For A Healthier Summer Season
If you’re looking for trade secrets, we’ve got bad news for you: we’re all a little different. But one thing we do know is that with a comprehensive strategy, you’re sure to succeed whatever your goals may be.
Just remember these key things:
Our diet supports our body’s ability to heal and perform - but the best way to change your body’s composition is by getting active. Exercise does more than just trim down fat - it actually stimulates your cells to produce more mitochondria to meet your energy production needs. More mitochondria in your cells can help bump up your resting metabolic rate and slim you down even when you’re relaxing. Not to mention, increasing your fitness can boost your gut microbiome’s fitness too! There are many beneficial bacteria that feel the results of all that activity and boost their beneficial activities.
We all want to know what exactly the best supplements for gut health and weight loss may be, and fortunately we’ve got a hefty list of optimal ingredients we’ve incorporated into our Precision Supplements™ recommendations. Many of these supplements are great for other things too like inflammation, oxidative stress, metabolic health, and support beneficial gut microbial activities. But choosing the right ones for you can depend on many key factors - like your current microbial diversity or other areas of concern. But rest assured, your comprehensive individual supplement formula contains just what you need to promote optimal health.
If you’re ready to buckle down and gather insight about what’s happening inside you with our Health Intelligence™ Test, you get real actionable recommendations you can use. We don’t just identify the health of your gut microbiome and your risk for gut dysbiosis - we’re able to assess your cellular health and how your mitochondria are performing. If you struggle with weight gain despite your diet, your mitochondria may not be properly boosting your metabolism. Or perhaps inflammation inside you is restricting how well your cells perform. It may even provide us insight into what foods or nutrients you’re lacking to help support your digestion. Our results decode your problem areas and help give you precision nutrition tips to get you fit for every season.
Now with your samples, we can pinpoint problem areas and help you develop a plan that is right for you. No yo-yo diets, no fads, no cleanses that spark further gut discomfort. And though our diet can say a lot about us, it doesn’t say everything. Your worth is more than the foods you eat, and you’re more than just a number on a scale. What we at Viome offer is something different - a real strategy to long-term results that help decode, activate, and optimize your life, your health, and your journey.
The information on the Viome website is provided for informational purposes only and with the understanding that Viome is not engaged in rendering medical advice or recommendations. Viome provides this educational information to share the exciting developments being reported in the scientific literature about the human microbiome and your health. Viome products are not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
