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“The wrong balance between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ gut microbes can contribute to weight gain, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, obesity and other health issues,” said ZOE scientists. Dr Federica Amati – who is involved in an ongoing nutrition research project at ZOE – encourages you to take part in the “blue poo challenge”. This involves consuming edible blue food coloring – either in a muffin or a shake – to measure your intestinal transit time.
“This is such an exciting step in personalized nutrition,” said Dr. Amati.
New research – published in the British Medical Journal – has found that the blue dye method can tell us more about our gut health and microbiome population than standard stool charts.
Stool charts simply analyze a person’s regularity and the appearance of bowel movements.
ZOE research suggests that there is a complex interplay between the foods we eat, food inflammation, and the gut microbiome.
READ MORE: Daily morning showers may ‘do more harm than good’ – expert warning
To learn more about your gut microbiome, ZOE offers a free online test if you take part in the Blue Poop Challenge.
How to participate in the blue poo challenge
The original experiment involves baking blue muffins with blue food coloring, which can take up to an hour.
An easier way is to try Indi’s Blue Body Shake, recommended by Dr. Amati, who is Indi’s chief nutrition scientist.
“Indi’s take on the blue poo challenge is a fun and easy way to get us to pay attention to our gut health,” Dr Amati said.
From there, your personalized five-page Blue Poop Challenge report will be sent to you via the email you provide.
The results will include the “good” and “bad” bacteria that are likely to be found inside your gut.
For example, you might harbor “Eubacterium eligens”, which is associated with lower insulin secretion and higher levels of polyunsaturated fats.
The online tool will then set you a health goal so that you can get more of the good bacteria in your gut microbiome.
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