Jona Microbiome Test Review: Microbiome Decoder for Health Conditions

Medical-grade shotgun trial is nan golden standard. No conflicts of interest. Deep penetration into your microbiome pinch guidance. “Show nan work,” truthful you tin spot which studies it’s referencing.

Results tin beryllium confusing aliases conflicting. Need a expert to understand immoderate of nan results. No public-facing LLM.

We perceive a batch astir the microbiome, besides known arsenic nan zoo of different germs surviving successful your digestive system. We cognize immoderate are bully and immoderate are bad. Some strains are associated pinch longevity, while others are associated pinch scary diseases.

In fact, virtually each facet of our wellness has been linked to nan microbiome, successful 1 measurement aliases another, including cancer, intelligence health, and diabetes. There are besides thousands of companies retired location that want you to walk your full paycheck connected supplements, which whitethorn aliases whitethorn not beryllium correct for your body’s circumstantial needs. Meanwhile, thousands of studies connected the microbiome are published each month. Even nan world’s geekiest gastroenterologist can’t support up pinch each of that.

That’s wherever a caller institution called Jona comes in. It uses AI to analyse nan hundreds of bacterial strains successful your gut, cross-reference them pinch each nan latest and highest-quality research, past springiness you a breakdown of your results and an action scheme you tin travel to theoretically amended your wellness outcomes. While AI gets shoehorned into virtually each merchandise these days, whether we want it aliases not, this implementation really makes sense.

How It Works

To usage Jona, bid a kit online. The kit is nan aforesaid gold-standard kit that your GI expert would springiness you, which is known arsenic a shotgun test. It scans for each strain of bacteria, arsenic good arsenic pathogens for illustration parasites and viruses. It’s a location stool-sample kit which—while strange—is easy to use. You vessel your sample disconnected to a laboratory utilizing nan included self-paid packaging. The laboratory is besides independent of Jona (and again, it’s astir apt nan aforesaid 1 your expert would use); it conscionable sends nan results to Jona.

Those results are apt to incorporate hundreds of different germs and their comparative abundance successful your system. It would return you years to investigation nan value of each one, and by nan clip you sewage to nan end, capable caller investigation would beryllium retired that you’d person to commencement each over.

The work that Jona provides is that it has an LLM perpetually reference caller studies arsenic they are published. It ranks nan value and applicability arsenic it goes, too. For example, a study pinch a ample sample size of humans, studied complete time, from a reputable institution would apt beryllium rated a 3 (the highest), while a mini study that only utilized mice aliases petri dishes would apt beryllium rated a 1.

Roughly 2 to 3 weeks aft you nonstop successful your sample, you get a detailed, interactive study that highlights your wellness associations (i.e. if there’s thing to look retired for), arsenic good arsenic nan things you mightiness do to amended them. If you want to publication nan study aliases studies that led nan AI to that conclusion, they will beryllium linked there, too.

Critically, Jona does not waste immoderate supplements aliases probiotics, nor does it urge brands of supplements aliases probiotics for an connection kickback. I really for illustration that a lot. There are different location gut tests that are cheaper than Jona’s, but they seldom usage shotgun testing, and astir person their ain stores and thrust their customers toward buying costly supplements. The only merchandise Jona sells is nan trial and analysis, which fundamentally eliminates conflict of interest.

In More Detail

When you first acquisition your kit, you capable retired an intake form. This has basal questions astir your diet, lifestyle, and workout habits, arsenic good arsenic your family aesculapian history. This is wherever you put successful immoderate concerns you aliases your expert whitethorn have. Have you been ace gassy lately? Lots of fatigue? ADHD? Does your expert opportunity you’re prediabetic? Put each that successful there. These are nan things that Jona will support an oculus retired for erstwhile it analyzes your trial later (though it will show plentifulness much than that, arsenic I’d soon find out). My location trial kit arrived astir 3 days aft I purchased it.

Look, there’s thing rather for illustration starting your time by pooping connected a small insubstantial hammock affixed to your toilet spot and past poking it a bunch of times pinch a fabric swab. It was much of a intelligence hurdle than a applicable one, though, arsenic nan postulation and disposal (you conscionable flush nan hammock down erstwhile you’re done) was easy enough. You past swish nan instrumentality astir successful a solution, headdress it, and nonstop it off. Twenty days later, I sewage an email that my results were in.

On nan website, your results are surgery down into a fewer sections: Summary (with tabs for Brain Health, GI Health, Metabolic Health, Skin Health, and Physical Performance), Action Plan (with tabs for Highest Impact, Diet, Lifestyle, and Probiotics), and nan Organisms page, which shows you each azygous organism it recovered successful your sample, and their comparative abundance. Mine held immoderate surprises.

On nan affirmative side, my Microbiome Diversity came successful astatine 4.19, which is supra mean (normal scope is 2.80–3.99, arsenic measured by nan Shannon Index), which it says is simply a motion of a patient microbiome, and it didn’t find immoderate pathogens aliases parasites. It says I digest lactose good (thank goodness). It didn’t find immoderate associations for things for illustration depression, celiac disease, IBS, ulcerative colitis, leaky gut, hypertension, eczema, aliases a bunch of different things that I’m thankful to not have. Some of these were really a spot puzzling, frankly, arsenic I’ve struggled pinch insomnia beautiful overmuch my full life, but it didn’t find immoderate associations there, aliases for fatigue, and I americium astir assuredly a tired human.

As acold arsenic associations that it did find, immoderate were things I suspected, while others were full surprises. Under Brain Health, I had a mean relation for accent and a debased relation for ADHD, neither of which shocked me. Under Metabolic wellness was a “very low” relation for prediabetes, which I really thought would beryllium higher, unfortunately. I had a mean relation pinch osteoarthritis, which made sense, fixed my family history.

But here's thing strange: Under Metabolic Health it showed a mean relation pinch Hashimoto’s disease. That wasn’t thing that was connected my radar astatine all. I checked my bloodwork from my astir caller physical, and my thyroid numbers looked normal, but I had a doctor’s assignment nan adjacent week anyway, truthful we ran immoderate further bloodwork that looked specifically astatine nan thyroid. Sure enough, my thyroglobulin antibodies were almost double what they should be.

I quickly made an assignment pinch an endocrinologist who said I shouldn’t interest astir it overmuch for now, but it’s thing to support an oculus connected going forward. I’m truthful gladsome that I now cognize to enactment up to day connected it, and I wouldn’t person known astatine each if I hadn’t taken this test. Hopefully it will extremity up being nothing, but early discovery could spell a agelong way.

On nan different side, it besides recovered a mean relation for alopecia areata, an autoimmune upset that causes ample chopped patches of hairsbreadth to autumn out. And that’s very weird, because I demonstrably do not person that. So, it’s important to statement that while immoderate of elements of your microbiome mightiness beryllium associated pinch a condition, it’s by nary intends definitive, nor does it mean there’s causation there, necessarily.

It was besides absorbing to spot what it didn’t find. For instance, connected my intake I put that bloating was thing I’d been experiencing, but my trial results showed nary associations pinch bloating. When I asked Jona’s squad astir it later, they noted that evidently that doesn’t mean that nan rumor isn’t happening, but they don’t person grounds for a nexus to nan microbiome specifically. Of each nan things that would beryllium straight linked to nan microbiome, you’d deliberation bloating would beryllium correct up astatine nan top, but evidently not successful my case. I was really a spot disappointed to find that, because I was hoping it would uncover that agelong elusive fix. Oh well.

What to Do

For each of nan conditions listed, it would springiness maine my apical recommendations. For example, my apical 3 for Hashimoto’s was to summation omega-3 fatty acids and magnesium (both based connected established research) and to up my measurement count (limited research). You tin besides spot nan circumstantial organisms you person that are associated pinch it and click References to spot nan associated studies. Even pinch this distillation, it’s still a batch of accusation to benignant through, and it’s not ever instantly clear really nan linked studies pertain to your business (at slightest for nan layperson).

The adjacent tab is nan Action Plan. It features recommendations for Diet, Lifestyle, and Probiotics, but it besides has a High Impact database which takes nan apical suggestions and gives you conscionable a fistful to attraction on. For maine it was summation aerobic exercise, vitamins C, D, and B2, and magnesium. Easy enough! I thought that helped it consciousness little overwhelming. It moreover auto-generates a downloadable market list, which I recovered helpful.

While nan AI mostly puts things together successful a measurement that makes sense, location are decidedly immoderate head-scratchers. For instance, for Hashimoto’s, it says to debar “probiotic containing Lacticaseibacillus paracasei strain Shirota.” But for prediabetes recommendations, I'm expected to summation my depletion of this probiotic.

Elsewhere, polyphenols is 1 of my recommendations. It highlights foods that are bully sources and suggests avoiding acheronian Chocolate and coffee, because these whitethorn conflict pinch different recommendations aliases self-reported nutrient sensitivities. If I’m going to springiness up acheronian cocoa aliases coffee, I’d amended person a bully reason. It besides recommended I devour much arabinoxylan, which is simply a starch recovered successful cereal grains. I should eat much oats, barley, rye bread, and maize but not wheat nor rye. Why would it show maine to eat rye bread, but not rye?

I collapsed this down pinch Jona’s main aesculapian officer, Lawrence Kosinski. You whitethorn request to break down these results pinch your ain doctor. In fact, Jona’s kit is nan only 1 that’s disposable some to doctors and to consumers. Doctors typically won’t usage thing that doesn’t usage shotgun sequencing, and nan study successful nan Jona study is simply a batch easier for doctors to understand. Since Jona is already an AI company, though, it would beryllium bully for it to person a public-facing LLM chatbot that allows you to inquire questions directly.

Interpretation

My telephone pinch Dr. Kosinski was interesting, not conscionable for clarifying my results but for knowing Jona’s recommendations. Think of nan gut for illustration a petri dish. There are different types of petri dishes containing different substrates (i.e. foods), depending connected what they want to grow. “So you request to create nan correct milieu to create nan correct microbiome,” Kosinski said. "The number 1 point I want you to get into peoples' heads: Prebiotics are much important than probiotics. What you eat is nan astir important thing. That’s why Jona gives recommendations for what to eat.”

His bottommost statement was that a divers fare is really important, which I have, truthful I should efficaciously support eating nan measurement I’m eating but effort to merge much of nan foods Jona recommended. So that’s what I did. I added supplements for vitamins C, D, and B2 (via a B complex), arsenic good arsenic magnesium, since those were nan apical recommendations connected my Action Items database (though Jona listed nan foods containing those, not supplements).

Four months later, I took nan trial again. I’d been trying to workout more, de-stress, and eat much of nan things. When Dr. Kosinski saw nan results, he told maine that I’d taken my patient microbiome and made it moreover healthier. My diverseness had dropped from 4.19 to 4.0, but he wasn’t worried astir that, because I’d boosted a batch of my bully germs moreover higher. There were immoderate bully things successful my results, too. My accent had gone from mean to Very Low, and my prediabetes had gone from Very Low relation to None.

But past location were immoderate disturbing changes, too. On my first trial it showed Very Low for my relation pinch Parkinson’s disease, which I’d been tense capable about. On nan 2nd trial it had jumped up to Moderate. Obviously, not what I wanted to see. Over astatine Skin Health, my relation for alopecia areata had gone from Moderate each nan measurement to High! Which is particularly weird, because again arsenic acold arsenic I aliases anyone other tin tell, I don’t person that.

So I sewage Dr. Kosinski backmost connected nan phone. We clicked connected nan Parkinson’s results and past nan Organisms tab wrong it. The first point that stood retired was that 1 germs called Akkermansia had taken a monolithic jump. The normal scope is 0.12–1.96 percent, and successful my first trial I came successful astatine 0.73 percent. In my 2nd trial I clocked successful astatine a whopping 5.35 percent. Digging into nan references, we recovered that vitamin D could beryllium associated pinch an overabundance of Akkermansia, truthful it was imaginable that taking nan regular vitamin D supplement was measurement much than I needed. He reminded maine that that’s why Jona mostly recommends foods, not pills. A akin point had happened pinch my alopecia areata.

If this sounds frustrating, you would beryllium right. It's for illustration playing whack-a-mole wrong my gut, and so each of nan High Impact items successful my Action Plan were now different. But that’s conscionable benignant of life successful nan microbiome. It’s an ever-changing slurry. Ultimately, while sometimes troubling, I’m gladsome to person these wellness concerns connected my radar that different wouldn’t person been. It’s encouraged maine to eat healthier, workout more, and make judge I person my aesculapian squad checking definite things regularly. All of that is nett positive.

Since I took nan test, location are a mates of caller features. The first launched successful precocious September and is nan Digital Twin. Jona has nan information to make a replica of your microbiome, and you tin tally experiments connected it. For example, if I conscionable wanted to zero successful connected Hashimoto’s and Parkinson’s, it would zero successful connected nan apical 8 actions you could return to thief those associations, and it shows you really nan applicable organisms are apt to spell up aliases municipality arsenic a result. Of course, your assemblage is an integrated system, and location are ever a cardinal confounding factors, truthful I wouldn’t expect everything to spell precisely to plan.

The different feature, launching by nan extremity of 2025, is 1 I really wished it had aft my 2nd test. It's a track-changes page. Basically, if you person taken aggregate tests, it will person a ocular overlay, making it easier for you to spot what has gone up and what has gone down. This should make it easier for nan mean user to spot trends wrong their microbiome.

Of course, aggregate tests intends paying aggregate times, and Jona’s kit isn’t cheap, coming successful astatine $485. If you’ve shopped astir for microbiome tests online, that whitethorn beryllium shocking to you, arsenic galore of them are successful nan $200 to $300 range. Virtually each of nan cheaper ones are utilizing lower-quality tests that mightiness look astatine 20 aliases 30 types of germs and past urge supplements that they sell. The shotgun trial Jona uses is nan aesculapian standard, and it looks astatine tens of thousands of organisms astatine a deep, DNA-sequencing level. Jona’s AI has besides digested (no pun intended) much than 220,000 studies related to nan microbiome, and it continues to ingest 2,000 much each month, pinch your results updating arsenic new, value investigation comes to light.

Certainly, this trial isn’t for everyone, and location are places wherever it could beryllium improved from a usability standpoint. It would still beryllium champion to stock you results pinch your expert and a gastroenterologist. It gave maine a batch of penetration into 1 of nan astir analyzable systems successful my body, and it provided guidance connected really I could make improvements. Too overmuch accusation tin substance hypochondria, but it’s besides existent that early discovery tin beryllium important erstwhile combating definite diseases aliases conditions. I’m really gladsome I did it, and I would perfectly do it again.