Have you ever done an at-home health test?
Not a genetics tests like 23andMe, and not an allergies test. I’m talkin’ a comprehensive body health test that uses blood, stool, or saliva samples—or, all three. It’s the kind of test that provides an in-depth assessment of one’s health on many levels.
Have you done something like this before?
What service or product did you do, and how’d it go?
I’m asking because I decided to one of these for the first time.
As you might know already, I’m a bit fan and advocate of preventative health. I think our health starts with our daily-weekly lifestyle, what we put into our bodies, how we move our bodies (sitting, walking, running, stretching, dancing, etc), what we consume mentally, and how we tend to our mental-emotional states.
I’ve done my annual doctor visits for years now, and I get bloodwork analyzed every one or two years. I want the annual visit to be like a routine car maintenance appointment with a multipoint inspection. I want a full assessment. I want to know what’s going on under the hood. I likely haven’t had an issues, but I want to know if any are coming. Any warning signs? Anything yellow flag? Any weird stuff I should look further into? I would rather pay two or three figures to prevent an issue than to pay in the high three or four figures to fix something after it’s broken down. The logic is when essential-functioning things break down they start stressing and damaging other things. I think this applies to both our automobiles and our bodies. It can feel tough to justify the expense when it’s not critical, but I always tell myself its better to pay this much now rather than 2-5x this down the road.
And so, I want to try one of this comprehensive at-home products to see if can add real value. Similar questions.. Is there anything I should look more closely at? Any warning signs or yellow flag? I feel and look like I’m great health, but things could look different under the hood upon closer examination. Is it possible for me to know I’m in good health down to the cellular level? Is there anything I should consider altering in what I eat or how I move, on a daily-weekly level?
Back to the tests.
There’s quite a few out there, such as Ombre, Viome, Thorne, Wellnicity, Floré, Biohm, & Verisana.
After hesitations because of cost and trying to figure out which product is best, I finally did some research and went ahead with Viome’s Full Body Intelligence test. (https://www.viome.com)
Just a heads up, these products can cost into the $400 range.
Viome was one of in not the most expensive, but it seemed to test the most stuff. It’s really 3 different tests. They sell each of them individually in this all-in-one bundle.
I hope it’s worth it. That’s a big price tag for experiment. But of course, I won’t do this again if it doesn’t actually help me in some relevant way; or can just buy any 1 of the 3 tests that actually helped. Only way to find out is to treat it as an experiment. You probably know my mantra by now: fuck around and find out. In this instance, I’m okay with paying $400 one time to find out.
I provided the samples (stool, saliva, and blood) many weeks ago and the results just came in. I haven’t looked at it all yet, but I’m excited to dive in and see the results!
I’m going to make this blog topic a two-parter. After I’ve had time to look at and act on the Viome results I’ll follow up with another post. It won’t be tomorrow or this week, and I won’t promise it’ll be this month. I’ll take time to act on the results and integrate any recommendations into my lifestyle. After enough time, I’ll see if it’s helped. Obviously, I won’t be able to notice on a cellular level or anything like that unless I test again, but my hope is that acting on the results impacts my body in a way I can see, feel, or notice somehow.
To be continued. :)
Below is a few pics from their website. Hopefully I’ll get interesting info and useful recommendations in all the categories!
