Emerging microbiome research has shown the importance of gut health to our overall health. The science links 80% of our immune system to the gut. So, taking steps to improve gut health supports lifelong wellness.

There are many tools and strategies to help improve your gut health. These include eating the best foods and taking supplements for gut health, or working with a gut health coach. Yet there is no one-size-fits-all approach to gut health. For example, taking a probiotic for the gut may be beneficial for some individuals. In others, it could do more harm than good. Imagine there’s already high levels of a beneficial microbe in your gut. Taking a probiotic could boost those levels to a point where they are too high, resulting in low diversity in the gut microbiome.

Taking a gut microbiome test is the best way to determine if there are any imbalances in your gut that need course correction. Testing helps educate you on the best actions for your unique microbiome. And you can retest to track if dietary changes and gut health supplements or probiotics are having the intended effect.

For our gut test we use a stool test collected with a lab-certified sampling swab from soiled tissue paper

The process is simple and unlike other tests on the market, Tiny Health doesn't require gloves, a spoon-like collection device, or that you handle stool at all, other than on a regular tissue paper.

The sample is then stored in the included container and zippered back and mailed back to us on the prepaid envelope included with your kit.

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Microbiome health as a field is relatively new compared to medicine in general. However, human microbiome research has grown over the past 10 years and rose exponentially in the past five years as sequencing technology became more affordable.
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There are now more researchers looking closely at how the microbiome is related to health and disease. When it comes to the baby microbiome and associations with health or disease, some very clear patterns have emerged. We pull data and reference high-quality research that is reproducible and gives consistent results. This way, you can be confident in the information that we share.

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Tiny Health screens for over 120,000 microbes. This includes bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses, and archaea found in the microbiome. Each microbiome test kit includes a mess-free stool or vaginal swab with instructions. You return your kit in the pre-paid mailer, which goes to our CLIA and CAP certified lab for microbiome sequencing. In 3-4 weeks, you receive a precision report of your results. This includes personal, evidence-based suggestions to improve your gut or vaginal health.

Summary + Expert Highlight
Your summary gives you a bird’s eye view of your gut or vaginal health report. This includes a customized plan prepared by one of our microbiome experts.

The expert highlight guides you through the results. We help you understand what the data means and which actions to take first.

Key Insights
Learn about current imbalances that are important for your specific age. This means a 4-month old gets different metrics from a 12-month old. And a 2-year old gets different metrics than a 40-year old.

Microbiome Breakdown
You receive a comprehensive list of all microbes found in your sample. We categorize them as beneficial, unfriendly, variable, or unknown and provide detailed descriptions of each microbe. You can see how much of each microbe is present, down to a 0.05% abundance level. (No other baby gut test does this!)

Conditions
This section of the report identifies if you have microbiome signatures for certain conditions. These markers could predict an increased risk of developing that condition.

Action Plan
We provide personal, evidence-based suggestions based on your test results and survey responses. Our suggestions may include actual products and brands that we recommend. You'll also receive useful diet, supplement, and lifestyle tips.

Curious? Explore a Sample Report

Conventional medical providers usually are not trained in microbiome testing and probiotics, since these things aren't currently standard of care in those settings. In addition, many conventionally trained physicians also have limited nutritional training, and diet is one of the most powerful ways you can optimize microbiome health. While conventional medicine can have lots of insight into sick care, it isn't always the best at wellness and prevention. Plus it can take 10-15 years for the medical field to put new academic research into practice!

‍But that doesn’t mean that it’s something to wait on. Enter Tiny Health.

‍Our team of leading pediatric scientists and physicians are on the cutting edge of microbiome health. We are prevention and wellness focused. We've developed tests to give families access to this innovative science right now.

Eczema, allergies, and asthma are inflammatory conditions. Tiny Health microbiome tests help you identify inflammation at its source, your gut. With deep insights into your gut microbes, you can take action and help prevent or reduce inflammation in your body.

Here are two ways caring for your microbiome can help with inflammatory conditions:

1. In our first few years of life, our gut microbes help train our immune system how to behave. Without proper training, our immune system can contribute to long term issues with inflammation (e.g., eczema, allergies, asthma). The goal is to address imbalances early. That way, the immune system has proper education. This may even help prevent inflammatory conditions from developing.

2. At any age, the microbiome can become unbalanced. This may trigger inflammatory symptoms in our bodies. This can weaken the gut lining, cause leakiness or inflammation, and trigger the immune system. It is important to address these imbalances. Better gut health is possible at any age.

Tending to your gut health is beneficial for overall health and wellness. But your gut may not be the only factor contributing to inflammatory conditions. Many families have successfully reduced or eliminated symptoms by testing and taking action. When you use Tiny Health tests, you can rest assured that a team of gut health specialists are here to support your health journey.

No, a gut microbiome test kit cannot detect lactose intolerance or specific food sensitivities.

At Tiny Health, we can help you understand your gut health and how it may contribute to symptoms of these food sensitivities.

Lactose intolerance refers to trouble digesting the milk sugar, lactose. It is different from cow milk protein allergy, which involves an immune response. Cow milk protein allergy is somewhat common in babies. But lactose intolerance is very rare in children under the age of 5 years old.

There are two types of lactose intolerance:

1. Primary lactose intolerance: This is rare in babies and all about genetics. In this case, the body cannot make enough of the enzyme lactase. This is the enzyme that helps break down and digest the lactose milk sugars.Primary lactose intolerance is not caused by gut microbes. But symptoms may improve with helpful bacteria like Streptococcus thermophilus.

2. Secondary lactose intolerance: This is all about damage to the gut lining. Lactose digestion takes place in the small intestine. Damage to the lining of the small intestine can lead to secondary lactose intolerance. Usually this happens in adults, after a long period of gut inflammation.

Gut microbes can cause lactose intolerance if they are causing gut inflammation. Repairing the gut and clearing inflammation can help support lactose digestion.

If you or your child is having issues with a food sensitivity, talk to a healthcare provider. It is important to understand the root cause. Specific food allergies and sensitivities are often determined by a blood test.

However, for children who are reactive to a wide variety of foods, the common cause may be related to an imbalance in the microbiome, and less the individual foods. Inflammation in the gut may damage the gut lining, and gut leakiness may permit dietary triggers to get into the rest of the body, triggering reactions. For some children, healing the gut can reduce their reactivity to foods.

A Tiny+ Membership includes:

• 2 Tiny Health Gut Microbiome Tests
• 1 Functional Health Coaching Session with a dedicated microbiome specialist
• Exclusive Discounts: Purchase additional gut or vaginal microbiome tests for $169 per kit, and additional coaching sessions for $39/session during your membership
• Members-only virtual sessions

Note: Only one membership is needed per family. You can access discounted gut or vaginal tests and coaching sessions for your immediate family members.

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Many of our members use their HSA/FSA to pay for clinical fees and tests.

However, we recommend checking with your FSA/HSA company/carrier for information on what details are required or check out our HSA/FSA page

In case there is any additional documentation you need, feel free to reach out to us at customer support, we’re more than happy to help you with the necessary paperwork.

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