So it started with a finger prick. I reached for a tube to flow the blood into. When I looked back, blood was running down the back of my hand and fingers. That was about the time Juli walked in looked at me and said “I could have helped you ya know?”. Then as she noticed the blood dripping everywhere, she then commented, “Alright, I’m out.” and walked out of the bathroom back to the living room.
That is how my Viome journey got started. If you don’t know what Viome is, it is a company that tests your blood, saliva, and pooh to determine your metabolic, cellular and gut health. I have chosen to do an experiment with my health. I am going to have Viome test all 3, give me recommendations on foods that are avoid, minimize, enjoy and superfoods, customized supplements, and as the FireTower Athletics Goal Crusher Guide and our weekly group posts have been suggesting, find an accountability partner, well, that is all of you. Yes, the 10s of readers I expect to have.
So, at the end of December, I took a saliva sample, gut sample, and a blood sample and sent it off. Viome uses some biological functional scores along with pathway activities to get your Health Scores. Here are mine: 0-100 is the range, but each have a range that is good, optimal, average or not optimal.
Gut Health: Good, 62
Cellular & Energy Efficiency: Not Optimal, 21
Immune Systems Health: Good, 80
Inflammation Response: Good 68
Oral Health: Average, 55
Heart & Metabolic Health: Good, 59
Brain & Cognitive Health: Good, 38
Biological Age: 49.
So all of those scores will be my baseline, along with an InBody Scan. Figured why not check off all the bases and have more data to compare against at the end of the experiment. From my InBody, weight is 206, percent body fat is 17.5%. Muscle mass is 98.8lbs.
I also use what is called a WHOOP. It tracks your sleep, HR, HRV, Recovery and Strain. My baseline for these numbers are:
Average Recovery: 64%
HRV Average: 36
RHR Average: 54
At the end of the experiment, I will retest and compare scores and see if following the recommendations improved the above scores.
So what do I need to do. Well, they give you Avoid Foods. I have 37. They are based off of some of the functional tests above. A fair amount are things I never eat anyway. Here is a list of things I will avoid for the next 6 months that I actually have eaten on a regular basis:
Asparagus, Beef (fatty, Lean), Bell Pepper, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cane Sugar, Cheese, Coconut, Cod, Crab, Egg Yolk, Grapefruit, Heavy Cream(Cow Milk), Lobster, Mustard Greens, Shrimp, Spinach, Trout, Turmeric, Turnip, Venison or Elk, Watermelon, Whole Milk (Cow).
On the other end of the spectrum, my SuperFoods are:
Banana, Barley, Bone Broth(Fish), Cinnamon, Cocoa (unsweetened), Grapes, Hot Pepper, Lime, Nectarine, Oats, Pineapple, Raspberry, Salmon, Soybeans(non-GMO), Sunflower Seeds, Tomato.
Just about everything else you can think of is in between, Minimize, or Enjoy.
Supplements should arrive on Tuesday January 24th, so my start date for following will be January 25th.
Welcome to my Journey, I will post monthly updates on how I feel, if I have noticed any changes and keep tabs on my metrics.
Make it a great day and let FireTower Athletics know if we can help you with any of your health goals.
Jay
