The Microbiome Group

The Microbiome Group Microbiome Analysis with Viola Sampson BSc MCMA and Associates

21/04/2026

I have been testing my gut microbiome for more than a decade now. We usually recommend test kits to our clients as it has the level of detail needed to guide effective treatment plan. It also has the right price point, making regular testing possible that allows us to check progress and refine treatment plans. This is the test I have most used for myself and my family. When needed, we also use testing that gives even more detail.

The process is very simple. Everything you need arrives in the box: a sterile swab, sample tube with buffer solution, and a sealable pouch. The box itself becomes the envelope to mail your sample back to Biomesight for processing.

You retain a card that contains your kit number to register your test in your online account. You remain in control of your results: you have full access and grant access to your practitioner for as long as you choose.

The sample is taken by swabbing the toilet paper to get a small amount of stool (some people need to catch their stool, if toilet paper wipes clean). Then you stir the swab in the buffer solution for 30 seconds, followed by securing the cap and a vigorous shake, before sealing and placing in the box and popping it in a postbox.

We have a more detailed guide with tips for taking a good sample on our blog (link in bio).

If you want to discuss how Microbiome Analysis could be useful for you, please contact us through DMs or the contact form on our website.

✏️📸 Viola

Video: Stills of a test kit box with Viola’s unpacking it and showing the different items, before finally sealing it and posting the sample in a red postbox (I skipped the actual sample taking to preserve viewers’ comfort!)

It’s such a brilliant time of year, here in the UK, when it becomes easier to include wild foods in my diet to increase ...
13/04/2026

It’s such a brilliant time of year, here in the UK, when it becomes easier to include wild foods in my diet to increase the plant diversity that supports the diversity of my gut ecosystem.

I love being able to add flowers for delight and flavour. Here I have three-cornered leek flowers and garlic mustard flowers. Both are deliciously flavoursome, and the strong flavour of the garlic mustard in particular, indicates it’s rich in polyphenols, as many wild foods are.

These garnished a dish of mashed sweet potatoes, red peppers, red onion, halloumi, asparagus and wild garlic. The asparagus, wild garlic and onions contain prebiotic inulin that feeds my beneficial gut bacteria.

The dish also has a range of colours (red, orange, green and purple) that lets me know I have included a wide variety of polyphenols to nourish a diversity of gut bacteria.
✏️📸 Viola

IMAGE: A white bowl contains brightly coloured food, held above a patch of three cornered leek in flower.

This was lunch today. A very simple salad thrown together from my left-over roast vegetables last night. I added hard-bo...
07/04/2026

This was lunch today. A very simple salad thrown together from my left-over roast vegetables last night. I added hard-boiled eggs and quinoa (both great sources of protein) as well peppery salad leaves and walnuts.

When you are eating a predominately plant-based diet, keeping protein levels up is important. Eggs are a good source of protein with one egg containing about 6g of high-quality protein. Two eggs coupled with quinoa and walnuts makes this lunch closer to my goal of 20g of protein.

Additionally, the egg yolk contains choline, which is a key component of phosphatidylcholine, essential for cell membranes, liver function and maintaining the integrity of the gut lining. Choline is also an important nutrient for bile production.

Bile is essential for the digestion of fats, the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and plays an important role in digestion. When bile flow is sluggish it can slow gut motility, increase bloating and constipation and affect fat malabsorption. Bile also helps regulate microbial balance and minimise the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in the gut.

However, excessive bile can also be an issue as it can promote the growth of bile tolerant species such as Bilophila and Desulfovibrio, which have been shown to be pro-inflammatory, produce hydrogen sulphide gas and contribute to gut dysbiosis.

Microbiome analysis can help you understand the role diet is playing in your digestion and overall health. Feel free to comment below or get in touch via the website.

REFERENCES
Larabi et al (2023) Bile acids as modulators of gut microbiota composition and function. Gut Microbes. Doi: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2172671.

✏📷 By Vicky

You’ve probably seen kombucha everywhere -but is it actually good for you?🫖Kombucha is a fermented tea with real digesti...
02/04/2026

You’ve probably seen kombucha everywhere -but is it actually good for you?

🫖Kombucha is a fermented tea with real digestive and microbiome benefits..

It’s made by adding a SCOBY (a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) to sweetened black or green tea.

If you have made your own Kombucha, then you will know that the mixture ferments for several days, creating a naturally fizzy, tangy drink.

The fermentation produces organic acids, antioxidants and trace B vitamins.
Kombucha also contains probiotic bacteria that help support a balanced gut microbiome.

✨ The benefits of drinking kombucha, alongside other gut promoting foods and drinks, may include:

• Improved gut health by supporting beneficial gut bacteria
• Increased energy levels due to B vitamins and bioavailable nutrients
• Immune support through antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds

Please make sure when buying a commercial product, that it is low in sugar and contains live cultures.

👉 To learn more about fermented foods and microbiome health, contact me at the Microbiome Group.

REFERENCE:
Costa MAC et al (2021). Effect of kombucha intake on the gut microbiota and obesity-related comorbidities: A systematic review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2023;63(19):3851-3866. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1995321. Epub 2021 Oct 26. PMID: 34698580.

✏️ by Melody
📸 by Sara
(Image shows a glass of delicious homemade Kombucha on a wooden kitchen countertop. )

When I first qualified 18+ years ago, I distinctly remember being warned off coffee (and too much coffee can have negati...
26/03/2026

When I first qualified 18+ years ago, I distinctly remember being warned off coffee (and too much coffee can have negative effects).

Fortunately (because I like coffee) modern science has consistently confirmed that coffee, in moderation, is one of those everyday habits that supports gut and liver health and the science behind it is stronger than most people realise.

Some of the benefits are as follows:
🌱 Coffee improves microbiome diversity: regular coffee intake is linked with greater gut microbial diversity, which is consistently associated with better metabolic and immune health.
🦠It feeds beneficial bacteria: coffee has been shown to increase helpful microbes like Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium, including SCFA-producing species that support gut lining integrity.
🌿Coffee’s polyphenols appear to be key players here, supporting antioxidant defences and microbial balance, whether the coffee is caffeinated or decaffeinated.

Hence, enjoying your daily coffee isn’t just about energy – but it can be part of long-term gut and immune resilience.

👉 If you would like to find out more about how everyday foods shape the microbiome, book a Discovery Call with me at the Microbiome Group using the above link.

✏️ 📸 Melody
Image: Melody drinking coffee at a local cafe.

Reference:
Saygili S, Hegde S, Shi XZ. Effects of Coffee on Gut Microbiota and Bowel Functions in Health and Diseases: A Literature Review. Nutrients. 2024 Sep 18;16(18):3155. doi: 10.3390/nu16183155. PMID: 39339755; PMCID: PMC11434970.

This study caught my attention. The initial finding wasn’t what you might think. A clinical trial published in Scientifi...
24/03/2026

This study caught my attention. The initial finding wasn’t what you might think. A clinical trial published in Scientific Reports looked at what happened when 29 healthy adults ate the equivalent of three servings of red grapes a day for two weeks.

It’s in a high-impact, open-access journal in the Nature portfolio and the design was rigorous: Two weeks on a controlled baseline diet, two weeks with freeze-dried grape powder added in, then four weeks back to baseline without grapes.

Stool, blood and urine were tested at the end of each phase, examining both microbiome profile (with the same kinds of tests we use) and the compounds gut bacteria produced.

Overall gut bacterial balance didn’t dramatically shift, and diversity stayed mostly stable. But when people were eating grapes, their bodies started producing significantly higher levels of small compounds, detectable in blood and urine, that are made when gut bacteria break down grape polyphenols. These compounds rose during the grape phase, then returned to baseline after grapes were stopped. The effect was real, measurable, and reversible.

Importantly, these microbiome-made compounds are biologically active. Other research links them to heart health, inflammation regulation, cholesterol and bile metabolism, and antioxidant activity. This may go some way to explaining the positive impact of grape consumption on heart health and cholesterol levels in larger studies.

The most valuable takeaways of this study?

While eating grapes didn’t dramatically shift the bacterial profile of the microbiome, they changed how it *functioned*.

The trial also showed that not everyone responded the same way. Some people produced far more of these health-promoting compounds than others, likely because of differences in their baseline microbiome. This illustrates perfectly why treatment plans at The Microbiome Group are devised for each individual we work with.

Pezzuto et al (2023) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34813-5

Image:1) Red grapes fill the frame 2) screenshot of title page 3) Screenshot of section of datavis.

✏️📸Viola

20/03/2026

I set out to write an AI policy. I didn’t expect what I found.

What started as professional obligation became a reckoning with something bigger: what AI is doing to wellness culture, to our clients and to the therapeutic relationship before a client even walks through the door.

The full story is on the blog now. Link in bio

✏️🎨 Viola

Video: cycles through quotes and headshots of the practitioner team on a magenta background. Please DM us for the full quotes if needed.

I set out to write the world’s first AI policy in complementary healthcare. But what started as professional obligation ...
20/03/2026

I set out to write the world’s first AI policy in complementary healthcare. But what started as professional obligation became a reckoning with something bigger: what AI is doing to wellness culture, to our clients and to the therapeutic relationship before a client ever walks through the door.

The full story of why we felt it was so important to write our AI policy, and what we discovered, is on the blog now.

https://www.themicrobiomegroup.com/post/i-set-out-to-write-an-ai-policy-i-didn-t-expect-what-i-found

Last weekend I spent a day with health practitioners from across Australia at the .vital.ly healthcare conference. I was...
19/03/2026

Last weekend I spent a day with health practitioners from across Australia at the .vital.ly healthcare conference. I was joined by naturopaths, nutritionists, Integrative doctors, osteopaths, GPs and homeopaths, all exploring how we can improve patient outcomes through genuinely integrative practice.

What struck me most was how much the conversation kept returning to the same things: seeing health as a lifelong journey rather than a problem to be solved, building referral networks so patients get the right support at the right time, and making sure that as practitioners, we’re sustainable enough to keep showing up for the people who need us.

I came away with renewed conviction that the best outcomes for complex cases come from practitioners who know when to refer, who to refer to, and how to stay connected across disciplines.

At The Microbiome Group, that’s how we work...and days like this remind me why it matters.

✏📷 by Vicky

Have we published the world’s first AI policy in complementary healthcare?! Our research (using AI and old-fashioned way...
17/03/2026

Have we published the world’s first AI policy in complementary healthcare?! Our research (using AI and old-fashioned ways) couldn’t find any. And yet clients are aware that many practitioners are regularly using AI tools.

We recognise powerful potential in freeing us up to focus on our client work We also see AI’s potential to mislead.

We want to show everyone how and when we use AI tools — and where we refuse to. That’s what transparency and responsible innovation look like. In practice, this means:

➡️ Our living, breathing, fairly-paid Assistant Sara works closely with our practitioners and handles all enquiries — ensuring each person experiences the compassionate, individualised care we offer.

➡️ We are a team of women who bring to our work many years’ life experience, including our own health struggles and more than 45 years’ clinical experience between us. In this age of artificially high standards, we don’t use AI to erase our hard-won wrinkles — although we’re not beyond the occasional gentle glow-up when vanity prevails! The same commitment to honest representation applies to everything we share — we won’t use AI to generate images, audio or video, or overstate what Microbiome Analysis can achieve. In a wellness culture that increasingly uses AI to present impossible bodies, this matters deeply to us.

➡️ To protect our clients’ confidentiality, we don’t upload their details, case histories or microbiome data into AI tools. We draw on our experience of thousands of hours of Microbiome Analysis practice and extensive training to gain the best outcomes for our clients – we don’t use AI to write our treatment plans.

AI can’t access thousands of hours of clinical experience. It can’t replicate the training we’ve each completed, or the judgement that comes from years of practice. This policy sets out where AI helps us — and where we take over. Our clients’ trust in our expertise and integrity will always come first.

Would you ask your practitioner how they use AI in your care?

www.themicrobiomegroup.com/policies

Honouring Long Covid Awareness month – 6 years since the world first went into Lockdown. Many clients we’ve worked with ...
16/03/2026

Honouring Long Covid Awareness month – 6 years since the world first went into Lockdown. Many clients we’ve worked with at The Microbiome Group developed Long Covid in those first few months (others as recent as 2025).

Having had ME/CFS myself, I recognised the potential for post-viral illness immediately. As the first Long Covid cases emerged, I began a case study programme to trial microbiome interventions in October 2020. This allowed me to test my hypotheses about the role of the microbiome in Long Covid – drawn from the medical literature at the time and my experience as a microbiome analyst (and 15 years previously in my craniosacral practice) specialising in fatigue conditions.

Once I began to see positive changes alongside microbiome changes in the case study programme, I opened my diary to Long Covid clients. My waiting list grew exponentially as people began sharing success stories with friends and others in patient groups. The urgent demand led me to establish The Microbiome Group and train up a team of practitioners in my approach.

We have now worked with hundreds of individuals with Long Covid. Everyone has reported improvements in symptoms alongside the microbiome changes — many significantly, some recovering fully, while others still have some symptoms six years on.

The research on Long Covid is growing. New journal articles have confirmed what we already know about the serious mental health impacts and complexity of symptoms involving multiple body systems, including the gut microbiome. New research raises concerning questions about lifelong impact, while other articles offer hope for treatment. Long Covid remains a major public health issue. We need dedicated research funding to understand, treat and prevent it

I had ME/CFS for 15 years, so have some insight into how difficult life can be six years in to such a devastating llness. Sadly, there are many who haven’t made it to this six-year milestone, because the intensity of their illness led them to take their own life.

My heart goes out to anyone affected by Long Covid, especially those still suffering and who have lost loved ones. I hope the information we share here, and the consultations we offer, will support more people to recruit their gut microbiome as a powerful anti-inflammatory force in their recovery.

✏️📸 Viola
Image: Viola, a white woman with long brown hair, wearing a blue roll-neck sweater, looks into the camera. Her expression is serious and thoughtful. Behind her is the edge of a picture frame on her consulting room wall.

Having had inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) for nearly 4 decades, I was pleased to find the latest research investigatin...
12/03/2026

Having had inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) for nearly 4 decades, I was pleased to find the latest research investigating how diet influences inflammation in IBD through changes in the gut microbiome.

I must have tried every diet ever invented, with varied results on my IBD symptoms. I now happily eat a predominantly plant-based diet. Interestingly the research confirmed both Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) are made worse by diets rich in fat, sugar and animal protein, with those gut microbiomes being more likely to have increased pro-inflammatory bacteria.

Conversely, diets rich in plant-based, fibre-dense foods, such as the Mediterranean diet, were consistently associated with greater microbial diversity, higher levels of beneficial bacteria and increased production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).

The researchers measured how diet changed the microbiome's role in immune regulation and intestinal barrier function. They suggest distinct pathways operate in different IBD types:
• In UC, diet appears to reduce inflammation mainly through restoring microbial diversity and overall microbiome function.
• In CD, the relationship involved specific bacterial groups and their products.

This is exactly what we have found as Microbiome Analysts. When IBD clients are in a flare, we often see higher levels of Proteobacteria that promote inflammation, such as Eschericia species. We also see a decrease in beneficial bacteria that make anti-inflammatory products, such as Faecalibacterium.

The researchers concluded that treatment of IBD should include dietary recommendations to bring about microbiome changes! It was gratifying to see the findings of this study further validate our work as Microbiome Analysts using microbiome testing to personalise dietary interventions that support the overall gut ecosystem and reduce intestinal inflammation.

REFERENCES:
Mayorga et al. (2026) Gut. DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2025-337480
Winter et al. (2013). Science. 339,708-711. DOI:10.1126/science.1232467

✏ by Vicky

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