Microbiome Interpretation Structured microbiome reference

Microbiome test interpretation

Gut microbiome test reports often list bacterial levels and markers without clear guidance on how to interpret results. This page breaks down what common test results mean and how reliable they are.

Start with Reading your microbiome report, Step 2 to match each marker row to a page here. For conflicting lines, use Multi-marker synthesis. Some reports also include higher-level labels such as enterotypes. See Foundations: Enterotypes for how to read those labels without over-interpreting category boundaries. 1 marker pages are listed; 10 more are in development.

Marker index

Each card summarises what the marker measures. High and low value meanings, method limits, and reading lists are on the linked page.

  • Alpha diversity

    moderate

    Within-sample microbial diversity, how many taxa are present (richness) and how evenly they are distributed (evenness), usually summarized as Shannon, Simpson, or observed species/ASV counts.