Qures discusses why generic probiotics may not work and how a personalised stool test and diet plan can restore your gut’s natural balance.
Interest in the gut microbiome has surged over the past decade. Ever since Hippocrates famously claimed that all disease begins in the gut, we have been captivated by the idea of improving its performance. Today, there are countless tests, supplements, and probiotic products – some even made from dried and powdered stool extracts –promising to improve gut health.
While our ability to analyse the microbiome has advanced dramatically, our ability to treat and improve it has not kept pace. This is why my message is simple: stop taking probiotics – at least until you know what your unique gut microbiome requires.
Why are you taking probiotics?
Are you taking probiotics because you have gut pain, because your friends are taking them, or simply because adverts promise they are beneficial?
Whatever the reason, pause. Until you truly understand what your gut microbiome needs, probiotic supplementation may do little, and in some cases may even harm your progress.
Everyone’s gut microbiome is different. Even identical twins have distinct microbiomes, as demonstrated by the extensive work of Professor Tim Spector. What works for one person may offer no benefit to another.
My journey into gut research
My serious involvement with gut health began around ten years ago. I was intrigued by probiotics and prebiotics. The theory was appealing, even if the scientific understanding was still developing.
I created my own product range and supplied it to health and nutrition practitioners. Early results were promising, and sales grew, but over time, the benefits did not last. Some users even deteriorated.
This led us to investigate more deeply. We discovered that while the products were effective in the short term, the gut does not benefit from continuous topping up with external probiotic strains. These microbes simply do not remain in the gut – they are quickly washed out.
The gut did not need more of these non-native organisms; it needed support for the beneficial bacteria already living there, most of which arrive naturally between birth and the age of three.
This realisation set off several years of research and ultimately led to the development of our advanced stool test and protocol: Q-BIOME®.
Understanding stool testing
A stool test analyses a small sample of your faeces to identify bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other components that may be influencing your health.
Doctors often use stool tests to check for inflammation, infections, IBS, or even early signs of more serious conditions like colon cancer.
However, most doctors do not receive specialised training in diet or the gut microbiome. As a result, their tests focus mainly on chemical markers rather than on gut bacteria or diet-related insights.
To get a true picture of gut health, a specialised microbiome stool analysis is required –one that identifies not only what organisms are present but also their relative abundance, particularly among commensal bacteria.
What are commensal bacteria?
Commensal bacteria are organisms that live in or on the human body without causing harm, and often with great benefit. Our gut is home to thousands of these species. They influence digestion, metabolism, immunity, mood, and overall well-being.
There are several microbiomes throughout the body – oral, vaginal, skin, and organ-specific – but the gut microbiome is the most complex and diverse.
The problem with most commercial tests
Although the science of microbiome analysis has advanced, most commercially available tests offer very limited information.
To keep costs low, they report only a small number of common bacteria. But a list of fewer than a hundred species cannot provide meaningful explanations for chronic gut symptoms.
Conditions like IBS are largely descriptive terms, not explanations. In reality, most gut problems fall under the broad category of dysbiosis, meaning the gut ecosystem is out of balance.
And since every person’s gut microbiome is different, two individuals with the same diagnosis may have entirely different microbial imbalances.
The most advanced method of stool analysis today is shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Using this technology, QURES can identify up to 10,000 individual species or strains of bacteria, viruses, and fungi – far more than standard tests.
What you should gain from a stool test
People take stool tests because they want answers and relief from symptoms. A valuable test should not only tell you what organisms are present, but should also help you understand why you feel the way you do. This requires expert interpretation.
Early on, we realised that although we had developed an excellent analytical method, there were very few specialists capable of interpreting the data for everyday users.
This led us to create a complete support system – a protocol designed to guide individuals from dysbiosis back to rebiosis, and towards better general health. This became the basis of our Q-BIOME® approach.
Commensal bacteria: Why they matter
Humans rely on commensal bacteria for essential biological functions that our bodies cannot perform alone.
These microbes help digest fibre, produce vitamins, regulate immunity, maintain the gut barrier, influence metabolic health, and even affect mood and brain function.
When certain bacteria are too few or too abundant, these functions become disrupted, resulting in symptoms of dysbiosis.
A high-quality stool analysis should reveal which bacteria are present, how many there are, and how that balance relates to your health history.
With this information, a trained specialist can explain your symptoms and design a diet protocol to move your gut toward rebiosis.
Our approach at QURES uses only foods and food supplements – no medications – because food is the most direct and natural way to influence bacterial balance.
The QURES Q-BIOME® protocol
The goal of the Q-BIOME® protocol is to rebalance your gut by altering the abundance of key bacterial groups.
In practice, this means increasing beneficial species that are too low, stabilising those present in the right amounts, reducing those that are excessive, and removing harmful pathogens.
You receive a stool test kit and a detailed health questionnaire. After returning your sample, the lab performs a full microbiome analysis. Your results are then reviewed by one of our specialists, who arranges a 30-minute consultation with you.
During this session, they explain the imbalances identified, how these relate to your symptoms, and what dietary changes are needed.
Within a few days, you will receive your personalised diet plan. You then source the recommended foods and supplements yourself and follow the plan to support your journey toward rebiosis. We do not sell any foods or supplements.
Typical timelines
Most clients receive their test results within 21 working days of the sample arriving at our laboratory. The journey from starting the diet to achieving rebiosis usually takes at least six weeks, though for some individuals it can be longer.
Your future gut health and overall well-being depend largely on how you treat your body and what you feed your microbiome. The saying “you are what you eat” is only half true: more accurately, you are what your bacteria can absorb and use to keep you healthy.
Who has benefited?
Our protocol has helped a wide variety of people, including professional athletes, performers, immune-compromised individuals, chronically ill patients, infants as young as two months, and people managing mental health conditions or disabilities.
The potential for improvement is vast, because many of us – even unintentionally – place enormous stress on our guts through diet, lifestyle, illness, or long-term pressures.
In the next 12 months, we expect to launch two additional gut microbiome analysis tests – one for the oral cavity and one for the vaginal microbiome – further expanding the understanding and support we can offer.
