Find Gut-Brain Balance
Discover how you can use multi-omics testing and resulting individualised plans to support your gut health and clearer thinking.
The gut-brain connection is an expanding area of science showing how digestion and mental health are tightly linked. Understanding how these systems interact can support real, everyday gains in wellbeing.
Below, we explain how vivaINSIGHT's multi-omics testing, and the vivaBALANCE programme built on it, help support gut health and clearer thinking.
Many people living with anxiety, low mood, or digestive symptoms may be experiencing the effects of a disrupted gut. This article covers the gut-brain axis, what multi-omics testing reveals, and how vivaBALANCE supports your health.
IN SHORT
The gut-brain axis links digestion and mental health through shared hormonal, immune and neural pathways. Multi-omics testing and a personalised vivaBALANCE plan can support both gut health and clearer thinking.
What the Gut-Brain Axis Is, and Why It Matters
The gut-brain axis is the two-way communication system between your gut and your brain. It is associated with mood, thinking, digestion and immune responses. The gut microbiome, the trillions of microbes living in the intestine, shapes this conversation.
Research shows microbiome activity is linked to neurotransmitter levels and emotional health. Understanding the gut-brain axis helps explain why improving gut health is associated with better overall outcomes.
A 2025 review in Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins describes the gut-brain axis as a central regulator of cognitive function and neurological wellbeing, shaped by diet-driven microbial metabolism. The authors note that combining multi-omics data with precision nutrition approaches can reveal how dietary patterns influence neuroimmune, neuroendocrine and metabolic pathways, and point to psychobiotics and postbiotics as emerging tools for supporting neurotransmission and reducing neuroinflammation [1].
How the Microbiome Talks to the Brain
Communication runs along several routes: the vagus nerve, immune system signals, and microbe-produced molecules. Gut bacteria ferment fibre into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are associated with brain function and behaviour.
SCFAs and other microbial metabolites are linked to the production of serotonin and other neurotransmitters, many of which are produced or regulated in the gut. A diverse, balanced microbiome supports these biochemical processes.
Neurotransmitters and the Vagus Nerve: Key Players
Neurotransmitters like serotonin and GABA play central roles in mood and cognition. The vagus nerve is a main physical channel carrying signals between gut and brain, and is associated with stress responses and emotional tone. When neurotransmitter systems are disrupted, people can experience anxiety, low mood or cognitive fog.
A 2021 review in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology examined how gut microbiota composition is associated with serotonergic, dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission, with a particular focus on anxiety- and depression-like behaviours in stress-related models [2].
How Multi-Omics Testing Personalises Gut Health
Multi-omics testing looks across different biological layers, including the gut microbiome and metabolic markers, to build a detailed view of your biology. That layered insight reflects how genetics, environment and lifestyle combine to affect gut health.
vivaINSIGHT is vivaLAB's testing kit: vivaBIOME is the metagenomic sequencing of a stool sample that maps your microbiome, and vivaMETABOLITE is the urine-based assessment of cellular biochemistry and metabolic function. Together with a lifestyle assessment, these form the data vivaOS uses to build your personalised plan.
What Multi-Omics Testing Covers
A vivaINSIGHT assessment includes microbiome profiling (vivaBIOME), metabolic signatures (vivaMETABOLITE), and lifestyle measures. Together these layers show microbiome diversity and composition, nutrient processing and metabolic balance, letting the resulting plan prioritise what matters most for you.
How vivaLAB Uses AI to Read Your Biology
vivaOS, vivaLAB's AI health intelligence platform, integrates your vivaINSIGHT results with your lifestyle data to identify patterns that aren't obvious from any single test. The result is a set of actionable recommendations, personalised meal plans, targeted supplements and lifestyle adjustments, built from your data.
A 2025 conference paper on AI-driven multi-omics analysis describes how combining genomic, proteomic, metabolomic and transcriptomic data can support more precise, individualised healthcare recommendations than any single dataset alone [3].
What vivaBALANCE Adds
vivaBALANCE is the programme built on what vivaINSIGHT finds. With personalised nutrition guidance drawn from your multi-omics results, it is designed to support mood, energy, immune resilience and healthy ageing over time.
How Personalised Nutrition Supports Mood, Energy and Immunity
Targeted nutrition can help address nutrient gaps associated with mood and vitality. Adequate intake of omega-3s, B vitamins and other key nutrients is linked to neurotransmitter function, energy metabolism and immune competence. A personalised plan focuses on the foods and supplements most relevant to your own results.
Ageing and Stress Resilience
As we age, nutritional needs shift. vivaBALANCE emphasises nutrient-dense choices and stress-management strategies associated with cellular health, alongside personalised recommendations to help manage age-related change.
How vivaBALANCE Works: From Home Testing to Customised Supplements
Getting started is simple: take up either a vivaBALANCE 180 or 360 membership. A vivaINSIGHT collection kit will be shipped to you within days. Collect your samples at home, and receive a personalised plan covering diet, lifestyle and supplement guidance built from your own results.
What to Expect from At-Home Multi-Omics Collection and Analysis
At-home sample collection is designed for convenience. Kits include clear instructions and the materials needed for both the stool (vivaBIOME) and urine (vivaMETABOLITE) collections. Once your samples reach the lab, our team translates the resulting data into a plan you can act on.
Why Re-Testing Matters
vivaBALANCE 360 retests at 4 months and 9 months after your baseline; vivaBALANCE 180 retests at 3 months. Both move to 6-monthly testing on renewal. Diet, medications and life events can all shift your profile, so periodic reassessment keeps your plan aligned with your current biology.
Is vivaBALANCE Right For You?
vivaBALANCE suits people with digestive concerns, mood-related challenges linked to gut health, or anyone wanting to better understand their healthspan. Plans are tailored, whether your goal is symptom relief, better focus, or long-term resilience.
Ready to find your gut-brain balance?
A vivaINSIGHT test combines vivaBIOME and vivaMETABOLITE with your lifestyle data. Start vivaBALANCE to get your personalised plan.
vivaLAB's services are designed to support health optimisation and are not a substitute for medical advice. Consult a qualified health practitioner for individual health decisions.
References:
- Al-Adham, I. S. I., Ali Agha, A. S. A., Al-Remawi, M., Al-Akayleh, F., Al-Sheikh, A., Aburub, F., & Collier, P. J. (2025). Probiotics, psychobiotics, paraprobiotics, and postbiotics in gut-brain axis modulation: Multi-omics and AI-driven precision nutrition for cognitive health. Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins. PMID: 41452511.
- Huang, F., & Wu, X. (2021). Brain neurotransmitter modulation by gut microbiota in anxiety and depression. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 9, 649103. PMID: 33777957.
- Singh, M. (2025). AI-driven multi-omics analysis for personalised healthcare. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Complexity and Intelligent Algorithms (IC3IA 2025).
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