The commensal bacteria in the gut microbiome are responsible for so many important functions. Their influence is far-reaching as it relates to overall health. Research shows us that the more diverse that community of bacteria is, the more beneficial it is to systemic health. But what does diversity mean and how do we measure it? There are many calculations used when it comes to diversity of the microbiome, and they can sometimes give differing information. It’s important to understand what’s being measured in order to clinically correlate the result.

In today’s episode, we discuss the industry standard Shannon Diversity Index as measured on Genova’s brand new Microbiomix profile.

Today on The Lab Report:

• 3:15 Better Know a Biomarker: Shannon Diversity Index
• 6:00 Evenness and Richness
• 7:30 Alpha vs. beta diversity
• 10:05 Who’s Claude Shannon?
• 13:00 Get Outta Here!
• 15:50 Simpson vs. Shannon Index
• 17:40 The numerical score
• 19:45 Improving the diversity score

Additional Resources:

GI Effects with Microbiomix

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