Tips for educating patients on the gut microbiome
Gut microbiome science is complex and can be challenging for many patients to understand. Here are some tips to help you communicate effectively when educating your patients.
The key to educating patients on the gut microbiome is to break it down into simple and easy to understand language, and to deliver the information in a relatable way. Here are some tips to help you communicate effectively when educating your patients.
1. Use simple, everyday language
As microbiome enthusiasts, it’s easy for us to get carried away with the names of specific bacteria or other complex terms such as microbe, archaea or protists. However, these scientific terms sound like medical jargon to our patients. Instead, try using less technical terms such as “gut bacteria” or “gut bugs”. For patients who require even less technical terms, you could begin by explaining that a microbe “is a tiny living thing only seen with a microscope”.
When discussing microbial markers with your patients, keep it simple and explain that “bacteria produce substances that impact our health”. For instance, instead of advising a patient that butyrate is a beneficial short-chain fatty acid, swap it for an easier to digest sentence such as “butyrate is a substance that promotes health”. For patients who are more informed you can say “butyrate is a substance that strengthens the gut lining and reduces inflammation”.
To avoid overwhelming and overloading patients with information, focus on explaining the key results that impact their health directly. Diving into DNA sequencing methodology or detoxification pathways may be fascinating for us, but it can be confusing for patients and takes focus away from what they need to understand.
Ultimately, the goal is to translate complex health and medical information into easy to digest advice for our patients. When our patients understand their key test results, they are more likely to feel empowered to make positive health decisions.
2. Use metaphors and analogies
Using analogies to explain complex topics is a great tool for any health educator. It makes it easier for our patients to understand microbiome science which can be quite heavy and dense to the general population.
A simple example is using the garden or forest analogy to help patients visualise microbial diversity. Explaining that “the gut microbiome is a cluster of organisms living in an ecosystem” can be harder for them to imagine.
When educating patients on the benefits of fibre consumption for reducing constipation, try using a simple traffic analogy. “Fibre keeps things flowing smoothly through the gut to avoid a build-up of traffic” (a.k.a constipation).
When it comes to describing microbial markers produced by bacteria, this analogy may help: “imagine your gut bugs are like tiny workers in a recycling factory. They take fibre and other nutrients that your body can’t digest and turn them into useful products that support health”.
Using metaphors to emphasise a point can also be helpful. For example, we know that legumes are high in fibre and resistant starch, but simply stating this may not encourage the patient to consume more. However, using fun phrases such as, “legumes are like a secret weapon for your gut” makes these plant foods appear more interesting.
3. Provide visuals or examples
For patients who may learn in a more visual way, try implementing diagrams, drawings or infographics to assist their understanding of the microbiome. Using these types of tools in your practice can help to support your message and might assist your patients to remember the information better. Just like how it’s easier to envision a recipe when it has an attached picture, it is easier for our patients to understand the complexities of the gut when they can visualise this too.
For example, if you like using the forest analogy to explain diversity, complement this with an image of a lush forest with an abundance of species vs a forest with very few species or dominance of a species. This can help patients to grasp the concept of diversity and lean into the interventions you suggest.
A simple image or drawing of the gastrointestinal tract can be helpful when discussing digestion or to demonstrate how far prebiotics need to travel to reach most of our gut bacteria in the large intestine.
A powerful image which helps patients understand the impacts of prebiotics is located in the Prebiotic Guide. This illustration of the gut wall helps patients to visualise microbial functions that are occurring deep in their colon. The use of colour, imagery and clear labelling, assists your patients to understand how prebiotics impact various microbial markers. Ultimately, this visual aid assists patients to understand the prebiotics you are recommending and why.
4. Be friendly and empathetic
If health messages are delivered in a stale or harsh manner, patients may be less inclined to listen and take in what you might be saying. Using a warm and supportive tone helps your patient feel comfortable and may encourage them to ask questions. For example, instead of saying: “antibiotics will disrupt the balance of your microbiome”, try discussing how you can help support the microbiome during this ecological event. “Taking antibiotics can temporarily affect the good bacteria in your gut, however, we can help to rebuild and restore balance by doing x, y & z”.
Using positive reinforcement to encourage progress in their understanding of their health can also be an effective tool. Celebrating how far they have come in terms of understanding their personal microbiome and diet, may help to increase their engagement in clinic.
5. Encourage patients to ask questions to clarify their understanding
Invite your patients to express any concerns or ask questions about their health or the tests and supplements you recommend. Creating an opportunity for patients to openly discuss their health will ensure they feel heard and can instil confidence in your recommendations. For example, ask your patient: “how are you feeling about what I have said so far? Feel free to ask any questions or let me know if you would like me to go over this again?”. Our patients are typically not microbiologists and even the thought that we have tiny microorganisms living inside our gut can be a new concept.
On the flip side, sometimes patients can come to their appointment with a list of complex questions. It’s okay if you don’t know the answer to a question too. Co Biome has a clinical support team to assist you with any questions or concerns you or your patient may have.
Testing the gut microbiome can provide valuable insights into the potential for your patient’s gut microbiome to impact their health. Equipped with this information, you can make informed clinical decisions and provide your patients with personalised recommendations to better support and manage their health.
So..what do the Clinical Application Specialists say?
Co-Biome's Clinical Application Specialists have had several years of practice in translating complex concepts to our customers. Below are some additional examples of how they use the above strategies to explain report findings.
Microbial Diversity: “Diversity is a measure of two things, it measures the number of bacteria detected and how evenly spread they are.”
Expert tip: To empower your patient in understanding their own results, it can be helpful to demonstrate where the species count is found and highlight the most abundant species in the Species Explorer.
Microbial Markers: “Focusing on individual species can be somewhat helpful. However, we need to understand what the whole microbiome is doing as collective of bacteria. Essentially, what are the bacteria making or breaking down, and how might these substances influence our health.”
Expert tip: Explaining that your patient’s results are compared to a healthy cohort of adults provides a deeper interpretation. Teach patients that results in the average range (or in the green) indicate an optimal level.
What is fibre and why is it important?: “Fibre is a special kind of carbohydrate found in plants. Humans can’t break down fibre very easily, meaning much of it passes through the gut to the large intestine fairly untouched. The majority of our gut bacteria live in the large intestine, and they can break down fibre to produce helpful substances that support health.”
Expert tip: It’s common for patients to assume fibre mostly comes from vegetables and supplements such as Metamucil. Explaining that all plant foods contain fibre is a fantastic lesson for patients who want to achieve good long term gut health using a food as medicine approach.
Species Explorer: “This section of the report lists all the bacteria detected from your sample in descending order. Ideally, we want to see more beneficial bacteria at the top which often indicates the microbiome is getting enough fibre from the diet”.
Expert tip: Sometimes species can have a +/- indicating mixed research. This is a good opportunity to explain that some species can be considered both beneficial and less desirable depending on what they are using as fuel. Prevotella copri is a good example of this concept.
Eating a diverse diet: “If you eat the same foods every day, you tend to nourish the same sorts of bacteria. Therefore, consuming a wide variety of plant foods can improve the variety of fibres reaching our gut bacteria and support a more diverse microbiome.”
“We talk about fibre as if it’s the same in all plant foods. However, there are different types of fibres and they behave differently in the body as well as feed different bacteria. Some bacteria will prefer the fibre in vegetables, however, other bacteria may prefer the fibres in wholegrains.”
Expert tip: Use the Co-Biome patient resources available at Co-Education to help support your patients with dietary changes, such as introducing prebiotics and increasing fibre.
You can now share your patient’s MetaXploreTM report directly via the Share Report function. Help your patient interpret their MetaXploreTM report using the Patient Interpretation Guide.
About the author
Christine Stewart is a Nutritionist and Co-Biome Clinical Application Specialist. With an expertise in diet and lifestyle therapies in conjunction with a deep understanding of the gut microbiome, Christine incorporates evidence-based interventions to help her patients reach optimal gut health. Christine specialises in reducing the uncomfortable symptoms of IBS and helping patients gain a love of food again.