The gut microbiome plays a critical role in health and disease, and it is a living dynamic environment that depends on diet, medication, exercise and a host of other factors. The gut microbial community can be beneficial or harmful to your overall health depending on its composition and on its molecular byproducts.

Unfortunately, until now, analysis of the gut microbiome—  whether its composition, byproducts or fecal pH — required sophisticated laboratory procedures. Measuring indicators of your gut health required shipping a stool specimen to a laboratory and waiting for the results.

We believe that monitoring your gut microbiome should be as simple and accessible as tracking your steps or your sleep. That’s why we developed the MAT. Now, you can learn how your gut microbes are doing with one quick test at home – no shipping or lengthy wait time required.

Broad health benefits are associated with the presence of gut bacteria producing  Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs), which result in acidification of the gut. Fecal pH measures the acidity of stool. Fecal pH has been investigated as part of a wealth of microbiome studies for decades and is an indicator of the abundance of beneficial Short-Chain Fatty Acids. Clinical studies conducted by many groups around the world have shown that mildly acidic fecal pH is directly associated with lower inflammation, lower risk of colorectal cancer and  osteoporosis, and resistance to pathogenic bacteria. Research into measuring SCFA continues to explore their beneficial effect on the immune system and cardio-metabolic health, including maintaining normal blood levels of glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

The Microbiome Activity Tracker (MAT) test is a stool test that measures fecal pH. The test kit is designed to achieve accurate fecal pH readings when conducted at home by everyday users and overcomes key technical hurdles that have prevented this measurement from being easily accessible until now.

As pH is measured in liquids, the MAT has been developed with an easy sample preparation process to dissolve the correct amount of specimen. The kit includes a disposable test-strip to carry out the chemical measurement.

At Coprata, we have conducted studies showing that the MAT test results you will receive at home are as accurate as a pH measurement in the laboratory.

A broad range of fecal pH values are considered clinically normal for adults and values outside this range are not an indication of disease.

There is an optimal range of values associated with maintaining a healthy metabolism and a lower risk of disease. A detailed discussion of these values is discussed in our white paper.

We have developed a functional score so that you can better understand your MAT results. The score is on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being optimal. The score was developed based on domain knowledge and scientific literature. The MAT score is calculated for each individual and is based on the fecal pH range for optimal health benefits and on demographic and diet factors.

An exciting property of fecal pH is that many gut health studies have shown it can be modified within a relatively short time.

Specific foods, and particularly dietary fiber, have been shown to improve fecal pH toward healthier values. Increasing dietary fiber shifts fecal pH by a measurable amount within 14-21 days.

In a study comparing subjects on a plant-based diet to subjects on omnivore and vegetarian diets, the plant-based eaters had a more acidic pH than the other groups, in alignment with the well-known benefits of dietary fiber.

Meat and alcohol consumption have been reported to have a negative effect. Medications may also interfere with fecal pH and antibiotics are known to kill major SCFA producing bacteria and shift fecal pH in a harmful direction.

A change in values over time based on diet, medication, and alcohol consumption can be tracked by the MAT.

In research studies where participants followed controlled diets, kept food diaries, and provided regular stool samples, shifts in fecal pH were observed within about 9 to 13 days after making a change.