DayTwo Review Summary
Summary
DayTwo offers gut microbiome DNA testing to provider personal diet recommendations and consultation with a dietician. Their test and recommendations tend to cost more than competitors’ tests.
This review is written with the intent to be as unbiased as possible. However, it represents the opinion of an individual reviewer and is therefore subjective. Furthermore, at Nebula Genomics we seek to educate the public about the benefits of Whole Genome Sequencing. Information about our Whole Genome Sequencing DNA test is therefore incorporated into the review.
January 15, 2021
Table of Contents
7 Facts from our DayTwo Review
- Location: Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel and Walnut Creek (San Francisco), CA
- Products: A gut microbiome testing kit. After completing the test, you get personalized meal recommendations on the Daytwo app along with a one-on-one consultation with a DayTwo dietician.
- Reports: Detailed information about the diversity of the population of your gut microbiome including food suggestions to increase the population of particular gut bacteria.
- Privacy: The company claims to protect your data using administrative, technical, personnel, and physical measures. However, they do not mention the processes involved. Their privacy law is also based on the law applicable in Israel, where the company is based.
- Raw Data Access: You do not get access to raw data.
- Cost: $499
- Complementary Products: Nebula Genomics (Whole Genome Sequencing with weekly updated reports (incl. diet), data exploration tools, and advanced ancestry reporting)
DayTwo Introduction
DayTwo is a personal nutrition-based microbiome company that uses the human gut biome to analyze different meal recommendations and provide health solutions to consumers’ metabolic diseases. The DayTwo company started back in 2015. It is renowned for its accurate meal predictions, which have provided excellent results. Their app uses a mix of artificial intelligence and machine learning to build meal recommendations for their consumers.
The company was co-founded by a lawyer named Lihi Segal, who currently spearheads their efforts. The company’s idea originated with Professors Eran Segal and Eran Elinav from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, where they published a five-year study on 1000 subjects to show how different human bodies respond to the same meals. Their conclusion showed that the idea of a ‘perfect diet’ for all is vague, and everyone reacts differently, even if they have the same diet. Upon its completion, the research technology was licensed to DayTwo.
In a whitepaper for DayTwo, Eran Segal is quoted as saying: “DayTwo is the only evidence-based, actionable, microbiome platform in the market today. We are in a privileged position to leverage our experience including first-rate science; clinical trials in Israel and the US, tens of thousands of customers; and provider, employer and payer relationships,” Lihi Segal, CEO and founder of DayTwo, said in a statement. “This deep and broad foundation, coupled with this financing, enables DayTwo to address the large and pressing clinical need to bring food-as-medicine to market for people with type 2 diabetes in the US.” Over 100 million people live with diabetes and pre-diabetes in the U.S.
DayTwo purchased the exclusive license for this ongoing research. DayTwo and Mayo Clinic then duplicated this research using 329 subjects. With this knowledge at their fingertips, they built a database and an app to provide different personalized nutrient recommendations for their customers.
Apart from these two companies, DayTwo also has partnerships with other health organizations like the Israel Diabetes Association, Joslin Diabetes Centre, and Janssen (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson). Their collaboration with one of the world’s largest HMOs (Clalit) has helped push their product further in the gut microbiome testing world.
DayTwo Science: The Gut Microbiome and Blood Sugar Levels
Science has shown that the human gut has trillions of microbes (the microbiome), which play a role in how we metabolize specific food and how our blood glucose levels vary after every meal.
The microbiome diversity of every human varies. This means our blood glucose responses are different from each other even if we consume the same meal. This principle is what DayTwo uses to provide nutrition recommendations for their consumers all around the world. They carried out a study using 800 people to consolidate this fact that has been established by Prof. Segal and Prof. Elinav.
Here’s how their process goes: they conduct microbiome profiling using the full shotgun sequencing method from the stool sample you provide. Along with other details like your glycated hemoglobin reports and the questionnaires, they use a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide unique microbiome analysis and meals recommendations that suit your individual gut microbiome.
They also provide suggestions on the type of food to eat to improve some deficient bacteria’s growth in your microbiome. The report shows different factors (such as butyrate, Vitamin B, and many more) needed in the body, the bacteria that augments the production of these factors, and the foods you should eat to promote the growth of this type of bacteria.
Through their partnership with the Joslin Diabetes Center, their product is specifically marketed to people with diabetes. It offers them a means of glycemic control that is way easier than the standard methods. This way, they can monitor their blood sugar response without undergoing incessant food nutrition plans, blood tests, and medications.
With DayTwo’s food-as-medicine plan, customers input different food types on the app and watch how it calculates such food’s effect on their blood glycemic responses. Consultation with their dietician will also help determine appropriate meals even better. Their recommendations have also been found to be helpful with weight loss, liver diseases, and obesity.
Although DayTwo clearly states that their recommendations shouldn’t replace a health professional’s advice, and patients should always consult with their doctors before using the product.
DayTwo Review
How to take a DayTwo test
After clicking on the ‘Get Started’ button close to the bottom of the website, it leads you to the checkout page to register if you’re not a registered user. This will require some personal information like your name and email address.
After this page, it leads to the payment section and confirmation of payment. After this, you get your gut microbiome testing kit within a week. The testing kit contains a toilet accessory, a bio-specimen bag, a mailer box, a spatula, and a collector contained in a plastic tray.
After collecting your stool sample with the spatula and collector, put it in the bio-specimen bag, seal it, place the package in the mailer box, and send it back to the company’s labs. You should have scanned the barcode on the collector using the app before mailing it back to DayTwo.
The company will alert you through mail when your sample reaches their lab. You also have to fill out a 10-minute questionnaire and submit blood reports, including your recent HbA1c levels. These reports help them to determine your recent blood sugar levels.
Within 21 days after mailing, you get your DayTwo results on the app, including meal recommendations and the report itself. You’ll also schedule a single session with one of DayTwo’s dietitians to help you interpret your results.
However, you do not get access to the raw data of your test on DayTwo. At Nebula Genomics, we give you access to your raw data file after taking our test. We also allow you to upload your raw DNA files either from 23andMe or AncestryDNA to get extra interpretation. This service is totally free.
DayTwo Costs
While DayTwo offers excellent services, their price is on the high side. The DayTwo microbiome gut testing kit alongside all its perks costs $499. As a means of comparison, Viome’s Gut Intelligence and Psomagen’s Gutbiome+ (which also offers access to genetic counseling) both cost $150 each.
You can purchase their kit on their website only. They do not put it up for sale on third party suppliers like Amazon.
A DayTwo promo code is available carleyschweet.com for 30% off orders.
DayTwo Reports Review
After mailing in your test kit, you get your reports and personalized nutrition recommendations on the app within 21 days.
The report starts with a brief introduction about microbes and the gut microbiome. The introduction covers the gut microbiome’s function and how it’s related to health, nutrition, and immunity. It also tells you what to expect in your personal results.
The report then moves on to the analysis of your results. It starts this section with your bacterial composition. DayTwo’s bacterial composition is divided into four types: bacteriodetes, actinobacteria, proteobacteria, and firmicutes. It divides your share of these four bacterial types into percentages and compares them to their database population’s average percentage.
It then lists out your 50 most abundant bacterial types along with their percentages and compares them to various percentages of their database population.
You can then see sections regarding bacterial abundance ratios, important microbiome members (how your abundance compares with their database), and rare species (species in your gut that are notebally different from the general population).
The most noteworthy part of the report is the functional metabolite bacteria section. This section lists some essential metabolites in the body (such as butyrate) and the bacteria that augment their production. It then gives examples of foods that will help promote the growth of that particular bacterium.
The final sections detail analysis of ecological parameters (richness, evenness, and diversity) and probiotic bacteria. They also include information on their DNA sequencing technology and references.
As detailed and simple as the report is, the app is even easier to use. It uses a scoring system to rate thousands of different foods and food combinations based on your biometrics, gut microbiome analysis, lifestyle factors, and health questionnaire, yielding a unique nutrition profile that ensures a healthy blood-sugar balance for long term health. You can also ask for a minimalized list of “Your Search Results” when building a meal.
This way, all you need to do is input a particular meal regime, and the machine learning algorithm calculates how it affects your blood sugar level. It also generates food recommendations specific to your body, like Top Meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Overall, DayTwo provides excellent reports and helps you understand them even better, thanks to their dietician session. A sample report can be found through an internet search.
DayTwo Privacy Review
The privacy policy is at the bottom of the DayTwo website home page. Their privacy policy is quite explanatory, although they can have done better with explaining their security measures. The privacy report divides the information the website collects during use into two categories: personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable information.
While the personally identifiable information consists of details you submit like your name, email address, lifestyle patterns, etc. The non-personally identifiable information might not be traced to you and includes details like your IP address, time spent on the website, etc.
They claim they only use personal data submitted for their services only. While they might share your information with other third-party websites like cloud storage services and data processing solutions, they claim these services also uphold privacy practices and help them deliver their services only.
In terms of security, they claim to use administrative, technical, personnel, and physical measures to protect your data. However, they stopped short of telling more about their protection measures.
Other DayTwo Reviews
Due to the limited availability of their products on other platforms apart from their website, there are not many reviews available. However, Dna Testing Choice users provide three reviews. While two users gave good reviews and five-star ratings about the product, the last one complained about not getting a report after months of submitting a sample and gave a one-star rating. This resulted in a cumulative rating of 4.5 stars.
DayTwo in the News
- DayTwo obtains $31million from series B financing
- The National Institute of Health includes DayTwo’s science in its 2020-2030 Nutrition Plan
- DayTwo partners with HMO Clalit, one of Israel’s four health maintenance organizations
DayTwo Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy-to-understand reports
- Excellent nutrition recommendations
Cons
- Product is more expensive than competitor items
- Not available on third-party sellers like Amazon
Nebula Genomics
Knowing your genetic predispositions to high blood sugar levels could help you determine if you should use products like DayTwo’s Gut Microbiome test. You can learn more about genetic variants related to high blood sugar levels in the Nebula Research Library.
At Nebula Genomics, our job is to simply give you the best Whole Genome Sequencing technique money can buy. Our test proudly stands above other whole genome sequencing kits. This is because we analyze over 6,000,000,000 positions on your DNA. We’re experts in this field, and our expertise is reflected in the detailed report we give to every consumer.
We also offer genetic testing, which provides deep ancestry reporting with a full Y chromosome and mtDNA sequencing. Our collaborations make it easier for us to map out your family tree. This way, you can satisfy your curiosity about your origins.
We also give you the option to upload raw DNA data to our website to get additional DNA analysis.
Unlike DayTwo, our privacy policies are very transparent. We use privacy computing and blockchain-type encryption on our website to ensure no one has complete access to your data except you.
| Viome | DayTwo | Nebula Genomics | |
| Testing Method | Stool | Stool | Saliva and Whole genome sequencing at 30x coverage |
| Reporting | Gut microbes present, proprietary “health scores” | Microbiome diversity, effect on food metabolism/blood sugar levels, diets based on this information | Comprehensive genetic predispositions |
| Ancestry reporting | No | No | Deep ancestry reporting with full Y chromosome and mtDNA sequencing |
| Data upload options | No | No | Yes (learn more) |
| Focus on privacy | No | No | Yes (learn more) |
| Tools to explore data | No | No | Yes |
| Cost | $149 / $349 | $499 | $0 – $299 |
You should also check out these other companies that offer DNA testing for gut microbiome and diet recommendations:
- Atlas Biomed (microbiome and nutrition recommendations)
- Biohm (gut health, including bacteria and fungi)
- Ixcela (blood test for gut health and personalized recommendations)
- Onegevity (gut health and personalized recommendations)
- Psomagen (gut health and gene test)
- Rootine (personalized supplement and vitamins based on DNA test)
- Sun Genomics (gut microbiome testing and personalized probiotics for adults, children, and infants)
- Thryve (personalized probiotics)
- Viome (gut health and microbiome testing)
Nutritional supplements and weight loss programs may also be good to explore:
- Goli Nutrition (apple cider vinegar gummies)
- Hydroxycut (weight loss supplements)
- InsideTracker (biomarker health tests and optional DNA test)
- Resurge (deep sleep supplement for weight loss)
- Rootine (personalized supplement and vitamins based on DNA test)
- Noom (subscription based weight loss programs)
- Nutrisystem (personalized weight loss programs)
- Yoga Burn (instructor led weight loss yoga)
Did you like our DayTwo review? You can read more reviews on our blog and check out our complete guide to the best DNA test kit and other home tests.
You may also be interested in virtual health care such as that offered by Teladoc and Lemonaid Health!
