Should You Test Your Baby's Microbiome? Dawn Whitten on What Tests Get Right & Wrong

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications and considerations of testing a baby's microbiome with expert Dawn Whitten.

#315 Should you test your baby's microbiome — and if so, when? In this episode, I sit down with naturopath, herbalist, lactation consultant, and infant microbiome expert Dawn Whitten to take a critical and balanced look at the new wave of paediatric microbiome testing. Dawn brings over 20 years of clinical experience in perinatal and early life health, and in this conversation, she covers what these tests get right, where they fall short, and the very real risk of over-interpreting a rapidly changing ecosystem. In this episode, you'll discover: What "normal" actually looks like in the infant microbiome across the first two to three years of life Why the infant microbiome can shift dramatically in just a few weeks without any intervention The clinical risk of testing too early and acting too fast Why Bifidobacterium is the keystone genus of the infant gut — and which species matter most The age grouping problem with current paediatric tests Why organisms like Blastocystis and Dientamoeba in a baby's report may not be cause for alarm The problem with functional markers like faecal calprotectin in infants What responsible interpretation actually looks like in clinical practice What…

People in this episode

Host: Lynda Griparic

Guest: Dawn Whitten

Topics covered

• infant microbiome
• microbiome testing
• perinatal health
• clinical interpretation
• gut health

Keywords

• microbiome
• infant health
• Bifidobacterium
• paediatric tests
• clinical practice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dawn's Natural Early Life Health course, Jason Hawrelak's Healthy Gut course

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