Ombre Gut Health Review (Formerly Thryve): Is It Worth It?

Ombre, formerly known as Thryve, is a company that produces gut health tests. These tests are designed to help you determine the best kind of probiotic to use. They also manufacture and sell supplements that they recommend to users of their test, but their products tend to get poor reviews.

Probiotics are living, microscopic organisms that are found in fermented foods, such as yogurt and sauerkraut. Probiotics can also be taken as supplements.

A 2019 reviewTrusted Source showed that probiotics can have at least temporary health benefits, such as:

• boosting the immune system
• supporting digestive health
• improving stool consistency and reducing diarrhea
• reducing vaginal yeast infections
• There has been an explosion of probiotic supplement brands to choose from over the past several years. Since probiotics have many species and strains, it can be confusing trying to figure out which type will be best for you.

What is Ombre?

Ombre is a tech health company that was previously known as Thryve. The company was founded in 2016 in California.

Ombre manufactures an at-home gut microbiome test. Your gut microbiome is made up of the microscopic bacteria, fungi, and other living organisms that reside in your large intestine. A healthy gut microbiome is essential for supporting gut health, and overall health.

Ombre also manufactures several different types of probiotic and prebiotic blends. They recommend specific products to people who have taken their test, based on the results. You can also purchase supplements from Ombre without taking their gut health test.

Ombre’s founders, staff, and board are not listed on their website. They list two people as experts, although their contributory roles are not clear. They are nutritionist Kimberly Griffith, MS, and bioinformatics researcher Manoj Samanta, PhD.

How does it work?

The mail-in gut health test is available online through the Ombre website. Once you purchase it, it should arrive within several weeks.

You’ll activate your kit online by creating a user account. Your results will appear in your account portal on the website in approximately 3 weeks.

The kit contains a collection receptacle for a small stool sample. If possible, mail your sample back the same day you collect it. A prepaid envelope is included in the kit for you to use.

Ombre analyzes the bacteria in your stool and makes recommendations, based on an algorithm, about your gut health and probiotics you may benefit from taking. They do not look for viruses, fungi, or other microorganisms in your sample.

According to the manufacturer, users of the test automatically get a gut health report that includes information about the bacteria they found and sequenced from the sample.

Your gut health report will also include information about foods you should and should not eat.

Ombre offers users the opportunity to purchase a package of 10 additional reports that provide more comprehensive information. The exact content of these reports is unclear. On Trustpilot, the manufacturer calls this information “deeper insights.”

What products do they sell?

You can buy Ombre supplements on a one-time basis or with a monthly subscription. The subscription cost is slightly discounted.

When this was written, Ombre products included:

• Gut Health Test for $99
• Rise Prebiotics for $49
• Endless Energy Probiotics for $39
• Healthy Gut Probiotics for $39
• Metabolic Booster Probiotics for $39
• Shipping fees and taxes are additional and tallied at checkout for every product except the gut health test, which ships free.

According to the manufacturer, their products are certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) or Underwriters Laboratories (UL). They are also vegan, free from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and gluten-free. NSF is the abbreviation for the National Sanitation Foundation, a non-profit organization that has been creating standards for food safety and sanitation to promote public health since 1944. NSF certification guarantees that the manufacturer uses only FDA approved raw materials, that products have passed numerous NSF testing for material safety, design, construction, and product performance. UL stands for Underwriters’ Laboratories, a global safety certification company that tests and ensures products are safe for use.

Pros and Cons

Based on our internal vetting process and customer reviews on multiple review sites, this is an overview of the pros and cons for Ombre:

Pros

• less expensive than other gut health tests
• stool sample acquisition and account setup are easy to do

Cons

• no access to medical support after receiving test results
• no chat feature or telephone number listed on website
• cannot download, print, or view report as a PDF (according to the company, this feature is currently in the pipeline)
• significantly delayed shipment of products or no receipt of products
• difficulty cancelling subscriptions
• can’t confirm safety of Ombre’s customized dietary supplements
• exaggerated health claims made by the company in their marketing
• lack of transparency about their diagnostic process and formulations
• lack of third-party validation or testing for their lab analyses of samples

The bottom line

Ombre (Thryve) is a manufacturer of an at-home gut health test and dietary supplements. Their test is significantly less expensive but has significantly poorer reviews than other at-home microbiome tests.

Some users say they received valuable information in their follow-up report and good results from the recommended probiotics. Others have complaints about poor customer service, and products that are not received on a timely basis, or at all.

The company appears to lack transparency about their leadership. They also make exaggerated claims about the health benefits customers can expect to receive from their supplements.