★★★★★

Excellent on Trustpilot

The source of your child's constipation could lie in their gut microbiome

Upset stomach and constipation troubles millions of children. Thanks to new research within gut health, there is help to be found!

An imbalance in the gut microbiome has proven to impact children's health in ways not previously known. With Alba's simple test you'll get valuable insight about your child's gut microbiome – and a clean-cut action plan to prevent persistent stomach problems.

Learn more

What you get with Alba

We send you an easy-to-use stool collection kit, and you send it back to us. We'll send you a detailed insights report and an action plan with recipes. With Alba you even get a 1:1 consultation with an expert.

Detailed insight on your child's gut microbiome: how the microbiome works and impacts the health of your child's skin.

An action plan and recipes: personalized tips including recipes as well as specific foods recommended to boost your child's gut health.

Personalized support and advice from a certified nutrition- and health coach: a 30-minute 1:1 consultation to help you take action and overcome any obstacles. You can ask us anything!

Order your testkit

Learn more about gut health and constipation

with pediatrician Erica Bonns

★★★★★

Molly, verified Alba user:

"So interesting to gain insights into my child's gut health – super clear advice on what to add and what to avoid! We haven’t had as many issues with constipation since!"

Order your testkit

How Alba can support you

Personalized support for your child

Alba’s doctors and certified Nutrition and Health Coaches are here to answer all your questions about your child’s gut issues and what you can do to help, based on the test results.

Tailored dietary recommendations

Small changes now can make a big difference in the future. With a diet plan tailored to your child’s gut flora, you can influence their gut health in the right direction, including removing or replacing certain foods.

The research behind Alba

At Alba, science is at the core of everything we do. Our recommendations are based on world-leading research in children's gut health and microbiome.

We lead the largest study on children’s gut health in Sweden, which provides us with a comprehensive database and valuable insights into how gut health affects children’s well-being.

We have a research collaboration with HELMi, one of the world’s largest studies on children’s gut health, conducted at the University of Helsinki.

Our advisors include leading pediatricians, gastroenterologists, nutritionists, and researchers, as well as some of the world's foremost experts in the field.

Our team has over 1600 scientific publications combined.

Developed in the Nordics

Learn more about our research

FAQ

We are inhabited by 39 trillions of microorganisms that live on our skin, mouth, genitals, respiratory tract and gut. They are bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites and they are essential for our health - in fact, we couldn’t survive without them! The gut microbiome is the collection of all of our microbes in the gut, and their DNA. It has a fundamental role in digestion, immune system health and brain health. Imbalances in the gut microbiome have been associated with most chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, asthma, celiac disease and even cancer.

‍

References: Ghosh, T.S., Shanahan, F. & O’Toole, P.W. The gut microbiome as a modulator of healthy ageing. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol (2022); Vijay, A., Valdes, A.M. Role of the gut microbiome in chronic diseases: a narrative review. Eur J Clin Nutr 76, 489–501 (2022).

From a stool sample, we are able to collect the DNA of all gut microbes. From their DNA we can tell exactly which bacteria are present and what they are doing in your gut. We analyze bacterial DNA only, and we do not analyze your own DNA.

In children, it depends on the age. The baby's microbiome is constantly evolving from birth to adulthood, so monitoring its trajectory and development over time is even more informative than looking at only one snapshot.

From one microbiome test, you will discover:

Levels of friendly bacteria, promoting healthy development
Levels of unfriendly bacteria, as some types of bacteria are known to be unfriendly when in large share, being able to cause infections and inhibit friendly bacteria
Gut microbiome diversity, which is associated to health and wellbeing
Associations with constipation, from our clinical study in Sweden
Levels of bacteria promoting immune system development and associated to lower risk of allergy and eczema
Levels of bacteria promoting metabolic health and associated to healthy weight
Levels of bacteria promoting brain health and cognition
Most importantly, you will receive a set of personalized recommendations covering diet, environmental exposure, behavior and probiotic supplements (if needed) reviewed by our medical experts and discussed with you in a 1:1 consultation with a certified Nutrition & Health Coach. You will also receive 3 simple example recipes that promote optimal gut health.

References: Stewart CJ, Ajami NJ, O'Brien JL, Hutchinson DS, Smith DP, Wong MC, Ross MC, Lloyd RE, Doddapaneni H, Metcalf GA, Muzny D, Gibbs RA, Vatanen T, Huttenhower C, Xavier RJ, Rewers M, Hagopian W, Toppari J, Ziegler AG, She JX, Akolkar B, Lernmark A, Hyoty H, Vehik K, Krischer JP, Petrosino JF. Temporal development of the gut microbiome in early childhood from the TEDDY study. Nature (2018);

Alba is for children from 0 to 12 years old. For newborns, the plan includes personalized recommendations for breastfeeding mothers and information on how your baby formula of choice (if any) affects your child's gut health.

With Alba's convenient test kit, collecting the stool sample takes only 2 minutes. You’ll receive everything you need from us to complete the test, and once you're done, simply return it in a prepaid envelope.

You will receive your results within three weeks at the latest after sending the sample to us.

Alba Health is founded on world-leading research in children's gut health. We run Sweden's largest study in this field in collaboration with Uppsala University and based on over 15 years of research by Prof. Willem de Vos, a leading scientist with over 800 publications in this field. We also have a research collaboration with the HELMi cohort at the University of Helsinki, one of the world's largest studies in the area. Our experts in medicine, nutrition, and research have collectively published over 1,600 scientific articles.

Alba Health uses research-grade gut microbiome testing (deep shotgun metagenomics) performed in a certified laboratory. Data is stored according to GDPR and as approved by The Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Etikprovningsmyndigheten).

Alba Health does not provide medical diagnoses. We offer detailed insights into your child's gut microbiome along with an action plan with strategies to boost their gut health