Our mission is to make health and happiness to people by unlocking the potential of their gut microbiota.We talked with Natsuki Suganuma, who explains that “your gut microbiota plays a key role in determining your health.”
Please tell us about bacterico.
Bacterico provides a one-to-one, personalized service to care for your gut microbiota. We use test kits to identify bacteria in the user’s intestines. Based on the test results, a registered dietitian provides nutritional guidance that is perfect for that user’s intestinal environment.
[Fig. 1] “mamaflora” analyzes the gut microbiota from a stools of pregnant woman, and a registered dietitian provides personalized nutritional guidance during pregnancy and up until delivery.
For example, “mamaflora“, which is our main service, targeted to pregnant women. A registered dietitian provides personalized nutritional guidance based on data from each pregnant women’s gut microbiota test. Studies show that caring for pregnant women’s intestinal environment reduces the risks of premature births, gestational diabetes, and obesity in children.
We also provide services for health-conscious and results-oriented people, such as businesspersons and athletes. By focusing on the “gut,” we help these people achieve the health they desire.
In B2B (business-to-business), we work with business partners to develop new health-maintenance businesses and products, and provide gut microbiota testing and nutritional guidance to employees as a part of their employee benefits program.
Why has there been so much attention paid recently to gut microbiota?
Even foods that are considered to be healthy have different effects on each person, depending on the type and balance of gut microbiota. That is why it is important to know your intestinal environment through testing and take care of it accordingly. Some studies have shown that improving the intestinal environments immunity and leads to the prevention of obesity, lifestyle-related diseases, cancer, diabetes, and dementia.
Although the average life expectancy of Japanese people is increasing, about 90% of them will eventually pass away in a medical institution.
As our lives have become longer, we would like to stay healthy and free from illness. Living healthy life not only maintains quality of life, but also helps to maintain the social security system. I believe the key is gut bacteria.
We are beginning to work outside of Japan as well. In countries where the public health insurance system is not in place, citizens are more concerned about disease prevention and are interested in our activities.
Please tell us about your history and future plans.
I wanted to become a doctor when I was in high school. However, during a work experience program, I went through a young patient’s death from an illness. That experience taught me the importance of disease prevention, so I decided on a career to study preventive medicine.
After graduate school, I joined a food company and have worked as a researcher because I wanted to help people become healthy through their food. There, I joined the gut microbiota research team and learned that improving the intestinal environment is the key to prevent diseases. The intestinal environment can be improved by changing eating habits. In other words, anyone can be healthy if they make an effort in the right direction.
I established bacterico in Osaka. Now I wear two hats: as a Assistant Professor at Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy, and a CEO. We have dozens of employees, some of whom are researchers and some of whom are dietitians raising children. We want to be a company that provides a way of working where pregnancy and/or childbirth are not obstacles, and where people with diverse backgrounds can fully demonstrate their potential.
Our challenge continues under the mission of “creating a healthy life through the power of gut microbiota.”