#174 Navigating the Science of Gut Health Testing: Dr. Megan Rossi in conversation with Adrienne Adhami - REPLAY

Well let's bust right into it because as I said so much to talk about from the new supplement brand you also have another brand obviously you're an author you do the most and I think for the listeners of this show you know it's a real really eclectic bunch actually I think a lot of people tune in for that kind of entrepreneurial you know building a business in the wellness space like what that's like but also yeah learning like what new products are coming to market and um and also of course interest in their own health as well so it's a full mixed bag so for anyone listening who maybe doesn't know of you and your work could you maybe give us a bit of an intro and kind of tell us what's led you to working on this supplement brand now

yeah look a lot of people kind of throw the word entrepreneur around and i'm like I don't resonate with it.

That's not me.

I am a scientist, right? So I, background rewind to 15 or so years, was doing my nutrition and dietetics degree.

And when I graduated, I was working in the hospital setting as a clinical dietitian, dealing with like all different types of conditions, heart disease, kidney disease, different cancers.

But I was also really fortunate to be the nutritionist for the Australian Olympic synchronized swimming team.

So here I was seeing very sick people and elite athletes.

Both of them were coming to me complaining of the gut.

And I was like, oh, what is going on here? Like, so that was like 2010.

And there hadn't been a whole lot of health research really come to the forefront, right? There was murmurs of it.

And I was like, I need to get more answers.

I was always that person.

My mom was a science teacher.

So I was always like that annoying, like I had questions.

So that's when I did the PhD.

So I looked at whether we targeted the gut through things like probiotics, whether that could help with not just gut symptoms that, let's be honest, so many people struggle with, but throughout the whole body.

Could we help with, you know, kidney function and heart function? And it was that PhD that was like that aha moment, like I'm obsessed with the gut.

This is, you know, what I want to dedicate the rest of my career to.

So did all that in Australia, then moved over to the UK to work as a researcher at King's.

And a decade on, I'm still a researcher there and we do all different types of nutrition interventions and look at how that impacts our gut health, whether it's in the disease state with like inflammatory bowel disease or IBS or whether it's just for longevity.

So like I said, I resonate myself with thinking I'm a scientist and opportunities have come up because I also am a clinician.

So I've got the gut health clinic, so a team of gut specialist dieticians.

And I think that has probably helped me identify gaps in the market where I see what's happening in the research world.

I see what... often very intelligent people coming to clinic, you know, are saying that they've heard online and are doing with their own gut health.

And I'm like, huge disconnect in certain areas, including in probiotics.