Is Your Diet Working For You? Uncover Your Unique Biological Response To Food with Ranjan Sinha, founder and CEO of Digbi Health

[00:00:01] This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket, your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit outcomesrocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.

[00:00:30] Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Outcomes Rocket. I'm so pumped to have Ranjan Sinha with us today. Known him for a few years, always just been doing incredible things in healthcare and entrepreneurship. He's the founder and CEO of Digbi. He's an entrepreneur, an author, an innovator, and a pioneer in precision biology.

[00:00:53] He's passionate about AI, gut microbiome, genomics-based care, and has practiced it successfully to address his life-threatening condition. And now he wants to do it for the masses. Ranjan, such a pleasure to be with you, and thanks for joining us. Good to be here with you, Saul. It's been a while, but I'm glad we have reconnected. Likewise, likewise. It's good to connect with you. I always learn something when we're in the same room. So let's get into it.

[00:01:22] Let's help our listeners get more familiar with you and your business. Talk to us about what Digbi does. How is it different? And why does it matter more than ever today? Yeah. Well, you know, at Digbi, we treat and prevent what we call the top four food-related illnesses. Obesity, diabetes, GI health.

[00:01:43] And with the data we have seen, our own data about mental health and then what you see published, other research between the gut-brain axis, we now have added mental health to that category. And this basically afflicts, this collection of illnesses afflicts about almost 180 million Americans.

[00:02:04] And if you look at, it accounts for about 70, 80% of what we call healthcare's controllable cost. You fall off a bicycle, you hurt, you get injured, you have to go to the hospital. That's not controllable. But these four diseases really are, our goal is to make them optional. And I think the way we think about this is, what will it take to take food that has become the cause of this illness to make it the cure?

[00:02:34] And that's what we are obsessed about. And the way we do this is, instead of saying you have to change your behavior, we use what we call precision biology. Let's first understand your biology because everybody responds differently to food. The same food responds differently. And that has been missing in our approach to these illnesses. Ranjan, I'm fascinated by this. And I'll tell you, a lot of companies talk a good game.

[00:03:04] And they say they could do a lot of things. Let's dig into your solution. Because, by the way, folks, I know Ranjan well. He walks the walk. And so I want to give you a platform here to talk about the end customer that you serve in the healthcare ecosystem. And specifically, what value, what tech, what service are you delivering? Yeah. So the end customer for us is an individual.

[00:03:30] And typically, they would come because their employer has decided to offer Digby or a health plan that has decided to give access to their members. And that's the beauty of our approach. My goal is to make the ability to treat by understanding somebody's genetics, microbiome, accessible to the masses. And that means it has to be covered through your insurance.

[00:04:00] Otherwise, it becomes a tool that people can afford that can only use. And an average member, once they sign up to Digby, the first thing you download an app and we will ship you to your home a genetic test kit, a microbiome test kit. And everyone now typically gets a continuous glucose monitor for two weeks. And the goal here is, through your genetics, we need to understand maybe your food allergies.

[00:04:30] Obesity, for example, has different dynamics. Some people eat too much. Some people eat when they are stressed. Some people have insulin-related issues. So truly to understand what's causing the obesity. What's the root cause? Microbiome has become really another organ. Today there is enough evidence. It produces these bacterias, are producing so many compounds and hormones and enzymes that are essential for us.

[00:05:00] And we need to make sure we are feeding them right. So we need to understand that new organ of yours, where is it? What disease it's causing and how do we shift it to start curing your disease? And so people get these at-home test kits and we start developing a sense of the biology. The next thing we want to sense is, understand, is what are you eating? And there has been such an obsession with calorie counting.

[00:05:28] That's where the industry has been stuck for the last 40, 50 years. And we all know a can of Coke has the same amount of calories as an egg, but their impact on the body is very, very different. So we don't obsess about calories. We obsess about three things. One is, how does the food respond to your glucose control? So do you get a big sugar spike or the meal you're eating is keeping your sugar steady?

[00:05:56] The second thing we want to know is, is there anything inflammatory that you're eating? You could be allergic to eggs. You could be allergic to histamines. That's the information I want. Like, I don't know what that is for me. And there's probably a lot of people out there like that. That's the information I want. And that's exactly. Knowing that there are enough people who come into our program that their morning breakfast is a banana milkshake and they are having symptoms.

[00:06:26] Once we analyze the genetics, it appears that they may have a histamine intolerance issue. And that mere guidance to say, replace the banana with something else, starts a positive cascade. Oh, man. Yeah. Another example we see all the time, people eat a power bar at four o'clock or five o'clock and then they go for a run. And they are struggling to sleep. And then they are snacking late at night and that's a whole negative cascade that's causing it.

[00:06:56] Just understanding through their genetic analysis that they are caffeine intolerant in the sense that the body takes a long time to clear that caffeine. And that power bar, you don't see that in the ingredients because it's not required. And it has caffeine. And just asking them to shift the power bar and not do something else starts that positive health cascade. And trying to understand the food, we put a lot of thought to it.

[00:07:26] And so the idea is you just take a photo of your meal. And thanks to AI now, we have trained our engine on about three million food photos or real photos of people, food photos. And it will basically pull out your biology data. It will try to recognize what's in the food. And it gives you a point system that is unique to us. It's called a nourishment density score. 14 is an ideal meal.

[00:07:55] And you and I can eat the same meal, we'll get a different score. And so the software instantaneously will tell you your score is 12. And the reason I have dimmed two points is because maybe this is causing a glucose spike. And it's not feeding your microbiome correctly because you're missing certain kinds of fibers and starches. And then it gives you a guidance of what you can do. Well, I think that's super, super useful.

[00:08:22] And the big thing that we like to do on these, Ranjan, is create curiosity. You certainly have. What's one thing that most people don't realize about the problem that you solve? The thing that most people don't realize is how different their bodies are. They kind of feel it. Yeah. But there are people who will go, you know, suddenly avocado is the food of the week on TikTok. Everybody is consuming avocado.

[00:08:50] Avocado doesn't behave the same way across all bodies. And once you start over-consuming it, that's when it starts negatively impacting your body. So it's really about there are almost every food, as long as it's not ultra-processed, is probably good for the body. But you need to know which of these are good for your body.

[00:09:15] And so when you get into an Atkins diet or a keto diet or an anti-inflammatory diet, it definitely helps somebody. That's why it gets more popular. But it's not a universal diet. The reason is your body's... That's really at the core. And the second is the power of the gut microbiome. I think we are at the early stage of probably the biggest revolution in healthcare. I'm excited about it. Your body's own ability to become a pharmaceutical engine. And it's a huge opportunity.

[00:09:44] It's a huge opportunity. I want to... I got two more for you, Ranjan, and I know these are shorter clips. I wanted to ask you, as a founder, what tip or business hack would you recommend to other founders out there that want to do great? We love to learn from people that are successful.

[00:10:00] I think the most important, one of the things is, especially now with these AI tools that have become available, the ability to go the idea, the product idea, which is typically with a founder, and to create a digital product out of that. That window has... That process is compressed. Today, I can go from an idea to a basic functioning app. In a few days.

[00:10:31] That's just incredible, right? It doesn't matter whether you know coding or not. Because most of the time, as a founder, you may have an idea. You go, well, I'm not an engineer. Maybe I need to find a software engineer. Maybe I need to go find a company that can do this for me. Today, that's the biggest hack. You could go from an idea to a basic prototype on your own. And so I urge everyone to think of that.

[00:10:58] And the idea with Digby's approach five, six years ago was very unique to go and say, you know, convince insurance companies and employers. So again, the bolder your idea, the more patient you need to be. And then every point in that journey, you have to live this world of questioning your assumption and validating your assumption.

[00:11:25] And as a true founder, you have to be honest to yourself where that edge is. Otherwise, you will waste a lot of time chasing something that you would never acknowledge that there was a flaw in that original thinking. Oh, love it. Ranjan, just like wisdom and then like modern day advice. Guys, take advantage of this. Hit rewind. Think about it and ask yourself, how can I make this a reality in my business? Such sage advice. Thank you for that, Ranjan.

[00:11:54] And to close us out, what would you tell our listeners is the best place to reach out to you? And I know you're speaking to plans, maybe brokers, employers. Talk to what message do you want to leave them? How can they reach out to you? I think the benefits consultants and the HR benefits leaders, I think, have a unique opportunity. I mean, it's their ability to influence millions of people's health.

[00:12:23] I think it's a unique position. It's a unique job. It's a unique responsibility. And I want them to reach out to me because I know we can help. That's awesome. And so that's what I would urge them to reach out to us. And we would like to help. And where can they do that, Ranjan? What's the best place? LinkedIn, company, website? LinkedIn is a great way. I don't know if you want me to share my email, but LinkedIn. Yeah, LinkedIn's great.

[00:12:52] You could add that to the show notes. Yeah, LinkedIn is a great way. And I think it's very, you know, many people don't realize as a benefits consultant or HR leader, it's not very often you get a chance in a job where you can influence millions of people's health, their families. And I think that's a very unique position they have. It really is. So take advantage of that power you have to make a positive difference. Yes.

[00:13:20] The gut microbiome is the place you could do that. And Digby could be your very best next answer to lowering your overall cost of care and giving more health care to people. Ranjan, thank you for being with us. We'll make sure to leave all your contact information in the show notes. And folks, reach out to Ranjan. Now's the time. Ranjan, thanks for being with us. Absolutely, Saul. Good to catch up. And thank you for giving us the opportunity. Our pleasure, Ranjan. Take care.

[00:13:58] This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket, your health care exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help health care organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit OutcomesRocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.