EXCLUSIVE: Personalized Gut Health App Ayble Launches
Consumers are now “ayble” to take control of their own gut health.
Ayble, a personalized gut health app that has been in development for nearly three years, has officially launched.
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Founder Sam Jactel was drawn to building a company within the gut health space, due to a personal connection — Jactel himself has inflammatory bowel disease and his mother, grandmother and sisters all have dealt with gut-related disorders, as well, including Crohn’s and irritable bowel syndrome.
The American Gastroenterological Association reports that 40 percent of Americans are impacted by digestive issues daily. Furthermore, between 60 and 70 million Americans have a gastrointestinal (GI) disease, according to the report. Research, from several sources including the American College of Gastroenterology, women are often more likely to have GI disorders and life stages, including menstruation and menopause, can increase symptoms. Other brands like Wonderbelly, a clean antacid brand and BelliWelli, a probiotic snack bar company, have recently entered the space to address concerns.
Although Jactel spent years visiting expensive doctors and trying different treatments, he still experienced five condition flares over the course of 10 years, prompting him to look for a better alternative — which eventually become the Ayble app.
“The challenge is that the current system only treats part of the patient, and what we need to do is treat the whole patient,” Jactel said. “It’s always been made clear that if you identify your trigger foods and customize the diet that’s therapeutic for you, you can manage your symptoms, you can get better faster and then stay better for as long as possible.”
Jactel explained that patients are often given a generic pamphlet on gut-related conditions and left on their own to create an effective plan. Ayble removes the patient guess-work and creates a customized approach for each user.
“We should be taking the drugs and doing the diagnostics. We should be doing diet. We should be doing psychology, but because there aren’t enough of these providers, then there’s no way to do that, and so what I’m trying to build with Ayble is this ecosystem of support beyond the clinic for patients,” he told WWD.
Upon downloading the app, which ranges between $57.49/month and $74.99/month, consumers answer an array of questions around topics like demographic and clinical information. Using these variables, machine learning and the app’s GI database (the largest GI database in the world, according to the brand), Ayble will create a diet pathway. Later this year, the app will also create customized psychology pathways and educational modules for users, meant to address the gut-brain connection.
Over the course of three to four months, the custom plan and a personal coach will help the user identify their trigger foods, find alternatives and create new habits. The platform includes several other features, including a barcode scanner to identify triggering ingredients and find alternatives across 100-plus grocery stores, a database of 2.5 million recipes and the ability to input other recipes and have triggering ingredients automatically swapped for a safe alternative. Consumers can also organize the app based on 60 specific diet variables, like kosher, halal and vegan to name a few.
“We really want you [the user] to have the most food freedom while also feeling better, so we create the least restrictive diet possible that most improves your symptoms,” Jactel explained.
In an effort to obtain users and differentiate the app from other food and gut-health programs on the market, Ayble has harnassed 20 years worth of gut health research, published 13 peer-reviewed journal articles and clinical studies, conducted research with accredited institutions including the Mayo Clinic and Northwestern University (Jactel’s MBA alma-mater) and received accreditation from the American Nutrition Association. Ayble also has a scientific advisory board made up of world experts in gastroenterology, dietetics and psychology, as well as a patient advisory board meant to drive product development.
For Jactel, Ayble not only offers a solution to a widely underserved population but it also is a reflection of his personal journey with gut health.
“We’re called Ayble because the goal is to make you be able to go to dinner with friends without being afraid, be able to travel and not be worried about that stuff, be able to be defined by something other than your condition,” he said.
