EMEA Entrepreneur. Aonghus Shortt, Co-Founder and CEO, FoodMarble. Having digestive issues for years can be such a boon and a terrible inconvenience. Having to be aware of what foods you can eat, when you can eat, how much can you eat, and investing money in a gut health tracker to avoid any kind of unpredictable triggers can affect you mentally in the long term. Again, this stressful lifestyle can have even more direct reactions on your sensitive gut. A constant cycle of pain, embarrassing situations, bailing out on events and meet-ups, missing important work, sacrificing favorite meals and get-together parties outside your comfort locations. These are some of the things of having a bad gut can do to you. So what can you do now though? Many studies and research are being published on suitable diet plans, exercise, de-stressing activities, meditations, quality sleep for 8+ hours, and so much more.
But, not everyone can accommodate all of this right? SIBO and IBS are some digestive issues that people get diagnosed with and have to live with. The person’s quality of life and living can be severely impacted by such conditions. Affecting millions of people worldwide, these digestive issues can be managed to some extent. However, they require a meticulous and consistent follow of a diet plan, medical intervention, and lifestyle adjustments. The need to understand and address digestive issues and conditions like SIBO and IBS is imperative. Therefore, in 2014 a Dublin-based healthcare and tech solutions company – FoodMarble, was founded to track and test digestive issues and identify which foods are most acceptable for your gut.
The idea and innovation behind the innovative product – FoodMarble AIRE was Founder and CEO – Aonghus Shortt. Aonghus was inspired to create this device for his partner – Grace who had just been diagnosed with IBS after unknowingly suffering from this condition for years on end. This article will explore FoodMarble’s journey alongside its Founder – Aonghus Shortt, shedding light on how this portable and innovative personal digestive tracker device can test the health of your gut from just your breath!
Aonghus Shortt – Pioneer of the World’s First Personal Digestive Tracker:
Anyone would do anything for their loved one to live a comfortable and happy life right? That’s what Aonghus Shortt did for his partner Grace. While the two spent quality time together going about their everyday activities of being a couple and working individual careers, Aonghus learned that Grace was always suffering from painful digestive issues.
Alarmed by the number of times that he knew Grace had to rush to the toilet to make it just in time, he empathized with his partner and wanted to do something, but what could he do though? After Grace’s monthly trips to two doctors, countless embarrassing situations in public, missing out on her office work, and just life in general, she was finally diagnosed with IBS. What a relief that Grace felt, at least it was diagnosable and not some disease, right? Unfortunately, she knew that knowing what the cause of her digestive issues was did not negate that she still had it, and had to deal with it. Aonghus, taking action began getting more involved and drawn into the world of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth – SIBO, Irritable Bowel Syndrome – IBS, all the food intolerance tests that you take at the doctor’s clinic, and all that come with one’s life being severely affected and inconvenienced by a bad case of digestive issues. He soon developed a breathable testing device made from all sorts of wires and just a cardboard box, the first prototype as the couple called it. After testing it on Grace and seeing positive results, Aonghus wanted to perfect this product and soon left his job to dedicate his time entirely to this project which would soon be known as FoodMarble AIRE.
After a few years of constant research into the hardware, Aonghus Shortt formed the final team of Co-Founders – Lisa Ruttledge (COO), Peter Harte (CTO), and James Brief (CMO). The Dublin-based healthcare and tech solutions company was finally formed and ready to launch.
FoodMarble – A Healthcare Technology Solution in the Form of a Small Portable Device:
During the years 2014 and 2015 FoodMarble AIRE was created, and in 2016 the following year the device was launched by the team. The new portable and innovative personal digestive tracker and tester soon became popular and gained traction and growth in the market by 2018. In the following years, FoodMarble AIRE underwent constant research into its reliability and clinical validation. In 2019 after a study was presented to The British Society of Gastroenterology, the research and findings were published in the journals “Gut” and “Nutrients.” With 100% full reliability in identifying lactose intolerant patients with the device, FoodMarble AIRE was officially clinically validated.
The device’s accuracy although was compared with existing Mail-In Breath Test Kits having clinical trials carried out at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. All the research and findings were then presented at the 2021 Digestive Disease Week and the 2021 American College of Gastroenterology conferences. The findings gave positive results and was concluded that FoodMarble AIRE was just as accurate in tracking and testing a person’s digestive issues through just their breath as easily as the existing Mail-In Breath Test Kits.
With the device comes the FoodMarble AIRE mobile-compatible digestive health app, that lets you monitor real-time results on the go making life easier and enhancing one’s quality of living as well. Absent of any more embarrassing situations and missing out on your favorite public events and parties, with FoodMarble AIRE and the recent AIRE 2, you can keep track of your digestive health, the acceptable foods for your gut, the amount of sleep required, and other habits.