Your gut is home to trillions of microbes that help digest food, make vitamins and train your immune system. Research is exciting but still developing, and social media often runs ahead of the evidence.
Imagine spending a fortune on gut cleanses, special powders and an expensive stool test that promises a personalised plan. Your digestion doesn’t change. Then you simply eat more beans, vegetables and wholegrains, and within a month you’re more regular and feel better. The basics turn out to be the best bet.
What the evidence supports
- Fibre: vegetables, fruit, pulses, wholegrains, nuts and seeds feed beneficial bacteria. Most adults eat far less than the recommended 25 to 30 g a day.
- Variety: eating a wide range of plant foods each week is linked to a more diverse microbiome.
- Fermented foods: yoghurt, kefir, kimchi and sauerkraut may help some people.
- Exercise and sleep: both are linked to healthier gut bacteria.
- Using antibiotics only when needed: they disrupt gut microbes.
But what about probiotics and gut tests?
Specific probiotics have evidence for specific problems, such as reducing antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, but they aren’t a cure-all and effects differ by strain. Direct-to-consumer microbiome tests can’t yet reliably tell you what to eat. “Detoxes” and colon cleanses have no good evidence and can be harmful.
When to see a doctor
See a doctor for a lasting change in bowel habit, blood in your stool, unexplained weight loss, ongoing tummy pain or bloating, or difficulty swallowing. These need proper investigation rather than supplements.
Your next step: Try the “30 plants a week” challenge: count different fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and pulses you eat this week.
Sources: World Gastroenterology Organisation (Probiotics and prebiotics guideline), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, British Dietetic Association, American Gut Project.
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