The secrets to good gut health: separating fact from fiction | Guardian Masterclasses

The secrets to good gut health: separating fact from fiction

Cutting out foods, probiotics and bowel movements – nutritional therapist Eve Kalinik debunks five of the most common myths

Gut health is a massively trending topic. Put it into your search engine and you will be met with a barrage of information. Whilst some of this can be insightful and legit there is unfortunately a lot of cr*p (pun intended!) out there. From silver bullet fixes to invasive detox treatments it is really hard to decipher what is actually fiction and fact.

In my next Guardian masterclass, I’ll be giving you the real science and evidence on the gut and the gut-brain connection. In the meantime here are a few gut health myths to demystify …

1. Cutting out foods is good for your gut

Unfortunately the restriction and deprivation mentality has somewhat seeped from diet culture into gut health. The premise being that in order to ‘eat healthy’ or have a healthy gut means we have to cut out lots of foods from our diet. In fact the most supportive diet for gut health is one that is inclusive and diverse as possible especially when it comes to plant-foods. This includes whole grains, vegetables, fruit and nuts & seeds.

Many of the (often) self-diagnosed intolerances such as gluten and dairy being very common are often unfounded. In fact the actual percentage of people that suffer from these is very low. Unless you suffer from coeliac disease (autoimmune condition related to gluten) which affects 1% of the entire population or a genuine dairy allergy, there is no need to restrict either for the majority of us. In fact gluten-containing grains provide additional sources of fibre and fermented dairy in the form of yogurt, kefir and cheese has a positive impact on our gut health so cutting either of these out can do our a gut a disservice.

Don’t even get me started on the seemingly popular keto/low carbohydrate diets as these are decidedly lacking in fibre which essentially starves our gut microbes - these guys need fibre as their food to thrive after all. Really it is about flipping the view on what it means to have a healthy diet and a healthy gut and instead taking a positive nutrition focus on what we can add IN not what we can take out. Enriching our diet with as many whole grains, vegetables, fruits and nuts & seeds and in as much diversity as possible will help us to cultivate a more diverse and healthier gut.

2. Probiotics are a gut health panacea

Of course it is worth saying that not all probiotics are made equal and certainly there are some that might have benefits and have gone through more rigorous testing. However the notion that any one probiotic is in some way a panacea for gut health is certainly not true. We don’t need to take probiotic supplements to reap the same benefits. We can instead find these beneficial bugs in fermented foods. These are naturally high in beneficial bacteria and yeasts that are cultivated through the fermentation process. Think sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, kombucha, miso, yogurt and cheese to name a few. What’s more the vegetable lacto-ferments such as sauerkraut and kimchi also contain fibre and prebiotics which is just as important as these provide the essential fuel to feed the good bugs in our gut.

One word of caution be wary of some of the shop-bought ferments such as kombucha that can often be heavily filtered and contain a lot of sugar. Check for sediment as one handy tip if you want a more authentic ‘booch. And with ferments go slowly and gently and think of them as condiment type portions with the likes of sauerkraut and kimchi.

3. Gut health is only about what you eat

We tend to focus most on the foods we eat when in fact there are many more variables that impact the health of our gut that have nothing to do with food. This includes stress as a major factor as the gut-brain connection is a very powerful one and this alone can compromise the functioning of our gut and the composition of the gut microbiome. Sleep is also another aspect to consider when it comes to our gut health as poor and/or lack of sleep can have a significant impact on our gut health. Lack of exercise can also be a contributing factor as well as the overuse of certain medications and even how we are born. It therefore isn’t just about what we are eating but much more of a multi-factorial approach.

4. Everyone’s ‘business’ should be the same

Bowel habits are different for all of us and what is deemed normal. Many factors can influence our daily ‘business’ including age, hydration levels, diet, alcohol consumption and stress. For some of us it could be having a bowel movement for up to 3 times per day where as for others it might mean that our bowels might be a little less charitable. The key things to really watch out for are infrequency with your bowel movements, recent changes or if there is straining, pain, blood or mucus in the stools. In this case you do need to go get this checked out by your GP. If you want to get a good reading on your poop have a look at the Bristol Stool chart which you can easily find online.

5. Our gut needs ‘detoxing’

Our gut, with the help of our liver and kidneys, is perfectly well equipped to detox on its own without the use of special teas, enemas and invasive procedures such as colonic irrigation (if you don’t know what that is you really don’t want to know!). These things can actually do your gut much more harm than good so avoid them at all costs.

Join Eve for her upcoming masterclass, Happy gut, happy mind, taking place online on Thursday 9 February 2023 at 6pm (GMT), where she will be digging deeper into the gut-brain connection.

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