Anyone who has been on TikTok or any social media app recently has seen the trend around gut health videos.
In fact, it’s hard to scroll through the apps without seeing at least one video of an influencer talking about gut health or gut healing. Probiotics. Bone broth. Kombucha. Olive oil shots. Collagen powder. Apple cider vinegar drinks. The list goes on and on.
But do these remedies actually have an impact on your gut? Here’s what a NoVA gastroenterologist and nutritionist have to say.
What exactly is gut health?
If you search the terms “gut health” or “gut healing” on TikTok, you will be met with millions of videos talking about different hacks that can help you achieve a “healthy” gut. The videos promote reducing bloating, improving inflammation, and even more serious conditions, such as leaky gut.
But experts advise that these videos are not trustworthy.
The lack of scientific evidence behind these remedies makes it difficult to determine which, if any, are truly beneficial, says gastroenterologist Dr. Myung “Scott” Choi, who sees patients in Gainesville, Manassas, and Warrenton.
“Patients will come in talking about improving their gut health and, honestly, I’ve never really understood what that meant,” says Choi.
There are so many different parts of your gut, that often a doctor needs to learn more from the patient before being able to help.
That’s why, if you go to the doctor, you should be ready to answer these questions:
- Where is the location of your pain?
- Are there other symptoms?
- How long has it been going on?
Your gut issues involve your microbiome, the trillions of microorganisms in your body. The microbiome is everything that lives in your intestines, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Its importance is significant. It affects everything from your waistline to your mood to your sleep to whether you might get diabetes or cancer. New studies show that the microbiome, which is determined by your DNA, may even influence whether you exercise.
“What we do know is that there are trillions of gut bacteria in your microbiome, but we don’t currently understand the significance of having more or less of a particular strain of bacteria versus another,” he says.
“When we take probiotics for instance, we don’t really know how your gut is being altered and whether this alteration is clinically significant.”
In fact, in many cases, Choi says people will take things to “improve” their gut, but they don’t even really know or understand what they are taking — or whether they even doing anything.
Those things tend to take on a bit of a placebo effect at times.
“People will feel better because they feel like they’re doing something, but is it really doing anything? We can’t be certain,” Choi says. “All this stuff that is out on the shelves and being promoted, it’s not necessarily harmful. But there is no real scientific basis for a lot of these things currently.”
Choi says when he finished his gastrointestinal fellowship in 2001, doctors were just starting to understand the potential impacts of the microbiome. And it is still something that is not fully understood at this time.
What can you do instead?
At the end of the day, your best bet is always to bring the focus to your diet, says NoVA-based registered dietitian Romy Nathan.
“While taking a probiotic supplement is an option, my preference would always be choosing probiotic-rich food sources first,” Nathan says.
Options for these types of foods include yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso, sourdough bread, and kombucha.
“My suggestion would be to choose the options you like,” says Nathan. “They all have their benefits.”
For prebiotic food sources, you can look to fiber-containing foods, such as whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables.
Soluble fiber is also great for gut health, Nathan says.
“The fiber in these foods is what the gut microbiome feed from,” she adds. “In addition to gut health, fiber has heart-health benefits as well.”
Nathan recommends trying to eat a minimum of 25 grams of fiber a day.
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