Photo by Frank Flores on Unsplash
In short: Your gut is home to a huge community of bacteria, a kind of inner garden that helps you digest your food and plays a part in your immunity, your energy and even your mood. You look after it mostly with everyday things: plenty of plants and fibre in many colours, a little fermented food, calm meals, good sleep, regular movement and enough to drink. And any digestive change that doesn’t settle deserves a visit to your doctor.
You finish lunch and, an hour later, your waistband feels tight. Some days your digestion is perfectly calm; other days it grumbles for no obvious reason. You’ve heard the words microbiome, probiotics and leaky gut on the radio, seen yoghurt drinks promising to strengthen your defences, and you’re no longer sure what to believe.
Gut health has become a fashionable subject, and with fashion come big promises. What I’d like to do here is answer the questions I hear most often, simply and honestly, so you know what’s worth your attention and what you can happily ignore. Here are eighteen of them.
What is gut health?
Gut health simply means how well your whole digestive system is working: breaking down your food, taking in what your body needs and getting rid of the rest, comfortably and regularly. A healthy gut is one you hardly think about. You eat, you feel satisfied, you go to the loo without drama, and you get on with your day.
But your gut does much more than digest. It’s one of the places where your body meets the outside world every single day, so it’s busy with your defences too. And it’s in constant conversation with your brain. That’s why, when I work with someone, I always ask about digestion, even when they came to see me about something else entirely.
What is the gut microbiome?
It’s the enormous community of bacteria and other tiny organisms living in your gut, mostly in your large intestine. I like to call it your gut garden.
Like any garden, it’s happiest when it’s varied, well fed and not disturbed too often. These bacteria help you break down parts of your food you couldn’t digest alone, make some vitamins, help keep the lining of your gut in good shape and train your immune system. Every person’s garden is different, shaped by what you eat, where you live, the medicines you’ve taken and the life you’ve lived. Yours is as individual as your fingerprint.
What are the signs that my gut needs some care?
The obvious ones are digestive: bloating, a lot of wind, constipation, loose stools, or digestion that changes from day to day. Feeling uncomfortable after most meals, or heavy and sleepy after eating, can be a sign too.
You may also read that skin problems, tiredness or low mood always point to your gut. They can be linked, but they have many other possible causes as well, so please don’t jump to conclusions. If something has changed and doesn’t settle, start with your doctor. Then we can look at food and habits together with a clear mind.
What does my gut garden like to eat?
Fibre, above all, and variety. Your gut bacteria live on the parts of plants you can’t digest yourself. When you eat lentils, beans, oats, buckwheat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, that fibre travels down to your gut garden and feeds it.
Different bacteria like different plants, so the more variety on your plate over the week, the more varied your garden becomes. That’s why I talk so much about colour. A beetroot, a leek, a handful of walnuts, an apple, a bowl of red lentils: each one feeds a slightly different part of your garden. I wrote more about this in Colour your plate with nutrients.
Which foods are harder on my gut?
I don’t believe in forbidden foods, and that includes for your gut. But some foods do less for your garden, especially when they fill most of the plate.
Very processed foods tend to be low in fibre and high in sugar, salt and additives, so your garden goes a bit hungry when they make up most of your meals. Alcohol can irritate the gut lining. And some people react to particular foods: onions, beans, milk, wheat or very fatty meals, for example. That’s personal, and it’s worth noticing.
One word about gluten. If you think wheat upsets you, please see your doctor before you cut it out. Coeliac disease needs proper testing, and the test only works while you’re still eating gluten.
What’s the difference between prebiotics and probiotics?
Prebiotics are food for your gut bacteria: particular kinds of fibre found in leeks, onions, garlic, chicory, artichokes, asparagus, slightly green bananas, oats and lentils. Probiotics are live friendly bacteria themselves, found in some fermented foods and in supplements.
If your gut is a garden, prebiotics are the compost and probiotics are visitors bringing a few new seeds. I explain how they work together in The gut health trio: prebiotics, probiotics and fermented foods.
Are fermented foods good for my gut?
They can be a lovely part of a varied way of eating. Plain live yoghurt, kefir, raw sauerkraut, miso and kimchi bring friendly bacteria of their own, and fermentation can make some foods easier to digest. Many people who find milk difficult are fine with yoghurt or kefir.
Start with a spoonful and see how you feel. If you’d like to make your own, my beginner’s guide to fermented foods has a very simple homemade sauerkraut.
Should I take a probiotic supplement?
I don’t recommend supplements myself, and most people can start with food. Probiotics are very different from one another, and what helps one person may do nothing for another. Some people find a particular one helpful for a particular problem.
If you’re thinking about trying one, please talk to your doctor or pharmacist first, especially if your immune system is weakened, you’re seriously ill or you take regular medicines.
Can stress affect my digestion?
Very much so. When you’re stressed, your body goes into alert mode and digestion is put on hold. Blood goes to your muscles, your stomach tightens and everything slows down or speeds up. That’s why a worry can give you butterflies, a knot in the stomach or a sudden need for the loo.
If you live in alert mode day after day, your gut feels it. Eating calmly, sitting down and taking a few slow breaths before a meal really helps. You’ll find some simple practices in Breathe your way to mindfulness.
Can my gut affect my mood?
Your gut and your brain talk to each other all day long, through nerves, hormones and the messages your gut bacteria send. So the link goes both ways: your mood affects your gut, and your gut can affect how you feel.
But a gut that needs care is never the only reason for low mood, and food is never a replacement for proper help. I explain this conversation in The hidden connection: how your gut and brain communicate.
Does my gut have anything to do with my immune system?
Yes. A large part of your immune system sits along your gut, because that’s where it meets everything you swallow. Your gut bacteria help train it, a bit like sparring partners, so it learns what to fight and what to leave alone.
That doesn’t mean a yoghurt drink will keep winter colds away. It means that a varied, plant-rich way of eating, sleep and rest are part of looking after your defences.
Can my gut affect my skin?
There does seem to be a link between the gut and the skin, and some people notice their skin is calmer when their digestion is calmer. But skin conditions like acne, rosacea or eczema have many causes, from hormones to genes to stress.
Looking after your gut is a kind thing to do for your whole body, skin included. For a skin problem that bothers you, please see your doctor or a dermatologist too.
What is “leaky gut”?
The lining of your gut is a fine barrier: it lets nutrients through and keeps other things out. Doctors do know that this barrier can become more permeable in some conditions, for example in coeliac disease or inflammatory bowel disease.
“Leaky gut syndrome”, though, isn’t a recognised medical diagnosis, and it’s often used to sell tests and supplements. If you have symptoms, please get them checked properly rather than buying a cure for a label. The everyday things in this article are good for your gut lining anyway.
What happens to my gut when I take antibiotics?
Antibiotics can save lives. They also affect the friendly bacteria in your gut along with the ones causing the infection, which is why some people get loose stools while taking them.
Always take them exactly as your doctor prescribed. Ask your doctor or pharmacist whether a probiotic would make sense for you. And afterwards, be extra kind to your gut garden with plenty of plants, fibre and a little fermented food. If you get severe or bloody diarrhoea during or after a course, call your doctor straight away.
Does my gut change in midlife?
Many women notice their digestion changing in perimenopause and menopause: more bloating, more constipation, or a gut that seems more sensitive to stress. Changing hormones play a part, and so do poorer sleep, less movement and sometimes eating less fibre than before.
The answer is usually the same gentle basics, done with more care. I talk about this in my FAQs on nutrition in perimenopause and menopause.
Do sleep, movement and water matter for my gut?
More than most people think. Your gut has its own daily rhythm, and it works best when your days have a rhythm too: regular meals, regular sleep. A walk after a meal helps things move along, and your whole body, gut included, loves to move every day.
Water matters as well, especially as you eat more fibre, because fibre needs water to do its work. If you tend to forget to drink, my article on how staying hydrated improves your mood and energy has some easy ideas.
How long does it take to improve my gut health?
Your gut garden responds to what you feed it quite quickly. Many people feel a difference in their digestion within a few weeks of eating more plants and calmer meals. Building a varied, settled garden takes longer, and the changes only last if the habits do.
So go slowly. If you add a lot of fibre at once, you’ll probably feel bloated. Add one new plant at a time, drink a little more, and give your body time to adapt. A bowl of homemade vegetable and lentil soup is a wonderful place to start.
When should I talk to my doctor?
Please see your doctor if you notice blood in your stools or black stools, a change in your bowel habits that lasts more than a few weeks, weight loss you can’t explain, pain that keeps coming back, difficulty swallowing, repeated vomiting, or heartburn that won’t settle. The same goes before you cut out whole food groups or start any supplement. Getting checked is never a fuss; it’s looking after yourself.
Your gut, your garden
There’s no single perfect gut diet, because there’s no single gut. What suits your neighbour may not suit you at all, and that’s what bio-individuality is about. Start with the basics, notice how your body responds, and adjust gently. Your gut will tell you a lot if you listen.
Would you like some help?
Looking after your gut becomes much easier when someone helps you see your own patterns. Digestion, fibre and calm eating come up again and again in my group programmes in nutrition and health, such as Six Tuesdays in Montignac. If you’d like to hear when the next group opens, write to me at hello@catherinepolet.coach.
Would you rather work one to one, wherever you live? I coach online too. Book a free 20-minute call and tell me how your digestion is feeling these days.
About Catherine
I’m Catherine Polet, a holistic nutrition health coach, yoga and autogenic training teacher for more than 30 years, author and speaker. I help people find a way of eating and living that suits their own body, online in English, French, Spanish and German, and in person in Southwest France.
