Do you take anything to improve gut health?

[PartnersInCrime]

Supplements, probiotics etc? And if so, do you feel it's helped and lastly would you kindly share what you take?

Another Tim Spector fangirl here.

Kefir, 30 different plants, etc.

Definitely helps.

Nothing.

Michael Mosely's clever guts book is good too

I like to stick with natural remedies as much as possible. Upset stomach usually eased by a chamomile tea with honey and lemon.

Cut down/out sugar and UPFs for a start. Fermented foods are good.

PPs are right - no lt directed at you, OP, but there are an awful lot of people who will scoff at the idea that health can be improved by dietary changes. People much prefer to pop a pill or take a supplement and expect that to do the job.

Can I add if you do add fermented foods to your diet do it carefully and take note of your reactions.

I was under a nutritionalist and we started adding and I kept having reactions, gut pain and feeling very out of sorts and we discovered I have high histamine levels and the fermentation in the foods was causing me some issues.

So I now follow low histamine diet and feel much better, it really is very individual.

So I would advise maybe investing in a nutrition expect to guide through any major changes in diet.

Symprove made a huge difference to me quite quickly

No other probiotic has

It’s pointless to take supplements then eat all ultra processed, high salt, high additive food. I cook mostly from scratch, at least 6-7 portions of fruit and veg a day, no soft drinks, limited caffeine, and add in things like kefir yoghurt to help.

Yes, I've been through phases where I really couldn't eat certain things and kimchi etc made it worse.

You have to go slowly. Cutting the upf, sugar etc is the first step

I'm a fan of symprove. I also either add fermented greens powder or a prebiotic powder to my daily green smoothie.

Im trying to add more kimchi and kefir to my diet and to each 30 different plants each week. I feel a lot better for it. I also much prefer a diet where I add things in and gradually replace less healthy options (upfs, sugar etc) than one where I am restricted.

I’m slightly obsessed with my guts in a good way! We do the 30+ fermented and love it, not least because 40 years of meal making and I was bored

Lots of food for thought. I definitely feel better when cutting out wheat and dairy but it's hard. Currently battling auto immune and multiple deficiencies...already doing private blood tests to keep an eye on that because NHS so clueless/disinterested. Might see about looking at ruling out celiac as once you've on AI, you are likely to develop more
Thanks for all the input.

I'm automatically suspicious of the 'Next New Thing' in health but never mind, because here I go... I thought I had a good, healthy vegetarian diet but always had niggling problems (digestive, skin etc). I now do the 30+ plants (including dark chocolate, coffee, herbs and spices etc) and it's made a big difference to my digestive issues (in particular), skin, weight loss (very slow this one unfortunately). I just feel better and I don't enjoy the fried foods / ice cream anywhere as much as I used to. Also bread which I loved but can live with as a weekend treat. But I can still eat them occasionally if I want. No pressure to have the perfect diet day in day out.

The main change for me is I rarely use supermarket vegetarian products - very ultra processed - whereas I'd eat them 3-5 days a week before.

Downsides are if you are busy and skint and don't enjoy cooking it can be a challenge. Out of those I am just short of money so I use dry beans / lentils but then I like cooking and everything related. So many good recipes online. The media around it is a bit too middle class IMO to be as inclusive as it could be, another niggle.

I don't feel like I am on a diet - just a new way of eating normally.

If I ate 30 types of plants a week my stomach would never forgive me, I'd be permanently in the toilet!

My stomach has never been the same since I had my gallbladder out years ago and got worse after a course of antibiotics last year. Whatever I do seems to upset it and I often wish I'd never had my gallbladder out but I didn't have a choice.

Where is the best place to buy kefir grains?

I used to have some which lasted for years but then I had small children and less time/inclination! I love kombucha too and treat myself occasionally.

Kefir is tasty but gives me a migraine. As does Skiir.

It's not too difficult as it includes nuts and seeds.
By the time I've had my coffee with 3 different mushrooms in then a handful of brazils, walnuts, almonds and pecans I'm already up to 7.
A cup of nettle and peppermint tea, there's another two.
Small amounts are fine and I tend to forage what I can as it's as organic as you can get and things grown in a biodiverse area will be growing in much more nutritious soil than our farmed monocultures.
Add some herbs and spices to your food and you can count those too ..

I'm experimenting with naturally fermented drinks. I've got some elderflower on the go and chucked in a few other bits I found in the hedgerows. My next experiment will be mugwort and yarrow beer.

I have been eating 30 different veg every week plus turmeric and yoghurt daily, since I was born. Also fermented food twice or thrice a week.

But since Tim Spector didn;t come up with it and it's only a system followed by 1 billion people, nobody considers it important or marketable.😂