How do you keep your gut healthy? Find out what Mumsnet users told Nairn’s Oatcakes

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Many of us are becoming more aware of how our gut can affect our overall wellbeing and the importance of taking care of it in order to stay healthy and happy. The majority of us have all been there when bloating and/or indigestion strikes, and this is why Nairn’s would love to hear your tips for maintaining good gut health.

Here is what Nairn’s have to say: “We’d like to think we know a thing or two about the superfood that is oats – we’ve been baking with them for over 100 years. We know how good oats are for your gut and we know that gut health as a topic is no flash in the pan either!

Oats are one of the foods that can help keep our gut healthy. They’re high in gentle fibre, which not only helps us stay regular, but also ‘feeds’ the friendly bacteria in the gut and helps keep the gut lining healthy. Oatcakes in particular can also be a good alternative to wheat-based products such as cereals and breads to keep our gut happy, as wheat can trigger digestive problems for some. The topic itself can be a bit daunting to the less familiar, so it makes sense for us to work with some lovely experts to help us spread that Good Gut Feeling in a simple, accessible, achievable way. Our website covers a number of Good Gut Health areas including The Family, Fitness and Managing a Free From Diet so do drop by and check them out. In the meantime, don’t be shy, and please share your own tips and tricks – they’ll really help others, and we can’t wait to hear them.”

What are your go-to and no-go foods and drinks when it comes to maintaining a healthy gut? How have you been eating oats outside of your morning porridge? If you already eat oatcakes, how do you eat yours? How do you encourage your family to follow in your footsteps? Did you find you had any digestive problems when you were/are pregnant and how did you deal with this? Or maybe you noticed some surprising benefits to keeping your gut health in check (e.g. a new-found spring in your step or blemish-free skin)?

Whatever your advice for maintaining a healthy gut, share your experiences on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list) and a bumper box of Nairn’s Oatcakes.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

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I love Nairn's, my favourite are the ginger oatcakes. I crumble them up and sprinkle them over yoghurt, home made lemon curd and raspberries for a treat. Or I just scoop of yoghurt with them. The plain oatcakes are great with blackcurrant jam, too. And cheese, goes without saying.

I make baked oats as a sort of porridge substitute. I work shifts and don't always have the time or inclination to make porridge at 3am so I make a batch of carrot cake style baked oats, cut into squares and freeze.

Beyond that I find I can eat wheat but in moderation so do look at alternatives for sandwiches, crackers etc. It's easy to find yourself reaching for wheat based products without alternatives in the cupboard. I don't necessarily mean direct alternatives, although those are good too, but other quick snacks, carbs to have with a meal etc. Plenty of fruit and veg helps too.

I look for foods rich in carotene, vitamins C and E, and always start the day with a smoothie of banana, ginger, cranberry juice wheat bran and spinach. I am so conscious of eating processed food and avoid takeaways, and show my children a healthy way of eating and try to get them to drink banana and ginger smoothies, which they love. I have a pack of oats in my drawer at work and with a handful of blueberries and almond milk and squirt of honey is the perfect mid morning snack which keeps me going til mid afternoon, and the school run. I find my digestive system has really benefited from this regime, and my painful bloated inside is now long gone.

I love oatcakes and am particularly keen on the nairn's cheese ones. I am trying to cut down on bread at the moment so have stocked up with rice cakes and oatcakes. I find crumpets to be especially bloating so stay away from them and other processed white bread as much as possible.

Limited bread consumption in favour of alternative, perhaps healthier and gut friendly produce. As for oats- yes, porridge oats are popular at ours and Oat cakes are always in big supply as an accompaniment to cheeses and chutney :)

I am also a fan of oatcakes. I like the cracked black pepper ones for a bit more flavour.

Generally though, plenty of plant foods. A vegetarian diet and lots of water.

When I feel a bit bloaty from time to time I cut down on bread and processed foods. I also swear by probiotics ( any type of live yogurt for me, although I hear people do well on all kinds of fermented foods). I did my thesis on probiotic bacteria and am a total convert to their role in keeping the gut healthy, reducing inflammation and the new research suggesting a link between poor guy microflora and t2 diabetes. I always recommend people take a diet high in probiotics after a course if antibiotics.

I love oatcakes, because there are some savory ones not contain sugar and it makes it healthy part of the breakfast. Perfect with humus and vegetables. My daughter loves them and prefer them.
Our big favorite is the Nairn’s Cheese Oatcakes, they are even nice on their own and sometimes we eat them like snacks. It is healthier option than crisp and other salty biscuits or breads, so we love them.

I’m a warm water lemon and ginger at the start of the day obsessive!! I also dabble in kombucha as a fizzy probiotic

A healthy gut is important for everyone but sometimes being a woman it feels even more beneficial for keeping it well. Oats are great when I have a period for helping with symptoms. The oats help with absorption of oestrogen in the lining of the stomach, if I remember correctly, which helps to ease negative symptoms. As they do release slowly their energy they help with the sugar lows that can occur then to.

I have to say I had not considered oat cakes when it is my period, but I think I will now get some in.

As a family we try to eat very healthy so our go-to foods are mostly fresh fruit and vegetables. I believe that everything in moderation it's ok to eat (for a average healthy person) but our no-go foods are in general fry and fast food.
We do eat a lots of oats in different forms like banana and oats cookies, peanut butter and oats energy balls, honey and cinnamon over night oats and muesli.
We haven't actually tried Nairn’s yet if I am honest (sorry guys) but after reading this article they are definitely on my next shopping list.

Oh I definitely don't do enough. I try and avoid bread and have a fairly balanced diet (but end up with too much sugar). Interesting reading some of the ideas here though and will take some ideas away to try.

I start the morning with porridge made with almond milk, blueberries , non dairy yoghurt and china seeds on top. That keeps me going till lunch time and definitely adds to th pe fibre needed to keep th gut moving.

I had ME for years before I realised it was gut related. I have discovered via fodmap a few trigger foods. As a result my ME has pretty much gone and I can almost live a normal life

My go to foods are probiotic smoothie for breakfast - with fruit I have in the fruit bowl, usually bananas, a heaped spoon of oats to keep my digestive system in tip top condition, oatcakes for work keep me from unhealthy snacking. I pack my meals with finely chopped foods, for taste texture, flavour and fibre, these go to foods are bell peppers, carrots, aubergines and sweet potatoes. My no-go foods is white bread and onions - both bloat and give me stomach cramps. If your insides are looked after, your whole body in and out, sleep and hair and eyes show your healthy side.

I usually eat porridge oats with a natural yogurt in the morning. I find it is gentle on my stomach and filling.

Porridge for breakfast and then lots and lots of vegetables. Usually some oatcakes and cheese if I get peckish mid afternoon and then a veg heavy supper.

I love overnight oats (yogurt, oats and frozen berries layered in a pot) for breakfast and at the weekends I have baked oats which takes a little longer but is so scrummy. My favourite is with sweet mincemeat - it really does make the house smell like Christmas!
I really do find that oats fill you up a lot longer than bread does. I have a gut intolerance to some foods - mainly refined such as white bread, pitta, wraps, pizza base - but oats have always been gentle on it.

My banana, cinnamon and oats cookies are our family to go snack 😜

As a family, we have medium cut oat bran every morning, made in the microwave, with water, high for two minutes and a brisk stir. Glug of maple syrup or agave for the kids. Blueberries sprinkled and spoon Greek yoghurt and cinnamon on top for me. Everyone’s happy.

I love Nairns coarse oatcakes as they are so nutty tasting, and have them in my handbag with an apple and a bottle of water for a quick snack when picking the kids up from school. The handy packs ensures that they don’t crumble everywhere in transit. Means we can head out to the swings to unwind after sitting all day, and don’t have to rush home to get something to eat.

The ginger oatcakes are my guilty pleasure with a cuppa at 4 and a way to connect with my colleagues.
The ginger oatcakes are excellent crumbled as a base for a cheesecake too. I don’t buy the choc chip ones anymore as they’re nabbed before I can get one!

I change it up in the mornings for summer, so I’ll make a bullet smoothie with Greek yoghurt and banana, and throw an oatcake into the blender too. Adds fiber and a lovely flavour.

If oats are good enough for a race horse, they’re good enough for us!

Marlenaff7 Recipe please. They sound (and look) amazing.

I hardly eat bread. Usually have Allbran or overnight oats for breakfast, with berries and yoghurt.

Snacks - fruit or oatcakes and cheese

Treats - oaty cookies or flapjack

I don't eat meat so mainly eat vegetables

The oats help with absorption of oestrogen in the lining of the stomach . Wrong on so many levels - also why would a pre-menopausal person be worried about absorption of oestrogen from the gut?!?

I buy the small cocktail oatcakes as they are a perfect alternate to biscuits for packed lunches and after school nibbles. The cheese ones are particularly popular in our house and bonus of no sugar.

Dear Tinlegs they are so quick and easy to make, I'll love it. Just squash with fork couple ripped bananas and add one cup of oats, the rest of ingredients are as preferred (I usually add raisins, cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg, sometimes chocolate chips when I'm naughty 😊) Once you mix all ingredients together with two spoons place them on baking tray (grease a tiny bit or they will stick) and place in oven for 15 minutes in 200 degrees. All ingredients are save to eat as they are so there is no right or wrong 😉 This proportions gives me 12 cookies. And that's all 🤗 In my opinion they are the best to eat this same day but will last in a container for couple of days if needed. I'll hope you will enjoy it too 😘

I'm guilty of not taking as much care of myself as I do of the kuds' health and I really ought to watch myself on that!
I wasn't even aware that oats were good for the gut so that's fab news as I love oatcakes and enjoy making flapjack for the family as well as eating porridge and overnight oats for breakfast quite often.

We just try to have a varied healthy diet.

I don't really like bread as I find it a bit bloaty, so I tend to have crackers instead. I actually didn't know these ones were better for gut health - so I'll be giving them a go!