Essential Foods And Supplements For Gut Health—And The Microbiome’s Role

27.03.2024 - 20:55 / forbes.com

Why is a healthy gut microbiome so important? According to the National Health Service UK, with an estimated 13 million people suffering from gut issues, including IBS and 10-15% worldwide, it’s no surprise that there’s an appetite to learn why and how to best manage symptoms. The microbiome consists of trillions of living bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes inside your gut that play essential roles in digestion, immune system regulation and overall health.

“Many studies have shown that disturbance in the gut microbiome can affect the gut-brain axis and lead to various health problems, including anxiety, depression and even neurological disorders,” says Yang-Yu Liu, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Beyond your digestive system, experts say your gut microbiome also interacts with your brain and nervous system, your immune system and your endocrine system. So maintaining a healthy gut biome through a balanced diet, probiotics and other lifestyle factors is crucial for promoting overall well-being. Eating a varied diet of protein, grains, fruits and vegetables is advised plus bacteria-fermented foods like Kefir, Kimchi and Kombucha, all good sources of probiotics.

Here are some of the best best probiotic and prebiotic foods and supplements that could help reduce the risk of health conditions, from heart disease to diabetes. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria found in certain foods or supplements. Prebiotics are types of fiber that feed the friendly bacteria in the digestive system.

Symprove, a once-daily probiotic liquid designed to populate your gut with good bacteria, is one of the few gut health supplements to be backed by science and recommended by experts. A 2019 clinical trial included people with various gastrointestinal diseases who were given either Symprove or a placebo over four weeks, to measure the supplement’s efficacy in reducing symptoms. The research study found that Symprove did reduce intestinal inflammation and was well tolerated. And a review in the US National Library of Medicine says that probiotic supplements are thought to improve IBS symptoms through manipulation of the gut microbiota. Probiotics can do more than improve your gut health. They also may indirectly enhance your brain, too according to Harvard Medical School who say that an estimated 90% of serotonin, the so-called 'happy hormone', is made in your digestive tract.

To have a healthy gut it’s important to maintain a balance of good and bad bacteria. Unlike most other powder and capsule probiotics, Symprove is a unique water-based probiotic that delivers billions of live and active bacteria directly to the gut where they get straight to work. Dr Sarah Jarvis says that “Symprove increases the