Gut Health

The gut, also known as the gastrointestinal tract, is a long tube that starts at the mouth and ends at the back passage. 

The health of our gut is key to our overall health, which makes perfect sense as it is the organ system in charge of digesting the food that we eat!

The mouth, oesophagus, stomach and intestines work together to extract the energy and nutrients our body needs to thrive from it and then our rectum and anus get rid of any leftover waste.

Plus, it has over 100,000 nerve cells and is closely linked to our emotions, which is why we may get butterflies or diarrhoea when we’re feeling nervous or stressed.

Ready to learn more? Head to our full gut glossary here, or discover our full range of gut friendly products here. 

Digestion is the process of breaking down food and turning it into nutrients for the body to use. 

The mouth turns food into a bolus (a ball of wet food) that passes down the oesophagus and into the stomach. Stomach muscles squeeze to move it along and enzymes turn it into a thick liquid.  

The small intestine absorbs most of the food’s nutrients into the bloodstream. Then, the remaining food passes into the large intestine (colon) as waste, ready to be excreted out when you go to the toilet.   

Ready to learn more? Head to our full gut glossary here, or discover our full range of gut friendly products here. 

You might have heard these called “good bacteria” or “friendly bacteria”. They’re living microorganisms that are thought to help restore the natural balance of bacteria in your gut. 

There’s some evidence that probiotics can help reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).¹

More research is still needed into exactly how probiotics can help our bodies, but they’re generally considered safe to take for those with a healthy immune system.  

Ready to learn more? Head to our full gut glossary here, or discover our full range of gut friendly products here. 

Compounds in food that encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria in the body. Put simply, they are a source of food for probiotics.  

Unlike probiotics, prebiotics aren’t alive. They’re a dietary fibre that we can’t digest, so they feed our gut microbiome instead.  

Ready to learn more? Head to our full gut glossary here, or discover our full range of gut friendly products here. 

The digestive system is the group of organs responsible for digestion. They include the mouth, the oesophagus, the stomach, the small intestine, the large intestine (colon) and the rectum.

Ready to learn more? Head to our full gut glossary here, or discover our full range of gut friendly products here. 

We all have trillions of microorganisms from thousands of different species living inside of our bodies and their collective term is the microbiome.

Each person has a totally unique microbiome consisting of not only bacteria, but parasites, viruses and fungi too.

As time goes on, our microbiomes grow and change - and is influenced largely by our diet and environment. For example, when infants transition from milk to solid foods, their microbiome will be affected.

The microbiome plays a crucial role in our essential day-to-day bodily operations, but also has the potential to cause harm.

It’s all about balance and the bad bacteria tends to coexist in healthy people, however, problems tend to start when this balance starts to tip in favour of the harmful bacteria.

This is when symptoms of an unhealthy gut are likely to arise.

Ready to learn more? Head to our full gut glossary here, or discover our full range of gut friendly products here. 

Bloating is caused by excess gas in the stomach. Certain foods can naturally produce this gas – that's where beans and Brussels sprouts get their reputation! 

You can also become bloated by swallowing too much air. This can happen if you chew a lot of gum, if you eat very fast, or if you drink a lot of fizzy drinks. 

It’s also fairly normal to feel bloated after eating a lot or during your period. However, chronic bloating could be a sign of a digestive condition, so it’s best to speak to your GP if you find yourself getting bloated often.  

IBS symptoms can include:

• Stomach pain or cramping 

• Feeling bloated 

• Being constipated 

• Having diarrhoea⁴

These may feel better or worse over time – sometimes seemingly randomly. Your lifestyle, stress levels, or the foods you eat can also affect IBS symptoms.  

“Cleansing” your colon (large intestine) is thought to help rid it of waste and toxins.  

People might do a colon cleanse with the aim of easing constipation or bloating. Methods include: 

• A procedure called colon hydrotherapy, which uses water to flush out the colon 

• What’s sometimes called a “natural” colon cleanse (taking products like laxatives by mouth to encourage you to poo) 

But it’s worth noting that “flushing” your colon shouldn’t be a regular practice; it’s been found to temporarily alter your gut microbiome.² Speak to your GP for other ways to ease recurring digestive symptoms.  

Your gut might be inflamed if you often experience:

• Diarrhoea

• Stomach cramping 

• Unexplained weight loss 

• Extreme tiredness³

There’s no one food that’s best for your gut. But including lots of fibre can help keep your digestion running smoothly and prevent constipation. Whole grain products (like brown bread, brown rice, and brown pasta), nuts, and fruits and vegetables are good sources of fibre. 

However, it’s also worth noting that a high-fibre diet can aggravate IBS symptoms for some people – so introduce fibre-rich foods carefully.  

It’s believed that probiotics can keep the balance of gut bacteria healthy, too. Try fermented foods like kimchi, tofu, miso, and yoghurt to increase your probiotic intake.  

Aside from that, drinking enough water, avoiding processed foods, and getting a balanced diet with plenty of vitamins and minerals are the best ways to keep your gut in check.  

A gut cleanse is the same as a colon cleanse: it’s a way of “flushing” out waste and toxins from the large intestine.  

A gut cleanse can provide relief from gastrointestinal symptoms for some people for short periods. But it doesn’t solve the underlying cause.  

A low FODMAP diet is a way of eating that avoids FODMAP - fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. 

These are types of short-chain carbohydrates that trigger uncomfortable digestive symptoms in some people.  

A low FODMAP diet can involve removing high FODMAP foods from your diet and replacing them with low FODMAP foods. Then, you can slowly reintroduce the high FODMAP foods one at a time to see what you react well or badly with.  

Best results are seen when sufferers have expert advice and support from a dietitian who specialises in FODMAPs.  

You’re likely constipated if you struggle to poo, or you don’t poo often (less than about 3 times per week). You might also feel bloated or have stomach pain.  

They’re both related to your digestive system, but they’re slightly different. 

Digestion is the process of swallowing food, absorbing nutrients from it, and then excreting it as waste (though there are many more steps involved in between). Gut health is the overall health of all the organs in the digestive system.  

The better your gut health, the more likely you are to have good digestion and vice versa. Bad digestion might give you symptoms like bloating or constipation, which in turn might make your gut health poor. 

This describes the connection between your brain and your digestive system: the gut is sometimes referred to as the “second brain”. 

This is because changes in your emotions can affect your gut (like when you feel butterflies when you get nervous) and vice versa. Your brain and gut are physically connected by a nerve called the vagus nerve, and your gut microbes can also send messages to the brain telling it how to respond to certain situations.  

Better understanding the gut-brain axis could help improve your mood and identify the root of certain digestive issues.  

It can be quite a broad term, but “gut health” refers to the health of all the organs in your digestive system: the mouth, the oesophagus, the stomach the small and large intestines, and the rectum.