Maximise Your Gut Health With These Products | Mini Episode

Dr Faye Bate (0:00)

I am going to show you a piece of paper, and I would like to know whether you would buy this thing or say bye bye to it. Active bacteria drinks.

Dr Madusha Peiris (0:10)

I think I would say yes to this because there's actually some good data to show that live cultures like lactobacillus casei actually have beneficial effects on general gut health like constipation. So if I was suffering from constipation, I would buy this. It's better than buying something that doesn't have any data behind it.

So it's a buy for me.

Dr Faye Bate (0:31)

Probiotic supplements.

Dr Madusha Peiris (0:33)

Probiotic supplements are everywhere. And I think what we need to focus on is the data. And actually there's quite a good amount of data now to show that probiotic supplements do not change the gut microbiome, doesn't change your diversity in your gut microbiome. And so these are big studies that have looked at all the studies that have been done in the past 10 years or so. And the evidence suggests that there's really not much improvement.

So, you're not really going to get anything from spending 30 pounds a month. It might help you think you're doing something. That's also a good thing. But fundamentally, I would not buy a probiotic unless I really needed it. And I was recommended a probiotic by a clinician for a specific GI issue.

Dr Rubina Aktar (1:15)

I think just with the probiotics, it's really important to understand where the delivery of those probiotics are. Is it in the colon, which is the home of the gut microbiome? So some probiotics, they get digested in the stomach because of the acid. So it's really important to get a good quantity of probiotics, the beneficial bacteria, to the lower part of your gut. So I think it's really important to have a look at the dissolution profile if you like of probiotics.

Dr Madusha Peiris (1:38)

I would say that there really aren't any probiotics that are going to get to the colon, which is where they need to get to.

Otherwise, they'd be quite a lot more expensive. So yeah.

Dr Faye Bate (1:47)

In less than certain circumstances.

SPEAKER_4 (1:49)

Unless, yeah.

Dr Madusha Peiris (1:51)

I think again, some clinicians, especially gastroenterologists, do recommend probiotics for certain people who have certain GI conditions. There are some probiotics that are better than others.

So yeah, I would wait for your clinician to really recommend a certain one if you need it.

Dr Faye Bate (2:05)

Kombucha.

Dr Rubina Aktar (2:07)

If it's a replacement or a swap for a fizzy drink, 100% kombucha. For example, if you're swapping it for a diet coke, I would say kombucha. But I think kefir is probably better than kombucha. Kombucha does have tea polyphenols in it and some live bacteria, but it's not a gut health kombucha drink that you should be taking for gut lining or improved gut health. I think overall, definitely a swap, but I would say bye bye for now.

Dr Faye Bate (2:32)

Nice. Okay. That's really validating because when I choose a kombucha rather than a fizzy drink, I feel like it's doing good, but I wouldn't go out of my way.

Dr Rubina Aktar (2:42)

It doesn't depend on it, right? Yeah.

Dr Faye Bate (2:43)

It's so expensive. I couldn't have a kombucha every day. That's not an affordable solution.

Dr Rubina Aktar (2:48)

Now, what's happening with the kombucha is like if they're fizzy now and they're having flavors and other things in it. So you have to be careful the sugar content as well of kombucha.

Dr Faye Bate (2:56)

30 plants a week.

Dr Madusha Peiris (2:58)

Yeah. So actually, this is interesting because there has been a large study done in the US and looking at 10,000 people who have taken a diet that's very diverse in plants, about 30 plants, compared to people who take 10 plants.

And they're definitely the people who take the 30 plants a week have improved gut health in general and they have improved gut microbiome. So the issue is keeping track of 30 plants. It's not an Excel file. You need to think about your life and not in an Excel file, but more as diversity is important. That adage, the rainbow plate of having many different colors on your plate is correct. You should be having different types of food, different types of plants primarily, is going to be very helpful. So think of it more of a, let me make sure my plate, my meals are diverse, rather than focusing on a number.

Dr Faye Bate (3:56)

Nice. Gut health supplements.