Do gut-health supplements actually work - Here’s what the science says

Do gut-health supplements actually work? Here’s what the science says
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More and more people are prioritizing their gut health.

Whether to ease uncomfortable bloating or gas pain, promote regularity or simply build a robust gut microbiome, it’s increasingly recognized that the foods we eat influence digestive health and, in turn, our overall health.

Not surprisingly, supplements claiming to bolster gut health are proliferating on social media and online.

What does “gut health” actually mean?

Gut health is a popular but poorly understood term. It’s been widely accepted by bloggers and social media influencers, but there isn’t an agreed upon scientific definition.

Many experts define gut health by the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g., bloating, gas, abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation) and disease (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer).

Gut health can also refer to having a greater diversity of microbial species in your gut microbiome, the community of trillions of bacteria and other micro-organisms that live inside your large intestine.

A diverse microbiome can help fend off illness-causing bacteria and viruses. And it’s thought to guard against asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, depression, obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, among other conditions.

Do gut supplements live up to their hype?

While some supplements have decent evidence to back up their gut health claims, others don’t. Probiotic supplements, on the other hand, have been the focus of much research.

This doesn’t mean, though, that taking a one-a-day probiotic supplement is a fast-track to a healthy gut for people without gastrointestinal conditions.

While studies conducted in healthy people have shown that taking a probiotic supplement increases the amount of healthy bacteria in the gut, this may or may not be a good thing.

Probiotic supplements may have different effects in different people depending on their unique gut microbiome.

Research also suggests that taking a probiotic supplement after antibiotic treatment delays the return of the gut’s normal bacteria.

Small studies have shown that supplements of prebiotics, fibres that nourish good gut microbes, help treat constipation, regulate gut inflammation and beneficially alter gut microbiome composition.

How to promote a healthy gut

Diet is considered the most powerful tool that can alter the composition and activity of the gut microbiome.

A diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans and lentils provides prebiotic fibres, polyphenols and other compounds that nourish healthy gut bacteria. Fermented foods that contain probiotic bacteria are also thought to benefit gut health.

Now I have to be honest here I have been one of those people that love to exercise but at the same time eat healthy...however I'm one of those people who used to have a nice six pack and then gone into a kegger of some sort with the "dad bod."

So even though I am smashing more veggies, cutting sugars out of my diet, drinking more green tea and lemon water, ingesting meats with less cooking oil, consuming less carbs (breads, pastas, pizzas, etc...) and definitely less processed or condiments (such as chips, deserts, mayo, salad dressings). I've also cut out quite a bit of dairy as well as increased more egg consumption as well.

SO long story short, I was wanting to enhance the rate at which to excell towards a flatter tummy. I'll be honest sometimes it sucks to bend over to tie a shoe lace or play a hockey goalie and flop around and get back up again not feeling winded. I thought that maybe I'm not shedding the fat on me as much and having a sense that I feel bloated some days, or pooping irregularly, that I may not have enough good bacteria to help digest the food faster...could also be metabolism as we age, but who knows.

I researched and thought lots about taking probiotic supplements because that's the trend these days I guess but told myself HOLD on Mr. Sparkles, by doing so will this be a step in the right direction or is there a chance that I will actually be worse off in the guy by supplementing with I would say wrong amount of certain strains in my intestines? The answer is both...so I didn't buy any. Awareness is key, but when in doubt and want to go into the supplement world it's always a good idea to talk to your doctor before turning yourself into an self-experiment.

Has anyone ever taking PROBIOTIC supplements before and what was/is your experience been like? Share your thoughts ATS!

In closing, cheers to GOOD GUT HEALTH!

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Ahh those miraculous pills that make your wallet lose weight!

I take probiotics whenever I'm forced to take antibiotics; that is extremely rarely. Generally, they are useless as your body expells them. To make it simpler: you just s*it them out, that's it.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

I have taken them daily after certain treatments before. Now I just keep some around for when I get biarrhea or constipation. I don't take them every day. I usually take the recommended dose for around a week to straighten out. I have noticed that when I do take them, different brands make what comes out small different, both gas and solids. Also different brands seem to work faster or slower to get me back regular. Different brands seem to have different mixes of bacteria. If you want to try them, I would suggest you get enough for couple of weeks to a month of different brands and try each, one at a time to see what works for you.

originally posted by: twistedpuppy
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Ahh those miraculous pills that make your wallet lose weight!

I take probiotics whenever I'm forced to take antibiotics; that is extremely rarely. Generally, they are useless as your body expells them. To make it simpler: you just s*it them out, that's it.

Actually that is how most vitamins and supplements work. They are not absorbed as well as that you get from food and most of the ingredients are expelled without doing any good.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

I think context is important.

Do probiotics work for weight loss? Probably not in a significant way.

Is your gut flora flashed or do you have some kind of GI condition? I think there’s more of a case for that.

But I’d also look more at foods with probiotics than pills. As your body is more likely to take hold of them rather than just pass them.

a reply to: BeyondKnowledge3

And what you get from food in the 21st Century is minimal as the ground is robbed of nutrients. And loses more nutritional value the longer it is from harvest to plate.


ETA
Also, IIRC probiotics should be taken with food for better absorption.

So recently I was listening to a health podcast and they were talking about a 3.5-day fast. Start at night and go to the afternoon of the 4th day. When I do this I lose about 10 to 15 pounds and it isn't water weight. I'm a big man, so maybe 7 to 10 would be for a normal person. Two side benefits talked about by many sources are your cells go into a regen mode and your body starts to shed toxins in many ways one being your sweat glands where you could see light brown sweat with some order.

The other benefit I didn't hear before is you basically kill off your gut microbiome, but it comes back more robust, so you have that too and it is free. Actually, better than free as you save 4.5 days worth of food.

I did one of those colon cleanse things and then took the probiotics supplements...it was a very popular brand with good reviews.

Well, the colon cleanse did help somewhat, but the choice of microbes in the probiotics sucked for me. My body rose a fit with some of the selected microbes they stated were beneficial to all. I did quite a bit research on that after I had that problem and I guess that a lot of people have intolerance to certain common microbes, If the immune system does not like them it will attack them. It sucked. I went out into a friends garden, picked a carrot, rubbed it on my pants and ate it. I also picked some other veggies off the plant and ate them. Cucumbers, and green beans and yellow beans. That seemed to work best to get the right microbes in local soils in me. He did his garden with minimal chemicals. I also went out blueberry picking and ate blueberries and sugar plums off the trees...I guess the sugar plums are actually service berries. I did not wash those either, they were wild.

I grew up doing this kind of stuff, We had a farm and I am not afraid of microbes that are natural...well, if it looks like a bear sheet on something it is not advisable to eat it. The best tasting blueberries seem to be where someone tossed an almost empty beer can on side of the road in a blueberry patch...I learned to dump stale beer around my wild raspberry bushes and wild blueberry bushes to get great tasting berries from learning that. Coffee grounds really seem to increase the number of raspberries on the plants too. Same with cherry tomato plants.

So last summer I talked to a person in the supplement section of the food coop I belong to and she told me they have lots of different probiotic choices because they learned this intolerance existed too. I asked her how do you know which one is best for you, she said you have to try them to find one that works best....wow, good probiotics are expensive...I will just eat a carrot or slightly washed potato out of my garden.

I swallowed a whole smelt without chewing one time on a dare....the first to catch a smelt had to bite the head off. It hit my stomach acid and bounced around a lot. I guess neither of my friends would have bitten the head off either, and they would not have eaten a live smelt either...they were not going to admit they caught the first smelt. Well, actually, after I sobered up the next day, I felt great for the rest of the summer, better than usual. They did not know too much about probiotics back in the early seventies but after that experience I would have ate another one again. We live on Lake Superior, I would not eat a raw whole fish from Lake Michigan or a poluted lake....that would never have been something I would have done even then....when I was a young and stupid eighteen year old boy.

I do pay attention to what foods make me feel better or worse, and part of that may be because it off balances my symbiotic microbes in my gut. But alas, I am human and sometimes screw up....by the time I am a hundred, maybe I will have learned.

I do use bromelain supplements for both systemic and digestive purposes. It is systemic and absorbed through the gut if taken on an empty stomach, and it is digestive if taken around a meal. I also do well with trimethylglycine with digestive enzymes. But when I get those, I get thirty, and take them for a limited time...like one a day for a month. It seems to get things on track again. I do the digestive enzymes maybe one month every couple of years or so as needed. Those capsules swell up and come apart quickly, so I learned to just buy a months worth occasionally. The enzymes eat the capsule which is probably made from a collagen like substance.

I will be putting a post in the B12 thread too, but that is way more extensive than this post. There are a lot of variables and certain minerals and companion vitamins that are needed, I researched those well, and I have to sort out how to explain things so people can have a good guide as to what needs to be taken with what...but I have been so busy with things around the house the last three or four days, it is hard to get focused on that. I take the methyl B12 with Methylfolate types, because of some genes I have.

The best thing for me with gut health and great, regular bowels is taking 2 fish oil gell pills a day! Helps with inflammation and lubes up your intestines. I used to eat lots of plain organic yogurt, but it gasses me up too much. Keep a food diary and mark down what inflames you and bloats you, then don't eat that!!

There is another job probiotics do , remove toxins .

Probiotics Detoxify Harmful Chemicals from the Body

Beneficial microorganisms can also produce antimicrobial substances , and in general help keeping the bad pathogens out from causing too much trouble.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Good post, the G.I. flora are incredibly important. Besides everything else the bacteria do, a tremendous amount of neurotransmitters are made by healthy gut bacteria so healthier/more abundant bacteria can improve energy/focus/mood. I personally do not take any supplements, if you do feel the need, just look for high quality probiotics. What I recommend is to eat 9-10 cups of cooked and raw cruciferous vegetables (particularly cabbage). In addition to the healthy amount of raw/cooked cabbage I already eat, I consume 1 cup of sauerkraut (kimchi some times) per day and I think the large amounts of vitamin U are just amazing for your gut. Sauerkraut should only have 3 ingredients- cabbage, water and salt- just be careful because there is a lot of bad sauerkraut out there. I would also get into cruciferous sprouts if you can because those have high amounts of sulforaphane and other unique benefits like living enzymes.


It's GREAT that you're avoiding carbs/sugar (they are really one in the same; virtually all carbs turn into glucose) but you also have to be vigilant about sneakier ingredients that significantly spike insulin. If you have excess fat around your mid-section, it's 9/10 times a problem with insulin resistance. You have to find the source of these insulin spikes because any time you get a large amount of insulin in the body it's triggering fat storage for about 48 hours or so and you can not burn fat in this state. The main culprits I've encountered are-

1. Maltodextrin. This is by far the worst one and it's made from government subsidized corn so it's found in everything these days. It has the highest glycemic index of any food Ive personally ever seen.

2. MSG (monosodium glutamate). This will significantly spike your insulin secretion. MSG is particularly sneaky because it gets added to carrier ingredients or goes under synonyms to hide the MSG. I advise you to read up on all the other ingredients MSG may be listed under or hiding inside. (www.hungryforchange.tv...)

3. Excess or lean/low-fat protein. Too much lean or pure protein will also cause big insulin spikes. Interestingly, eating protein with adequate fat some how buffers the effect and significantly lowers the overall insulin secretion as opposed to eating lean protein. Whey protein can increase your insulin by 139%.

4. Soy oil or anything with soy.

5. Statins. In addition to spiking insulin secretion, statins can also cause muscle dystrophy by depleting CoQ10 from the body. Statins are often prescribed without first performing the proper LDL blood tests to confirm that the person does in fact have bad cholesterol.

6. Trans fats.

7. Frequent eating in general. Frequent snacking throughout the day will cause excess insulin, be more geared towards intermittent fasting or OMAD and you *will* see results.

That's all I can think of right now, but be vigilant and always research ingredients you do not recognize.


The last thing you want to check is to make sure you have healthy levels of stomach acid for proper digestion of lipids and amino-acids- so you can properly absorb the vitamins/nutrients in your diet. Low stomach acid is common in the US- you can test if you have low acid by dissolving 1/4 tsp. of baking soda into eight ounces of water and drink it on an empty stomach once a day for 3 days. If you don’t have enough acid in your stomach, you will experience belching and gas. Apple cider vinegar is a mild stomach acid producer, but I like betaine HCI the best. Any bile salts or things like pepsin would be fine, just try different things about 30 minutes before eating and see what works. Bile is equally important but shouldn't be an issue unless you've had your gallbladder removed.


I hope this helps you- take care.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Has anyone ever taking PROBIOTIC supplements before and what was/is your experience been like? Share your thoughts ATS!

I take probiotics now and again only when certain conditions arise that prompt me to do so, but I certainly think it all stems from the foods I choose to eat. When I do start a regiment of probiotics, I notice an immediate improvement in my gut health, then I stop. I just bought some new probiotics to start another regiment.

I also watched a medical study documentary where volunteers' gut health was studied in groups by diet, probiotics and kefir - kefir won out for changing one's gut health the most and this can easily be added to one's diet.

Sometimes I will make an antibacterial/fungal tea using common kitchen herbs and spices; tumeric, oregano, rosemary (very little) and basil - with lots of natural honey as sort of a detoxification bacteria-fighting tea.