We’re all on #guttok, apparently. A corner of the internet promising overnight fixes to improve your gut health.

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The trend of gut health has most likely stemmed from the idea of the modern it girl, being a fully put-together wellness queen, but is it deeper than just a hashtag and an aesthetic? Duh, obvs.

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Let’s get into the reasons why we’re all obsessed with girlbossing our gut, and the right ways to go about achieving intestinal ecstasy & the comfortable poos we all crave.

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Q: How can you tell LJ wrote a blog?

A: When there’s a needless definition section ofc!

Let’s answer question numero uno:

What is gut health?

Gut Health

def. Good Gut Health means your gastrointestinal tract has a good balance of gut bacteria and is able to properly digest and absorb nutrients, leaving you free from abdominal pain, diarrhoea, constipation etc.

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TikTok has us all convinced that the sure fire way to sort out shit out is to heal our guts. And whilst the intentions here are good, the methods are questionable. I want a healthy microbiome but I’m not sure @OliveOilQueen’s advice of drinking, you guessed it, olive oil every day is the way to go.

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We all want to be the happiest and healthiest versions of ourselves, and the Clean Girl, Wellness Girl, It Girl trends have only added fuel to the self-improvement fire. In short, gut health is trending because being your best self is the trend of the moment. It’s certainly one of the more positive trends to come out of pop culture, especially when compared to the looming return of ''heroin chic'' that's occupied our magazines and screens for the past decade.

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Is there something more sinister at play here? Let’s dig into this further.

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Diet culture for a new generation

Diet culture has been on a yo-yo decline in relevance; instead of consuming content about losing weight to look better, we’re seeing more content surrounding working out to feel good, intuitive eating, and buying clothes that fit you rather than trying to fit into clothes.

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So where does gut health come into this, surely it fits right in with all the self-improvement content? Yes, and no.

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Gut health, as shown to us by influencers, is all about the transformative powers of what you’re eating. Does that sound familiar? It should. The most popular #guttok videos tend to feature before and after pictures; the swell of bloating under a crop top becoming toned abs. It’s like a 2023 version of bodychecking, essentially.

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In a culture that bristles at mentions of dieting or weight loss, framing these aesthetic changes around a topic like gut health can be seen as more palatable to an influencer’s audience, especially when that audience mostly consists of teenage girls. A lot of what you see from influencers in relation to gut health is just a diet repackaged, it’s a glamourised version of what gut health is really about: going number two.

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Healing Your Gut (Properly)

Now we’ve established that healing the ol’ insides isn’t about aesthetics, and our motivations to become better shouldn’t be centred around looking thinner, we can get onto the good stuff: how to improve your gut health.

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STEP 1: How to know if you have poor gut health

Aside from being really brave even though your tummy hurts, there’s loads of things that might be your bod trying to tell you that it’s not happy.

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Chronic, unexplained abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhoea are all signs of poor gut health, experts say. Or you know, if you just feel like shit all the time for no apparent reason, it might be down to your tum.

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We’re seeing a huge spike in gastrointestinal issues right now, and plenty of smart people say that the rise of popularity of processed foods has contributed massively to that. If you’re concerned about your gut, pay attention to the consistency of your stool. Bristol Stool Chart, a medical classification of seven groups of poop, can help determine whether or not you’re doing good shit.

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STEP 2: Eat more fibre

Two kinds of fibre can aid your gut:

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a) Soluble fibre

These are the gummy fibres that we get from foods like oatmeal and apple skins. Soluble fibre retains water, and turns to gel during digestion, which helps keep everything moving down there.

b) Insoluble fibre

This serves as a laxative that helps push food through the digestive. Nuts, whole grains, beans and wheat bran are good sources of this fibre.

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Try throwing some extra fibre into your fave foods, like getting some beans in your chilli, quinoa instead of rice. Or just eat a handful of nuts as an extra tasty snack. You can even supplement fibre too, but just remember that supplements aren’t a quick fix for a shitty diet.

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STEP 3: Eat less processed shit

Emulsifiers that help keep packaged foods shelf-stabilised can erode the mucus barrier in your gut. Ew.

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On top of this, the artificial sweeteners that are found in many processed foods can lead to unhealthy gut microbes. This is because the bacteria that lives in our gut convert simple sugars and starches into gas, which, you guessed it...causes bloating. This means that fast foods, processed foods and food high in added artificial sugars can feed the bad bacteria in your gut and ultimately contribute to poor gut health.

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Ben & Jerry’s or a Gregg’s isn’t going to destroy your microbiome though, so make sure you’re still practicing balance.

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STEP 4: Try fermented foods

A really smart science guy called Dr. Sonnenburg published a study showing that fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut and kombucha can increase the diversity of bacteria in the gut. His research found that people who ate six servings of fermented foods each day saw these benefits — the equivalent of consuming one cup of yogurt, one 16-ounce bottle of kombucha and one cup of kimchi in a day. Past research has linked high levels of diversity in your gut microbiome to lower rates of obesity, diabetes and other health conditions.

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STEP 5: Look after your brain

There’s a strong connection between the gut and the brain. If you’re stressed, if you’re not sleeping well, you might have gastrointestinal symptoms and think it’s from your diet, it could be from your lifestyle. Adequate levels of sleep, hydration and exercise are also linked to gut health. Even a small amount of physical activity can help with digestion. If you’re feeling sluggish and bloated, try going for a walk or doing some good ol’ self care.

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We wrote a really good article about taking care of your brain without relying on spenny shit like meds and therapy over here, so take a look if you fancy.

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