BBC science journalist Dr Michael Mosley has been looking at how easy it is to improve gut health through diet, from the use of probiotics, to fermented foods and fibre.
Michael Mosley Photo: (Romas Foord)
The human gut is a 10-metre long organ for digesting food. Billions of bacteria and yeasts live there. According to the latest science, this community of microbes in our gut (called the microbiome) seems to play an important role in keeping us healthy and even happy.
That's one of the reasons why more of us are looking for ways to improve our gut health and look after all these bugs that call our insides home.
Faecal transplants – transplanting good bacteria from one person and implanting into someone lacking essential gut flora – is one approach. But eating our way back to better gut health seems like a far more appetising proposition!
Bacteria and yeast Photo: STEVE GSCHMEISSNER SCIENCE PHOTO SGS SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Here's some of the other stuff we've done on fermented food and gut health:
Making Kefir
Making Kombucha
Sauerkraut
Caspian Sea Yoghurt
Sandor Katz fermentation guru
Home Brewing
Sourdough 101
Are Microbes making you fat?
Your microbiome and brain health
Synthetic faecal transplant
Faecal transplant pill
