BLUF
We’ve all heard the term ‘gut health’, but it’s a term that is fast becoming much more common in mainstream medicine due to the increasing number of Australian patients presenting with abdominal problems and pain.Summary
This article by Tara Cassidy, writing for ABC-Australia, makes the following points:
- Australia has some of the highest rates of gut illnesses globally, particularly for conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancers and related allergic diseases.
- The modern Western diet impedes gut bacteria diversity.
- Many Australians turn to probiotics for relief, but despite what many people think, probiotics have very little scientific data to back up claims made by suppliers in the $5 billion industry.
- Soluble and insoluble fibre and acid-resistant starches—found in foods such as bananas, sweet potato and potato—were a better way to go and had been proven in scientific studies to help restore gut health.
References
References from the Web:
- NOV 2021 Australian study challenges the idea that the gut microbiome causes autism—ABC
- MAY 2022 Go with your gut: scientist Tim Spector on why food is not just fuel—The Guardian
- MAY 2022 How diet and gut bacteria may point to new treatments for depression—Medical News Today
