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.
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.
Your gut microbiome also interacts with your immune system and, in doing so, helps regulate inflammation in the body.
Do gut supplements live up to their hype?
While some supplements have decent evidence to back up their gut health claims, others don’t.
L-glutamine supplements, for example, are promoted to “heal the gut lining,” “strengthen the intestinal wall” and treat “leaky gut” despite limited evidence. (Leaky gut, or intestinal permeability, occurs when the lining of the gut becomes more permeable than normal, allowing toxins to pass into the bloodstream.)
Glutamine, an amino acid produced by skeletal muscles and supplied by diet, fuels cells that line the intestinal tract, thereby helping to build a strong intestinal barrier.
Only two small studies support a possible role for glutamine in IBS. Among 44 patients, daily glutamine supplementation (15 g) for six weeks, combined with a low FODMAP diet, improved IBS severity symptom scores to a greater degree than the diet alone. (The low FODMAP diet alone was also shown to be beneficial.)
Preliminary research also suggests that taking glutamine (15 g daily) helps ease symptoms of postinfectious, diarrhea-dominant IBS. Larger trials are needed to validate these findings.
A 2021 review of seven clinical trials concluded that glutamine supplementation does not improve symptoms of Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease.
Collagen, the protein that forms connective tissue in skin, bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments, has been referred to as a “digestive super food.”
Collagen supplements are touted to strengthen the gut lining, improve leaky gut, aid digestion and relieve IBS symptoms. Bone broth, a source of collagen, is also promoted for gut health.
I found only one published study that was conducted in people. Among 14 healthy women who took 20 g of collagen peptides for six weeks, most reported fewer mild digestive symptoms, including bloating. There was no control group for comparison. Hardly a rigorous study.
Probiotic supplements, on the other hand, have been the focus of much research.
Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that specific strains of probiotic bacteria can improve ulcerative colitis, constipation, IBS symptoms, antibiotic-associated diarrhea and traveller’s diarrhea.
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.
It’s possible that taking a concentrated amount of a few probiotic strains could upset the balance of your gut microbes. You might not only be crowding out some of the bad microbes but also some of the beneficial ones.
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.
Even so, it’s best to nourish your gut bacteria with fibre-rich whole foods rather than a purified prebiotic supplement. Prebiotic supplements may worsen bloating and gas in some people with IBS.
How to promote a healthy gut
There’s no quick fix to a healthy gut or, for that matter, a flat belly, despite what you see on TikTok.
Evidence does, however, point to healthy lifestyle habits that can benefit gut health. Regular exercise, proper sleep, managing stress and limiting alcohol intake are among them.
So is eating a healthy diet. 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.
When to check in with your doctor
Ongoing gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain could indicate a health problem that requires medical care.
Consult your doctor before experimenting with supplements.
Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based private practice dietitian, is director of food and nutrition at Medcan. Follow her on X @LeslieBeckRD
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
