Should you take probiotics?
Should you take probiotics? Are dietitians ‘pro’ probiotics? We see it in magazines, on social media and hear it among our friends and family that certain food contains ‘prebiotics’ or ‘probiotics’, or 50 billion trillion CFUs ……..it all sounds very impressive, and very, very scientific…but what do all these terms mean for your gut and […]
Fibre choices for IBS
A recently published review on dietary fibre and FODMAP-restricted diet in the management of constipation and irritable bowel syndrome has reminded me of how far dietary management of IBS has come in the past ten years. Traditionally, people with constipation related IBS (IBS-C) were advised to increase dietary fibre intake to alleviate symptoms, but […]
Are our guts becoming too sterile?
Early exposure to germs According to the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ early life exposure to germs determines adulthood sensitivity to allergies such as hay fever and asthma and autoimmune diseases such as coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. The ‘hygiene hypothesis’ has been proposed as an explanation for increase of allergic and autoimmune diseases in urban settings. […]
Probiotics – What’s best for IBS?
What are probiotics? Probiotics are tiny living organisms that have been scientifically proven to benefit your health. They are usually bacteria, but may be yeasts or other microscopic critters. They can be similar to the “good” bacteria already in your body, particularly those in your gut. The most common probiotic bacteria are from the Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium […]