Gut health

Evidence-graded topics and articles tagged Gut health.

Topics

• Beer — Beer can raise the diversity of gut bacteria a little, and alcohol-free beer does it too, suggesting the effect comes from beer's plant compounds rather than t…
• Kiwifruit — Eating two or three green or gold kiwifruit a day increased bowel movements in small trials, and it may ease constipation-related discomfort.
• Low FODMAP Diet — The low FODMAP diet eases irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, belly pain and bloating more than a habitual diet in pooled trials.
• Nicotine — As a medicine, nicotine's best-supported benefit is helping smokers quit: patches, gum and other forms raise quit rates by 50% to 60%.
• Peppermint Oil — Pooled analyses of small trials find that enteric-coated peppermint oil eases IBS symptoms and belly pain more than placebo.
• Probiotics — Some probiotics may help prevent diarrhoea caused by antibiotics, with a smaller benefit against C.
• Prunes — Prunes may help preserve bone density in postmenopausal women and ease constipation, but the bone trials are small, the pooled lumbar result is borderline, and…
• Psyllium Husk — Psyllium husk is a viscous soluble fiber that reliably softens stools to relieve constipation and modestly lowers LDL cholesterol.