The First Question I Ask Isn't "What Are Your Symptoms?" It's "What changed?" Whether someone comes to see me with bloating, reflux, constipation, diarrhoea or food intolerances, I almost always start in the same place. "Did anything happen or change around the time this started?" It's a simple question, but over [...]

You're Going Every Day, So Why Does Digestion Still Feel Sluggish? A daily bowel movement doesn't necessarily mean your gut motility is healthy. Emerging research suggests that transit time may be one of the strongest influences on the gut microbiome, affecting microbial diversity, methane production and digestive function. In other words, [...]

Why Am I Suddenly Sensitive to FODMAPs? FODMAP Sensitivity Explains What's Happening. But It Doesn't Explain Why. The low FODMAP diet can be a useful short-term tool for reducing symptoms in IBS such as bloating, abdominal discomfort and changes in bowel habits. However, it was never intended to be a permanent [...]

When It Looks Like Histamine... But Isn't: Could Hydrogen Sulphide Be the Missing Piece? Not every reaction to food is caused by histamine. Many people who believe they have histamine intolerance actually react more strongly to foods that increase hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) production in the gut. While the symptoms can [...]

FUT2: The Gene That Helps Shape Your Gut Microbiome The FUT2 gene determines whether you are a "secretor" or "non-secretor." Secretors release special sugar molecules called fucosylated glycans into their saliva, mucus and digestive tract. These sugars help feed beneficial gut bacteria and support immune function. Non-secretors do not [...]

Prebiotics: Why Feeding Your Gut Bugs Matters More Than Taking Them Prebiotics are specialised fibres and compounds that feed beneficial gut bacteria. While probiotics often get most of the attention, prebiotics are what help your existing microbiome grow, diversify and produce many of the compounds that support digestion, immunity, metabolism and [...]

Why Probiotics Are Far More Complicated Than Most People Realise Probiotics are not like taking a multivitamin. Different strains can have very different effects, so some may support gut health and regulate inflammation, while others can worsen symptoms in sensitive people. Most probiotics do not permanently colonise the gut. [...]

Some emulsifiers like CMC, P80, and carrageenan clearly disrupt the gut barrier in both lab and clinical studies. Others are far less concerning. Most “clean eating” advice gets this wrong by treating every additive as equally harmful. Here’s the practitioner shortlist of which emulsifiers to actively avoid, and which ones usually aren’t worth worrying [...]

Fermented foods are one of the most recommended—and most misunderstood—gut interventions in naturopathy. They help some people enormously and make others worse, and the difference is often written in your microbiome and your histamine genes. Here’s how to tell which group you’re in. Scientists at ZOE looked at what happens [...]