Gut health is critical for overall health and well-being. Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria that make up your “gut microbiome.” In a balanced gut, different species of bacteria support the body in different ways.

Some bacteria produce essential nutrients your body can’t make on its own, like Vitamin K. Others support healthy digestion, regulate the immune system, contribute to a balanced mood, and help maintain normal hormone levels.

It’s best to have a diverse community of different good bacteria in your gut because they all specialize in different things. The higher the diversity of bacteria in your gut, the healthier your gut will be.

If the gut microbiome becomes unbalanced, it can have serious consequences for your health, such as bloating, digestive pain, skin problems and negative effects on your mood. An imbalanced gut can also damage your long-term health.

Symptoms like bloating, excessive gas, constipation, diarrhea, burping, acid reflux, and abdominal pain are often signs of an imbalanced gut.

People with these symptoms often don’t have the right balance of good bacteria in their gut. When you have enough good bacteria in your gut, they work together with your immune system and your body to absorb and dissolve gas.

Working together, they also regulate how quickly food moves through your body which reduces the likelihood of constipation or diarrhea.

Good bacteria also produce critical nutrients that nourish your intestinal tissues so you feel less pain.

Together with your immune system, these good bacteria can promote healing in the lining of your intestines as well as produce a protective layer that prevents bad bacteria from damaging them. This reduces inflammation and digestive pain.

Research shows having an unhealthy gut can lead to anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.

Your gut produces 95% of all the serotonin in your body. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter associated with life satisfaction and well-being.

Additionally, your brain has more nerve connections to your gut than any other part of your body. What’s happening in your gut can have a major impact on your well-being.

Over 80% of your immune system is located in your gut. The immune system in your gut defends you against pathogens and viruses that enter through your mouth and other parts of your body.

If there are fewer bad bacteria in your gut, your immune system has less work to do and is available to fight off other pathogens that can make you ill.

Nearly everyone has heard of probiotics. They’re specific types of good bacteria proven to have health benefits when you take them. They’re usually grown in a lab, freeze-dried and filled into capsules so you can take them conveniently.

It’s best if the probiotic capsules have a coating on them to protect the bacteria inside from stomach acid. This special coating helps the probiotics actually reach your gut alive.

But even if the probiotics reach your gut, their benefits are limited. Even the strongest probiotics can’t balance the gut sustainably. This is because there are so many bacteria in your gut - tens of trillions.

But more importantly, good bacteria and bad bacteria need different types of fuel to survive.

Bad bacteria thrive off of sugar, red meat, oils and saturated fats. Good bacteria need powerful plant fibers - or “Prebiotics” - to survive.

Without prebiotic plant fibers, good bacteria will starve and bad bacteria will continue to overpower the ecosystem in the long run - no matter how many probiotic capsules you take.

Some good bacteria prefer fibers from broccoli. Others prefer fibers from apples.

The hundreds of different types of bacteria in your gut have different preferences. Many are flexible in the exact type of fiber they can use, but almost none can survive without any plant fiber.

Some prebiotics are highly effective and have been proven in scientific studies to boost good bacteria.

Some examples of proven beneficial prebiotics are:

• Acacia fiber
• Inulin
• Resistant starch from unripe green bananas
• Resistant starch from potatoes
• Psyllium husk
• Pomegranate skin
• Flaxseed
• Wheatgrass
• Beta glucans found in oats or mushrooms

It’s possible to get enough prebiotics by eating enough fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains.

But most of what people eat these days - even if it comes from plants - is highly processed and refined. That means most of the powerful prebiotic plant fibers are stripped out.

95% of people in the West don’t get even the minimum recommended daily amount of plant fiber.

Even fewer people get the recommended amount of over 30 different plants in their diet every week.

For people with a busy lifestyle who want to keep their gut health balanced, the best way to do so is with a combination of probiotics, diverse prebiotics and fermented foods.

Fermented foods often include good bacteria and some of the beneficial nutrients they’ve produced from the plant fibers. However, most people also don’t eat fermented foods very often.

Supplements can help. Finding a supplement or an evidence-based system that includes all these elements at a reasonable price can be difficult.

However, with the aid of a grant from the European Social Fund, biotikur has developed a complete gut health system with all of these essential ingredients.