6 Gut Health Hacks That Just Don’t Live Up to the Hype

7 min readJump to:Relying on food sensitivity testing to get to the root of GI issues.Sipping certain teas to “detox” your gut.Getting colonics to “clean out” your gut.Taking a probiotic to rebuild your gut after antibiotics.Relying on a prebiotic supplement to overhaul your gut.Chugging apple cider vinegar shots to cure reflux.Gut health is booming. And while it’s definitely a good thing that people are increasingly interested in it—after all, better gut health is linked with improved mood, immune function, and overall quality of life—the trendiness means there’s a lot of misinformation out there, too.Registered dietitian Jessie Hoffman, Ph.D., R.D., associate professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at Winthrop University, says she encounters eyebrow-raising “facts” regarding gut health “pretty much on a daily basis.”And gastroenterologist Savita Srivastava, M.D., a microbiome specialist in Virginia, says many of her clinical visits now involve discussing a patient’s primary problem…and then re-educating them on the “wellness” habits they’ve picked up from social media to try to treat their issue.“It’s really great to have people that are really invested in their health,” Dr.

Srivastava says. At the same time, “there is a lot of work to unravel a lot of the things that people just assume are truths now because they’ve heard it on TikTok.”Read on to learn the six popular gut health hacks that aren’t as effective as you think (and in some cases, even harmful), plus what to do instead.Meet the experts: Savita Srivastava, M.D., a gastroenterologist and microbiome specialist in Virginia; Jessie Hoffman, Ph.D., R.D., associate professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at Winthrop University, registered dietitian, and board-certified specialist in digestive health.Relying on food sensitivity testing to get to the root of GI issues.

First reported by Prevention.