Season 4, Episode 13: Top Gut Health Trends of 2022
Welcome to a nice little bonus episode!
This episode was not originally planned for our last season, but as we wrap up the year, one of the biggest questions that I've been asked throughout the years….what do you think of this product? What do you think of this trend I've seen? What do you think about this?
So I decided, as we're wrapping up 2022, to make a list of some of the top common kind of IBS and gut health trends that I've seen out there different kinds of products and things that are either on social media or maybe you’ve seen ads online and break down:
Whether or not these are valuable for gut health
Who could benefit from them
What would be better alternatives
What to think about
Help you understand as a consumer kind of how to dig through this information and these different trends and products to determine if they're right for you.
We're gonna go through each one of the trends, I'm not going to cover every single trend that's been out there for the entire year, because I just can't, especially in one episode, but what I can do is cover some of the big ones that I've seen it and have some insight on.
Don’t forget to connect to others in The GUT Community, a Facebook group for those with IBS and digestive disorders to support one another and dive deeper into each episode together.
Today’s episode is sponsored by Sunfiber. Sunfiber is a prebiotic fiber supplement that is gut-friendly as a soluble, low FODMAP fiber. Sunfiber-containing products typically contain between 5-7 grams of fiber, and it mixes into water or food without adding color, texture, or flavor. That means you can easily add this to your routine to increase your intake and benefit the balance of your gut without the symptoms. Sunfiber can be found in hundreds of different products. Find your favorites at Sunfiber.com
We're gonna start first with one that was big on TikTok. I have a review about this on my own Tiktok page and it's been growing significantly every single day, and that is the internal shower or this chia seed water trend.
If you're not familiar with this internal shower, it's a recipe of a chia seed drink. It's two tablespoons of chia seeds mixed into a tall glass of water, so eight to 12 ounces, and lemon juice.
Now the claim of this chia seed water is that it can help eliminate constipation and clear up constipation if you're backed up. So the original creator. kind of made it as I've been using this recipe for a long time, if you're backed up use this. A lot of creators out there have you know, really talked about this from a, I'm traveling and backed up or I haven't pooped in a few days, this is what I do because it's internally kind of clearing everything out.
So the reality of this kind of backed up to the claim is that this actually can be really effective, but it may not be needed in this form specifically, and it may not work for everyone. So like everything, you know, when it comes to diet strategies for even constipation, if we're going to niche down to there, not everyone with constipation responds to the same things, not everyone with gut issues or bloating, whatever, responds to the same things. Not everyone benefits just overall in terms of their gut health from the same things. So this can be super effective, but we need to understand more of the nuance to determine how you could utilize this chia seed internal shower combination in your life if you have constipation.
Now, if you have diarrhea, the benefits of chia seeds are going to still be beneficial, but you may not try to implement a large load of them for this reason, so it's not likely going to cause diarrhea, drinking it like this could, but the chia seed benefit is still there. So even if you have diarrhea, I still want you to listen to what is available here in terms of what we know about chia seeds, because it could still be beneficial.
So the value of chia seeds is that they contain a large amount of fiber, very significant amount of fiber, especially in a small portion size. In particular, they have a large quantity of soluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in water, which we see whenever you mix it into the water if you've ever made like a chia seed pudding where you're soaking it overnight in like a milk of some sort, or you've put it in a smoothie, if you've allowed chia seeds to soak in water for even a little bit of time you'll notice they kind of gel up, so they absorb that water and then gel up, that is the soluble fiber effect that they're having.
This soluble fiber load, so a large amount of soluble fiber, can stimulate the movement of gut muscles, so the peristalsis of those muscles in your gut, because its fiber is not broken down and it kind of irritates some of it so it creates sort of that tactile stimulation of those muscles. It can also help form stool or poop for a well formed bowel movement days later. So it's going to help with stimulating that movement and clearing, but it's also going to help form poop because of that soluble effect that it's having, where it’s gelling up, it's going to do a similar thing inside your body with your poop so that you have a good formed stool to pass.
The value is still going to be there whether you eat the chia seeds over you know, throughout the day, or if you drink it all at once. You don't have to drink it, you know really quickly and take a shot of chia seeds in order to see this benefit. You can see it from eating it in a more desirable way or drinking in smaller portions throughout the day if that's your preference. It doesn't have to be this in this one kind of way.
Whenever we're looking at the benefits, they're great, the downside is that this large amount of fiber. Especially, you know, the insoluble fiber portion, so more of that shell of the chia seed, this can cause more bloating and gas for some. So if you have not eaten a lot of chia seeds, or maybe you've tried this trend, and you're like, I got immediately bloated, and this bloat might improve as constipation clears, because we know constipation makes bloating worse, but it may not. You may see that you have a bowel movement but you're still having a lot of gas and bloating as those chia seeds are actually making their way through your gut because when you drink them, they're not all coming out in your poop right away, they're stimulating that clearance of the stool, they're not there yet, because it takes about, you know, 24 to 48 hours to get down there.
So that large amount as it's passing through your GI tract, if you're not used to it could cause you more bloating and gas. Now, this is a good process because your gut bacteria are fermenting this fiber and producing that gas, so they're also producing other byproducts that are beneficial and good for health. So it's not a bad thing, but it can be very uncomfortable. If you're not used to eating these, I would start with a smaller portion as you're implementing them in any way that you decide to, so maybe a tablespoon of them versus two tablespoons of them would be more ideal versus going straight for the larger portion.
Now, the next portion of this chia seed internal shower drink, is lemon juice. So lemon juice is actually pretty high in vitamin C, and large amounts of vitamin C can have what we call an osmotic effect in the gut to stimulate movement. So what that means is that inside your gut, there's a lining, right, the wall of the gut is separating the inside of the gut from the outside of the gut. So osmotic effect means that whenever these chia seeds or this lemon juice hits your colon, it stimulates water coming into the gut. So we're pulling water in and that's going to help flush, the water coming in can help kind of move things through, but it can also help soften stool so that stool is easier to pass. So it's going to have that effect in both ways.
You do need a large portion of this in terms of lemon juice to get this effect, this osmotic activity from the vitamin C, so it may not actually be effective for everyone to have that lemon juice coming in, that may not be what you're experiencing. Some people do kind of claim that it's the acidic nature, maybe the stomach acid production and movement that's happening there. Potentially, there's a little less data out there to really show that that's the case and that's what's really happening, but we do know that large portions of vitamin C can do this. So if you are drinking a large amount of vitamin C, you're putting a lot in there, it could potentially be having this effect in the body.
You could also use other vitamin C forms, especially supplemental vitamin C, like a whole food vitamin C powder and that may have a better effect in terms of getting the osmotic activity, if that's what you're looking for. So again, just like the chia seeds, if you're looking for a large amount of fiber, you can get it from eating the chia seeds, you can get it from implementing other fiber sources in your diet over that day. Same is true for vitamin C, you could get it through some lemon juice and have large amounts, or you can also get it in other forms that may be even more effective.
And then, of course, the water side of the internal shower. It is no surprise, this is something I think we've talked about from the start of time, like if you've ever been constipated, you probably hear drink more water, drink water, drink more water, that helps flush and moving that large amount of water also creates that tactile piece where it's stimulating the muscles of the gut to move, it's helping kind of move water through, which is kind of like that stream effect that helps kind of push things along, but it also helps soften stool if you're well hydrated, then your body's not going to try to take all the water that you have available. And so usually what happens in the colon, remember that osmotic effect, we pull water into the gut, what typically happens in the colon is we're actually pulling water out of inside the gut into the body for hydration, that's where we reabsorb our water that we need. If you're not well hydrated, you're going to pull out all the water that's available and that's going to make your stool much harder, which can cause it to move more slowly, and make it more kind of difficult to pass, which will lead to some backup and constipation.
If you're drinking plenty of water, your body has enough water to reabsorb and be hydrated but then you're also able to utilize some water to actually stimulate that movement of the stool through the colon and the softness of the stool so it's easier to pass. So drinking a large amount of water at once can create that stimulant effect, it's all coming into the body, but then we'll also have a long term effect of improving the softening of stool and the movement of stool, so hydration is going to be really valuable.
Who is this for who isn't this for? If you like this trend, if you like the whole internal shower thing where you like drinking the chia seeds, I personally don't get stuck in my teeth, I love the way chia seeds taste if I can flavor them, so it's not for me necessarily but if you're like I don't really care about the flavor of chia seeds, I'd rather put them in the liquid and drink them and they helped me and they don't make me overly bloated and I feel great on it, great! There's no harm to this trend necessarily, unless, who it's not for, the number one person is if you're severely impacted.
So what that means is that you're not just constipated, it hasn't been just a day or two that you haven't gone, but if you haven't had a bowel movement in a week, or it could even be you eat a really high fiber diet and you're used to producing a lot of stool, if it's been three or four days, and you've released nothing, that stool is backed up in your colon. And if you are too impacted, that stool is going to create this stretching along the intestinal wall and what can happen is that stretching then creates a traffic jam where things literally just can't get out.
If you are putting more fiber in on top of that, fiber helps add bulk to stool, then that's actually going to create more of a traffic jam, so that can cause more impaction. A lot of impaction can be really dangerous and cause perforation of the bowel, which is not good. It's not what we want. So if you are severely impacted, this is likely not going to be the most beneficial thing to start with. Ideally, you do want to call your doctor and talk to your medical team to figure out a better option which may include maybe an osmotic laxative or a stimulant laxative, something that's not going to add more of a traffic jam, but really help clear that backed up stool, that's going to be more beneficial.
You may know that this is happening to you if you try this trend and you are very bloated, very uncomfortable, it's not passing and you're continuing to be constipated. Same if you're eating a lot of fiber rich foods.
Some other people that this may not be beneficial for is if you are dealing with a lot of pain and bloating. So if you know that fiberous foods, like eating a lot of grains, or certain fruits and vegetables, if those types of foods make you really bloated, the chia seeds are probably going to make you bloated. And that's not saying that they won't help improve the constipation, you are still going to get those benefits, but there may be a better approach to at least building up your tolerance of fiber, helping identify what else is causing bloating and gas production for you, that may just include a lot more of a creative plan that's going to work better. I would say that that's true for most of the people who are dealing with chronic constipation or IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation predominant type, most of the time, we need kind of a more holistic approach to the constipation, that ideally will eventually evolve to having more fiber and things like this, but you may not start there, that may not be the best solution that's going to feel great in your body.
And again, you're going to know if you try this if you implement these types of foods and that's how you feel. It doesn't mean it'll never work for you, but it just may mean that we need to approach it a little bit differently. But if you are dealing with more occasional constipation, or just things kind of get a little sluggish every now and then, maybe fibers dropped or changes in routine or whatever this type of drink if you like it, may be great. Or you could also have it in a different way like the chia see seed pudding, chia seed in like a fruit puree as sort of like a jam, all of that, you know, are great options that can give you the same benefit.
The next trend is one that I was pretty hesitant to put in. I'm always hesitant to really review specific products because I don't want anything to ever feel like an attack against a company, but this is one that I get asked about and honestly, their ads are very aggressive so we need to talk about them. And that is Colon Broom.
So Colon Broom, if I'm telling you very honestly what it is, it's overpriced psyllium husk powder. It claims to eliminate bloating, and it claims to cleanse the colon, which is where that broom word kind of comes in and result in weight loss. So in their ads and in their marketing, they really do put a lot of attention on weight loss, which, if you've been in my community very long, you know, this is more of a personal professional opinion and kind of my stance and where I am, is I don't like to put weight loss and gut health together too much because I think there's nothing wrong with it from a just kind of a base point of view, like yes, you can achieve weight loss and gut health, some of the things that will achieve both will overlap, which is great, but if we're focusing so much on weight loss and letting some of those ideals come into play, the idea that thinness is healthier, things like that, that's kind of rooted in diet culture and weight loss, that can be really problematic from a gut health perspective and get in the way of true strategies that do help with gut health.
So I don't love that they do this when their product is really more of a gut health and digestive health product, but this is what they they really claim because fiber is very helpful for regulating blood sugar management. We know that with fiber rich foods, it's why we recommend whole grains, but psyllium husk powder in particular, is really helpful to help stabilize blood sugar levels, which then may potentially for some result in weight loss. It's also helpful to increase satiety or fullness and satisfaction from a meal, which then would lead to overall reduction in calorie intake, for some that could result in a loss for some that could be problematic. So again, I don't like that that's the focus, but that is where that comes from.
Psyllium is also very effective for improving motility like gut motility, that movement of the GI tract, as well as regularity for bowel movements. So we know that it can help improve the form of stool so it can help improve diarrhea, and it can also help the movement of stool and passing of stool, which can help constipation. So it's one of our preferred fiber supplement sources when it comes to kind of IBS or poor bowel movements and regularity because it can be very effective and we know that it's very effective.
For some, just like the chia seeds, this fiber supplement could increase bloating and gas, it has a soluble fiber supplement overall, but it can be a bit more fermentable and may potentially cause a little bit more gas for some, so it's not going to be well tolerated by everyone and so it's something that we just have to kind of consider and think about.
When it comes to this product, specifically Colon broom, it is very expensive. So the biggest con, the pros are their psyllium husk is phenomenal, it is a great fiber supplement, but the product itself is much higher priced than other psyllium husk products that you're going to find on the market. And it's not necessarily superior in any way, so you don't really need this specific product to get these benefits, you can get it for probably less than half of the price at just its natural, whole plain form and still see the benefits that you're looking for.
So if you want to spend money on the product, if you like their community, if you like that marketing, great, you know, if you like the product itself, and you want to spend the money on it, that is always your choice, nothing really harmful there. But if you are interested in those benefits and you don't want to spend that money, then you could look for psyllium husk powder in different form.
Now, just like the chia seed conversation, this is not going to be really great for people who are having that impaction and severe constipation backup, because again, it is going to cause a traffic jam, and it might back you up, kind of lock you up even more, which is not what you're looking for. It's also not ideal for someone who's not hydrating their body. If you do not have good hydration, that psyllium, it absorbs water so fast. If you ever mix psyllium into water, it absorbs the water and can get kind of hard. It's doing that in the gut, which is why it helps with diarrhea and constipation. But if you are not hydrating well, what that's going to do is harden your stool and again, lock you up. So it's better to make sure you have hydration improved first before you implement this or be really intentional when you're implementing psyllium husk into your life because you want that.
There are also plenty of other fiber supplements that can be great, so this isn't the only option that's available if you don't like the palatability of it, or the look of it, the texture of it or whatever it may be, so there are other options, this one is just in this specific product.
Okay, now the next one I know I'm going to get some backlash from because this is one that a lot of people are seeing benefit from andI think where we get into this idea of you know, anecdotal, experiential results versus actual scientific data, and also the boundary between short term results and risk and harm. And that is the trend of parasite cleanses.
So what this is, is they're different protocols. So every company that offers these has a little bit of a different blend, but it's a blend of herbals. So herbal supplement blends that have anti parasitic and antimicrobial effects in the body. There's also some different herbs in there that have been shown to improve things like digestive discomfort, maybe help with pain, maybe help with motility, so they have other effects as well. But specifically, they have these kind of killing effects for parasites and other microbes, so anti parasitic or anti microbial.
The claim here is kind of a deeper claim that chronic gut issues are a result of unidentified parasites in the body and in the gut, so we must kill them in order to resolve the symptoms. There's this idea that if you're dealing with chronic bloating, you've got a parasite, so you need to do this cleanse in order to remove these parasites that are hiding in your body because everyone has them and that's how you resolve your symptoms. Some people will claim that this is something that you only do if your symptoms are really bad, there are others that will claim that you do this through like moon cycles or kind of just on a cyclical basis no matter what because you chronically need to be clearing because you're always going to be getting parasites from the food that you eat, water that you drink, things like that.
So the truth here is that protocols like this and these herbal killing protocol regimens can be very effective for a variety of reasons. That could be that they shift the microbiome and even in the short term, that shift may feel good, because we're possibly clearing out some microbes, some of which are good that we need, but some of which might not be doing us any favors. We know that, you know, they could potentially kill off pathogenic microbes that may be contributing to symptoms. So looking at things like you know, SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, like there are some pathogenic microbes that we know exist, possibly there's something going on there. We also know that they can have sort of a laxative effect for a lot of people and help stimulate clearing of the gut, which is going to help stimulate the release of stool, and whenever we are clearing stool properly, that's going to improve bloating, gas production, all of those things.
So one of the top causes of bloat is actually constipation, you can be pooping every day and still be constipated, so these types of protocols may be helping with that, where they're kind of clearing out the stool and making you feel lighter, like you've lost weight, they're making me feel like you have a flat stomach when you haven’t it in a long time because we're reducing that bloating that's happening.
When it comes to parasites themselves and parasitic infections, that's where things get a bit murky and controversial. So parasitic infections are very real, they can be extremely real. Usually, these are the result of like contaminated food and water, typically with travel in areas where they don't have great clean water sources, or proper sanitation and food safety practices that are in place. And so that that can happen, it can be fairly common for people who are traveling often, especially to those areas. These can be tested for, and they can be treated with drugs that are really known to work, to be effective, and to also be safe in the long term.
The idea that we all have parasites in our guts, or that there are parasites that will never be identified that are hiding out, you know, or on a regular test, you're not gonna find this, but on these specific tests that these companies have developed, that there's no research really behind, you know, that those are right, right, that those are going to identify the parasites that the other tests just can't see, your doctor is missing it, that's the message.
That is not improvement. And it could be true, you know, as a dietitian in this space, I don't ever want to say that I'm so naive to believe that what we know right now is only no, there's always so much more that we can learn and so much more that we can know, but the consensus among experts in this field is that it is very highly unlikely that this claim is the case. It could be likely that there are these pathogenic microbes and imbalances that are happening in the gut or some benefit in other ways to certain protocols like this, but the idea that we all have these parasites is very unlikely, and especially to this degree, right, to the fact that our bodies are not able to clear them.
And we know this, and we believe this because of how parasitic infections are known to affect one's bodies and symptoms that can occur, usually they will take over and it will be fairly severe. So just this chronic everyday bloating is not really a true pattern that we've seen over decades of research in relation to parasites. And again, that could change in the future, but there hasn't been anything to really prove the claims and most of the claims that are made are very much anecdotal, which is more experiential versus true data.
So even these tests that are available, yes, they're showing that people have these parasites, but their tests haven't really been validated, so to say that those tests are accurate would be wrong. And as someone who obtains a code of ethics to follow evidence based information, I can't say that, that's not ethical for me to say because it's not really backed by evidence and science yet, and ideally, will be in the future, if that's true.
So there's the other side of it to where you know, the other argument is that well, when people do these protocols and these cleanses, they're passing what they call like, worms are the parasites out of their body. So they see it in their poop, and they're passing these worms or these things and so that proves that these cleanses work, right? That's what they're saying.
The truth is, if someone really did have a worm or a parasite in their body like that, there could be a chance that they can pass it, it could happen, it's highly unlikely that this is what's happening for the majority people taking these protocols. What the belief is, is that there could be a buildup of the ingredients themselves, like these ingredients are not benign ingredients. They are killing protocols for a reason. They're fairly intense and there's a lot in there. We know supplements also aren't really regulated and so there's a lot of controversy in that alone. There is a belief that there can be a buildup of these ingredients that can form this kind of worm like consistency in the body because the body is not really able to fully process these, especially if they're moving through the body fairly quickly if they're having a laxative like effect on the body.
There's also the idea that the binding effect of some of the ingredients, there's a lot of binders that are used and the goal of that is that we're killing things producing toxins from the killing and we want to bind those toxins and bind those kind of byproducts. So they don't do more harm in the body, which sounds great, but that binding effect can also create a binding effect to other things moving through your body and the ingredients themselves, which also can create these thicker kind of textured pieces that are coming out with your stool.
Another theory is that this actually could be part of the intestinal lining due to that disruption in the shedding that's occurring inside the gut itself, which would make sense because the consistency is very much intestinal lining. If you ever think about like a sausage, hot dogs, sausages that are in casings, typically, those casings are going to be like they are they used to at least be intestinal lining. So think about that consistency, and that texture, that's what you're seeing. And many of these cases.
Now, when it comes to using these, because people do seem to feel better on them sometimes. So the thought is like, okay, well people feel better, regardless of if this is truly doing what it says it's doing right? If you really have a parasite or not, like, if you feel better, it should be fine, right? Like, is there any harm? And that's where I think there's the biggest risk that's being done and where I think the controversy is not being handled appropriately, because in a lot of cases if you see benefit, just like with the chia seeds, or the colon, boom, right, you see a benefit, there's no harm associated with those things so it's fine. Even if it's a placebo effect, that's fine.
But when it comes to these types of protocols, there can be a lot of harm that's done from these types of ingredients, especially when they're being used and supervised, being used in cyclical patterns. There's a lot of people that, I've seen it on TikTok especially, where influencers are sharing what they've done on multiple times. And you know, the companies are marketing to you, and they're allowing you to go and buy these rounds of supplements, they're not necessarily guiding you appropriately through how to use these, but these types of ingredients can do harm to deliver, they can do harm to the kidneys, they can do harm to the body. If you already have maybe another health condition, if you're utilizing any medications, you know, those things can interact with other other disease states and medications that you're taking, which can do even more harm.
As a practitioner in this space. I have seen many patients come to me who've been on rounds of these types of herbal protocols, all from good intentions, but they end up with kidney disease, they end up with liver failure, like they end up in really worse states and where they ever began. Even if they saw the short term benefits, these other effects happen after, and that's not something that I feel like it's being communicated.
A lot of the people that are talking about these cleanses in these protocols are people who have this experience themselves, and they're doing it again, out of good intuition. I felt better doing this, you may feel better doing this, they're not health professionals, they don't understand the nuance that can be there. They're pretty protective, so they're a little defensive if you challenge it and so there's this fight happening, but no one's really talking about educating the consumer on the potential risks that is there. So you know that that's really something that's important to know.
Another piece is that, we don't have a lot of good data on how these types of ingredients and these verbals, especially these killing type protocols and herbal blends, how those impacts the gut microbiome. We know with like antibiotic use, for example, where a lot of people who have chronic gut issues, they may take an antibiotic and actually feel good in the short term, but then they see the negative effects of that antibiotic that they use, because it cleared out their microbiome. So now they don't have their healthy microbes, they don't have a good balance of microbes. And it can actually do you know, if it's used chronically, that can do long term damage to the gut microbiome in that environment. And so we don't know if these protocols have that same effect, and they could, because they're not being well researched, or not being studied. There's not a lot of money that's there to really research those compared to like pharmaceutical companies and those types of medications and so, you know, as a practitioner, again, in the space, you've seen, I've seen the data over time, you know, I've seen how things have been a trend and those short term benefits, and then what can actually happen, my biggest fear is that a lot of these are having negative impacts on the gut microbiome, and they actually work against you in the future.
So it's something that again, you just want to be you want to be thoughtful about, you want to consider and I always like to say, you know, when we're really thinking critically about something like what I would do with my clients and patients, is if you're having to cyclically use something and it feels like You only feel good when you use it and right after, is it actually working for you? Or if your symptoms are just kind of raging that? Did was that the problem? Or did that cause more of a problem, we really need to question that because you shouldn't have to need something over and over and over and over again. And if you're chronically, truly getting parasites, we need to figure that out. Because that's a bigger problem than spending a lot of money and potentially doing some harm in the body with these protocols. So yeah, I know, you may not agree, but that's the evidence that's there. And again, maybe in the future, we'll have more.
Okay, so the last. The next trend that I want to cover, I think hit more in 2021, but it's still all over the internet. And it's something that you've likely seen, especially with these kind of before and after photos and videos, and that is the Beachbody gap protocol. So Beachbody has been around for a long time, they really are in the weight loss kind of space, they sell supplements, workout programs, and then they have veered into these other spaces, because there's money to be made. And they follow the money on like any kind of multilevel level marketing like company, I'm not sure if they really fit into that umbrella or not, but they're basically like that, where there are these coaches in tears, and they sign you up on the program, they make some money from your participation, they encourage you share your results, you sign up to get people under you, that whole scheme, right? The goal is always money. The goal is what can make money. And so whenever digestive health really started coming to the forefront, and getting hot, which a lot of these trends have followed under Beachbody jumped on board and they created this gap protocol.
It's a four week program. It's being marketed for gut health. But it's really more centered around restrictive dieting and supplements. And this was kind of led I don't know who exactly created it, maybe this person maybe not. But it's led by a really popular Beachbody coach who is not a medical expert, I think it's really important to know she is not a dietitian, she is not trained medically, in any way, I think she may have some sort of nutrition, coaching certification, maybe under Beachbody, which is not the same as a four year degree plus supervised internship in practice and, you know, being held to create like certain levels of CEUs. Every year in that level of training and code of ethics. She has not held under that standard. But she has created this, this protocol. And if you have been through this program at all, or seen any excerpts from it, if you've had the benefit of seeing things that people have late, you'll know that that's pretty evidenced by the fact that she makes a ton of errors in her presentation throughout the program itself. And even the way that it's being marketed. If you see all coaches are kind of marketing this program. And this protocol is very much like clickbait centered on weight loss. It's very vague, and a lot of them will start talking about the benefits, but there's no evidence really supporting what they're saying. And if you have any level of nutrition knowledge, or even gut health and digestive health knowledge, then you can clearly like start seeing some of the mistakes that they're making and what they're saying and just how little they actually know. And again, it's not to talk poorly about them specifically as human beings. They're being taught to do this, right, because that's how the theory or the process works, right, they need to be able to communicate, they're given scripts are given templates are followed, swipe all looks the same. They're being told to say the exact same things, but these things are not correct for most for the most part. Whenever you go through the program, some of the common foods that are eliminated, it does focus on elimination, of course, and that is gluten, dairy, corn, processed soy products, alcohol and artificial sweeteners. They also limit not fully eliminate, but limit coffee added sugars and red meats. And then they encourage 30 plant foods a week in fermented foods. So elimination Fluss encouraging these things. They also do recommend a lot of supplements. So the idea is kind of this this whole idea of like clean eating right where no processed foods like Whole Foods, but of course, supplements that are not Whole Foods, which I think is always funny, but the supplements that they recommend, or their brand of enzymes, pre and probiotics, and then they're shakes. And I do want to just note that their shakes, a lot of them are high FODMAP which we know can contribute to more digestive health symptoms and even not a great digestive health pattern for those with IBS. Specifically, that's what the science shows.
So the problem of this protocol doesn't sound bad, right? It sounds fine. But the big problem is that the focus is more on counting calories in restricting portions for weight loss like that is such a main focus, which is really gotta create more disordered eating unnecessary restriction. And this disconnect from hunger fullness cues and connection to the body, which can all make symptoms worse, especially for digestive health again, then this is not equal health, fitness does not mean you're not loaded, temporary results from restricting doesn't mean that the health of your gut is improving, right? There are some pieces to that that are really important. And this idea that weight loss and gut health are the same is not true. But it's something that is woven through this program and can be taken away from this program, if not educated properly. Many of the recommendations that are made in the program aren't really going to work for all populations, and especially the ones that they're targeting most, which is this IVs population and the cheap and gi conditions, like they're really targeting these people, and what they're not licensed or trained to do that which is scary, the program is not set up for that and personalized for that. And so the people that are most targeted are likely not going to see the results that they're looking for and may potentially have worsened symptoms from some of the things that are given to them. And there are no true experts available to really personalize the program. So gut health is personalized at its core. And so we blanket statements do not work when it comes to true gut health and optimizing gut health. And so that's a big problem. When it comes to the recommendations themselves, like you know, outside of the counting calories, and that hook kind of overarching theme that's there that may not be as obvious at first, you know, elimination of these types of allergens and things may make someone feel better, you may feel better, eating more fiber rich foods, we definitely know that fermented foods like may be beneficial. We do know that 30 plant foods a weak but it's definitely beneficial. But the fear around full elimination of certain ingredients may not be needed. So again, just this lack of personalization is, is there.
Now some people will say that they've seen a lot of great results, you may be one of them, great happy for you. You know, if you don't have an eating disorder from it, great, there's no harm there, right? If you've been able to implement more variety into your diet, if you feel like your quality of life is thriving, amazing. But if you feel restricted, if you feel fearful of foods, if your quality of life has now gone down, even if you've lost weight or whatever, I would just rethink the value you really got from the program. And even if you're thinking about going into it, you know, considering the amount you're gonna spend on all these supplements and things that they're recommending, a lot of those aren't backed by much research either. And so you might find more value somewhere else. Or even just focusing on plant diversity that 30 plant foods a week more fiber, you may see more benefit from that alone than needing everything that's that's recommended. And the coach that's leading it is a bit aggressive too. So like, you know, there are better teachers out there, in my opinion. Okay, and so the last trend that I want to cover another one that is all over the place and not very controversial, I don't think but that is greens powders. There are so many types, you may know athletic greens like the Ag one, I think there's a company called Bloom there. There are so many companies now that offer these greens powders and what these are their powder versions of this multivitamin that typically includes other ingredients as well like maybe prebiotics, probiotics, and more. So they include the superfoods, spirulina different ingredients like that maybe some different herbs. They all include kind of their own mix. Some of them are more synthetically made more like a true multivitamin, maybe with some greens edited, some of them are based more around whole foods like dehydrated and made into powder. They all kind of have their own flavor of how they present. But they all do kind of claim similar things. And that's how they're going to fix all problems. Usually it's all problems. They're also purpose related to energy, health and digestion. Not all of them markets digestion, but many of them do. So what's the reality? The reality is that these powders could be beneficial if optimal nutrition is lacking, but they may not be the superfood or the into all recommendation that they may claim to be. And again, every marketing campaign looks different. So take that as you will.
The problems here is that these can be very expensive, especially if they're really high quality ones, they can be very expensive. Many do contain these high FODMAP ingredients that might make symptoms worse. So you may be going into investing in this product to get excited about it. But it may include an ingredient that actually makes your symptoms worse, where you're more bloated, you have more gas and you may still see a benefit from the other pieces of the supplement that that ingredient could be making you feel pretty bad, which may lead you to be more confused and frustrated. And overall, though, there's really no harm to these, like for the most part, you know, especially from the more reputable companies that are being a little bit more honest about what they're including and more than ingredients for getting those third party tests done and things like that, there's likely no harm. And, you know, they could be helpful, so if you can afford them, if you take them and you like them, if you notice a benefit from them, then that's great, they're probably not going to do a lot of harm, they may make you feel amazing, especially just the app, the addition of more nutrition and kind of optimizing that intake, we don't always get that question of variety in our diets. And so getting that level of micronutrient intake may be beneficial and could be a good draw that you have, especially if you feel like you've just been depleted and down for a long time.
Maybe it's something that could work but these likely are not going to replace all of the benefits of a diverse plant forward diet, especially for gut health. So ideally, if you are utilizing these types of powders, we would also implement more of a plant forward, you know, 30 foods per week, but really working on plant diversity and fiber intake, because that's going to be really beneficial for your gut, and optimal health overall.
So those are all the trends I'm covering for 2022! I know there are more, maybe we'll do this again throughout 2023 as different trends come our way. Because good health is hot, right? It's been hot for a while it's getting hotter, it's going to continue getting hotter. Companies are coming in there, you're going to see more ads, like they want your money. It's part of it, right? Because there is money to be made and there's also difference to be made.
So always think about, which is critical thinking, don't always just look at the marketing campaign, but really dig a little bit deeper into why are those claims being made? What's backing up those claims? And don't be afraid to ask companies about that. And then ask the question of could this be harmful in any way. And that's a discussion to have with your trusted healthcare professional, and find those trusted health care professionals that are willing to have this conversations with you so that you can make the most informed choices about products and things that you use, for your health and in your body.
I hope this was enjoyable! We'd love to hear what you think, so connect with me over on Instagram @erinjudge.rd are on The Gut Community on Facebook. Happy to hear what you think in in your opinion or thoughts or whatever you may want to share from this episode. Have an amazing new year as we round out 2022 and I'll see you in 2023!