OPINION FEATURE: Do fitness influencers actually care about your ‘gut health’?

Pilates, antitoxins, skinny teas; the latest craze of ‘healing your gut health’ is just another

fitness trend joining the long list of money-scheming fads that came before it.

The phrase seems to be a social media buzzword, with the hashtag amassing over 4.4m

posts on Instagram, and thousands of videos across TikTok. Fitness influencers use the

term to push diets and diet plans that are advertised as a ‘quick fix’ for digestion issues-

things with actual underlying causes that require professional medical advice, such as IBS.

Don’t get me wrong, there is actually a whole lot of truth on the internet about poor gut

health. The gut microbiome is an important thing to look after- it impacts your immune

system, your cardiovascular health, and your energy levels, amongst other important things.

It is by no means a fake and made-up trend.

The issue I have with the trend is how influencers use the word ‘gut health’ to not only

promote and sell diet plans/ training schemes (that usually is backed up by little scientific

evidence), but they also use it to stigmatise ingredients, and instil fears into people's minds about food.

For example, Kefir drinks have tons of probiotics in them and promote good bacteria in your gut, no one denies that. So influencers should simply recommend Kefir drinks right?

WRONG.

Instead, they use Actimel and other yoghurt drinks, and almost villanise them to

their viewers to help get their point across. This fear is what helps these influencers gain a

following, increase their views, and ultimately profit just them.

Tiktok user ‘tonic health’ uploaded a video with 500,000 likes discussing wholly how Actimels are marketing ‘bullshit’, and diving into their nutrition. Okay, so Actimels have a few tablespoons of sugar in them, and what? I promise, an Actimel is not going to kill you.

People who actually care about nutritional value will know these facts for themselves, so

why must we broadcast them to easily influence young people? These videos are instilling

fear into young peoples minds about foods, and causing them to stray from the things they enjoy. It is extremely reminiscent of pro-ana Tumblr, and the ‘high vs low-calorie food swap’ trend on Instagram, in that it teaches people to avoid these foods at all costs. This is just one step up the ladder of disordered eating.

Like I said before, gut health is important, and there’s so much new and exciting research

around the role of the gut microbiome in overall physical and mental health. Research

has found that boosting the diversity of gut microbiota (the vast array of “good” bacteria

in your digestive system) can have positive effects on the immune system, improve

mental health conditions like depression, improve sleep and heart health, and even

reduce the rate of certain types of cancer.

But the trend of videos villainising food, with big eye-catching and scary titles like

‘FOODS TO AVOID FOR YOUR HEALTH’, are dangerous for vulnerable people.

University of London senior lecturer Stephanie Alice Baker defined these fads as the

latest manifestation of the idea of “self-optimization,” an insidious mechanism to promote diet culture and “ideal” body types through unlikely sources. By labelling weight loss as

“gut healing,” influencers are able to promote extreme, unhealthy diets.

If you are struggling with digestion , or would like to know more about what you can do to

help with your gut health, please seek professional medical advice. Do not fall for

influencer scams and diet schemes that are not suited for your specific needs.

Some simple gastroenterologist-backed pieces of advice, that don’t require you to avoid

foods, include:

- Eating more fermented foods

- Taking probiotics (actual ones, not gummies)

- Not smoking

- Noting down what irritates your digestive system

Edited by Imogen Bowlt