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Gut health is having a moment, and with it comes a lot of noise. Everything on the shelf seems to promise a happier gut, and it is hard to know what is worth your money and what is clever marketing. We sell a fair bit of this category, so we would rather you spend well than spend a lot. Here is the honest version.
They sound the same and get muddled constantly. Probiotics are the live good bacteria themselves, the ones you are trying to add. Prebiotics are the fibre those bacteria eat, the food that keeps them alive once they arrive. Adding bacteria without feeding them is a bit like getting a puppy and forgetting the dog food, which is why a lot of the better products now combine the two.
Before any supplement, the single best thing for most guts is variety on the plate and a bit of fermented food. Sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, miso, a good live yoghurt and a glass of kombucha all bring bacteria the way your body is built to receive them, alongside the fibre from plants that feeds them. Aim for a lot of different plants across a week rather than the same three vegetables on repeat. Start fermented foods slowly though, a forkful not a bowlful, or your stomach will let you know.
A word on bloating. If everything you eat leaves you bloated, in pain, or you have had a sudden change in your habits, that is a conversation for your GP, not a probiotic off the shelf. Gut supplements are for general upkeep, not for diagnosing what might be going on.
There are times a targeted probiotic makes sense, the classic one being a course of antibiotics, which knocks out the good bacteria along with the bad. Travellers reach for them too. If you go the supplement route, the strain matters more than the big number on the front, so a well formulated product with a sensible count beats a giant number you cannot pronounce. Some are shelf stable and some live in the fridge, so check the label and store it the way it says.
You have got capsules for a simple daily routine, powders that combine prebiotic fibre with probiotics, and the drinks for people who would honestly just rather sip a tonic or a kombucha than swallow a pill. The Amphore kombucha is brewed here and it is a genuinely nice way in if the whole idea is new to you.
Whatever you choose, the gut does not turn around in a weekend. Give any change a good few weeks of consistency before you decide whether it is doing anything, keep the fibre and the fermented foods going underneath it, and go gently at the start.
The full range lives under Gut Health and Pre and Probiotics, and if you would like someone to point you at a sensible starting place we are at 936 Anzac Parade, Maroubra, open seven days.
