They’re better known as Love Island DJs and radio presenters, but the Mac Twins, aka Alana and Lisa, are also the brains behind The Gut Stuff, where they are spreading the word about gut health. We asked them some of your questions…
Is it best to take probiotics leading up to and during a holiday or only if you have an upset stomach? Kathryn
Don’t start something new just before you are about to go on holiday. Start it two or three weeks before because when you go away the environment will change your stomach and all the different foods will change it too, so you won’t know whether the probiotic is getting a chance to work, or whether it’s just battling against that changed environment – Alana
Also, we forget that being on a plane, and all the tiredness, anxiety and stress that can come with that has a huge effect on your microbiome. To prepare your body by taking a probiotic in advance gets a thumbs up! – Lisa
I think fruit and veg give me wind. Should I avoid them altogether? Jessica
Firstly, probably not all fruit and veg are giving you wind. Having a variety of foods in your diet is one of the best things you can do for diversity in your microbiome. Think of it like a garden – the more different flowers you have to feed the insects the better, or the more different foods you have to feed your bacteria the healthier your gut is going to be – Alana
I would say start a food diary. Write down everything you’ve eaten and how you are feeling, as well as any symptoms, and jot down something about what you did that day. Soon you’ll notice patterns about things that you’re eating and how they affect your gut. Also, write down how many times you go to the toilet – don’t worry, no one else needs to know! – Lisa
Can I drink alcohol if I’m worried about my gut health? Jenny
Obviously alcohol does irritate the gut lining but what we tend to go for now is red wine and red wine is really high in polyphenols which is good for your gut – Alana
We’re not about overhauling your lifestyle and becoming an angel, it’s all about 80-20 for us, doing the right thing most of the time but still having fun. It’s important that we spread that message – Lisa
I have an underactive thyroid, is there anything I can do to my gut health that might help? Laura
There are lots of things you can try, like keeping a food diary, and considering introducing probiotics or prebiotics. People say should I focus diet or supplements? We’d say it depends. There are lots of prebiotic and probiotic foods and it’s great to get as many of those into your diet as you can – they have a broader spectrum of bacteria than supplements do. But we are all busy, and we have lifestyles that don’t necessarily allow us to eat a squillion different vegetables a day and have a large diversity of plant-based foods, so we do both – Alana
I take Symprove because it works for me. It’s a shot in the morning, and who doesn’t like a shot? – Lisa
Does your gut affect whether you often get colds? Louise
Yes it definitely does – the majority of your immune system is housed in your gut so the stronger it is the less likely you are to develop things like colds and flu. Hippocrates said that all disease begins in the gut and nobody listened! – Alana
It could be coincidence, but since we started The Gut Stuff a year ago I haven’t had a cold or the flu – Lisa
What’s the best way to restore my gut after certain medications? Rebecca
When you take antibiotics it wipes all your microbiome out, good and bad, like a nuclear bomb! – Alana
So you need to build it up again with the good guys. Taking a shot of a probiotic, such as Symprove, or kefir, a type of fermented milk, is a really good way to build it back up – they’ve got loads and loads of bacteria. Laying off alcohol also helps, as does having a wide variety of different vegetables. Also, try to avoid processed foods – we all know that they’re bad for us but actually they are especially bad for our bacteria. If you’re feeling a bit under the weather often you immediately want to eat rubbish, but you should in fact be doing the complete opposite and eating as healthily as possible. If you do that, you’ll feel back to normal in no time! – Lisa
