Her Discussions by Dr Faye - Gut-Brain Expert: The Best Anti-Inflammatory Products To Buy

Episode Date: March 12, 2026

A new mini-episode is dropping every Thursday... SURPRISE!Every Thursday, we’ll be sharing the Buy or Bye-Bye segment from one of your favourite Her Discussions episodes - a quick breakdown of what actually works for your health.This week, we’re starting with Dr Caitlin Hall. Dr Caitlin is a leading voice in neuroscience and nutrition and a PhD-trained expert in the gut microbiome-brain axis.In this mini episode, we discuss the products that will actually help your gut health, and those you can say bye-bye to.Listen to the full podcast here:Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/her-discussions-by-dr-faye/id1835829612⁠Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5viLYizHD4Zy6J42iqtPRo⁠In the full episode, we discuss:🍌 Best proven anti-inflammatory foods💩 Eat 2 of this fruit if you can’t poo💗 What you need to know about gut health if you have PCOS, endo or IBS💧 The 5 “Fs” of gut health you must knowPlease don’t forget to subscribe - it really helps us grow the podcast.Resources & links mentioned:@drcaitlinhallCan I ask you a BIG favour? 💙Please leave a review or rating. It helps us grow the podcast and bring you more amazing guests.Share with someone who needs this, it might help them live a happier, healthier life.Follow us on social media or join the broadcast channel to send us your questions for our guests:Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herdiscussionspod/Broadcast channel: https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbY4liwxlLnewx4H/🛑 Disclaimers & legal:This podcast is for educational / informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice. All opinions are those of the speaker(s).

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So I'm going to tell you some products. I would love it if you could tell me whether you would buy these products or say bye-bye to them. Got it. So the first thing that we have is juice. cleanses. That's a quick bye-bye. I mean, with juice cleanses, you're taking out one of the most important ingredients of fruit, which is the fibre. And I'll probably talk about this a million times today, but fibre is like the most important thing for your gut health and your brain health. So, yeah, that's a quick bye-bye for that one. Nice. Nice and straightforward. The next one,

detox cheese. Yeah, that's another bye-bye. For sure. That's a quick bye-bye. There is very, very little evidence, if any, linking detox teas to any beneficial health effects in the body, particularly, you know, people generally take this for gut health, but also for weight management as well. And both of those things has been shown, you know, there's no detox required. Your liver does all of that work. So that is a quick, save your money, bye-bye to any detox tea trend that I see. Nice. I love the clear, clear answers. I also was going to ask you about what you think about a lot of these detoxes

that have very laxative component to them. Can that do any damage to your gut health? Yeah, anything that does have like a really strong laxative effect or as advertisers having a laxative effect, I'm always wary of, and it definitely is a big red flag to me. When it comes to regularity and constipation, there are like 20 things that we should be doing before we get to the point where we're looking

at laxatives, which is kind of counterintuitive because you go to your GP and you might report constipation. The first thing they'll give you is potentially a laxative. But what I want everyone to know is that there are so many things that we can try before we get to that point because we don't want to have people on laxatives long term or having to rely on, let's say that this this tea does work for you. Yeah, it's not beneficial long term. It's disrupting like the natural processes that your body should be operating with. So big red flag for me. What are those top things that you recommend for people who are constipated before maybe being,

before maybe going to a laxative? The really low hanging fruit, excuse the pun, is fibre. So fiber, fluids, movement. Those are the top three things that we look at as a dietitian to, to help someone establish more of a regular bowel pattern. So fiber obviously being, you know, the reason why everyone takes fiber is, you know, it's the thing your grandma took to help her go to the toilet. But there is so much research behind fiber being, you know,

the broom that sweeps through your gut, helping to move everything along and to keep everything regular, good consistency, good transit time, and help with the normal muscle contractions of your gut. However, hand in hand with that is water intake. So whenever you're increasing fiber intake, you have to increase your water intake. That's because fiber draws in a whole lot of water when you consume it. So you need to make sure that everything is flowing nicely. It's actually quite topical.

There was a recent report that came out with some new guidelines around constipation as well. One of the most effective things is looking at something like a prune. So I think it was like five to ten prunes a day is super effective, an obscene amount of rye bread. But I do want people to know that it is much easier than that. Even simple switches like having, you know, two kiwi fruits a day or, you know, having whole grain varieties rather than white breads and white pastas, all of those small switches should be the first line treatment before spending, God knows how much on your detox tea. That's so interesting you said about the two Kiwis because there was a study on athletes as well relatively recently about having two Kiwis and your sleep quality.

So two Kiwis seems like one of the best things that you can do. The magic. I love that. Kaffir. Love. Yeah, that's a buy, a quick buy. Kaffir is, when you compare it to things like yogurt or other fermented foods, kifia has the most diversity of different naturally occurring life bacteria strains.

and is a great, like, switch for things like sour cream or, you know, something to give your meal a bit of, like, tang and flavour to it. So absolutely, yes, for gut health, great for regularity. It's a quick buy for me. By or make. How do you make kaffia? Sorry, excuse my ignorance. Do you know, I don't even know how to make it myself. I've made plenty of kombucha in my day, but kofia I'm yet to delve into.

But I've heard that it's relatively straightforward. if you have the time and the patience for it. Next, we have sauerkraut. That's another buy, but a buy depending on the type that you're getting. It's also another thing that you can make yourself as well if you again have the time and the patience for it. Do you have any brands that you personally love for the sauerkraut or anything that listeners could look on the label, like any red flags on a sauerkraut label to look out for?

The things that I look for is just the basics. Minimal ingredient list is preferred. So you just want to look for things like the actual vegetables, you know, herbs and spices, all fine. They're great to add to it as well. So just kind of looking for the basic minimal ingredient list. Next. Convocha. Another buy for me.

But again, it actually depends. So a lot of the commercially available kombuchas, now they are adding a few extra things. things in there that you don't need to, like artificial sweeteners. I'm seeing a lot of ingredients now being added to commercial kombuchas that don't need to be there. kombucha is actually quite naturally sweet. Once you've fermented it properly, most of the sugar has been absorbed in that process, but it still retains a little bit of that sweetness. So I don't think you need to add any additional stuff to it. We also know that artificial sweeteners can have a negative effect on our gut bacteria and the composition of the bacteria there. So it's kind of like you're doing good,

but then you're also adding something that that's not quite quite good for your gut microbiome. So yes to kombucha, watch out for the artificial sweeteners on the label. And yeah, I would make it yourself as well. It's super easy to make. And that's something that I've done a lot before in the past as well. It's good fun. Nice. How do you make it? Again, excuse my ignorance. So you need to get yourself a vessel. That's the one thing you need. But the most important thing you need is something called a scobie, which if you Google images of it, it looks absolutely disgusting. But that's essentially the starter ingredient for kombucha. It's the mass of bacteria that starts your kombucha. Then you add in some tea, you add in some sugar, some water,

and you cover it with a bit of cloth so it can breathe still. You're not stifling it. And then you leave it for, depending on where you live, in Brisbane, you did not need to leave it for very long because it was so hot. Over here in winter, you would need to leave it for a good couple of weeks. And then you can do something called the second fermentation where you take the brew that you have and then you can put them into smaller glass bottles. And that's the fun part. You can add in some frozen raspberries, some ginger, some turmeric. That's where you can add your flavors to it. that's also the part where it becomes like bubbly and sort of like carbonated. So that will take another week to do.

But yeah, I mean, look up the recipe. There was like plenty online, but it is, it is good fun. That seems like a hobby I can really get behind actually. Yeah, it's therapeutic. Yeah. Nice. Ginger. Ginger, yes, absolutely buy.

Great in terms of, you know, adding diversity to your meals. I have seen a lot online about it being used, you know, take ginger before your meals for digestion. There is a very, very small amount of evidence to suggest that it can be beneficial for things like indigestion or dyspepsia. I would say if you enjoy it, just have any time of the day you don't need to time it just before your meals. It's a great addition to have. It's also great in pregnancy. So there is some evidence that it can reduce nausea and vomiting in. pregnancy as well. So absolutely buy for all use cases and flavour. The whole time in thing,

as if we need to make our health and wellness routines any more complex, you know, like if you want to have the ginger, have the ginger. Like, you don't need to be timing it super, super, super strict. Exactly. And if you hate it, don't eat it. Yeah. It's not worth it. Love. Probiotics and prebiotics. Buy and buy. No, buy and buy. Definitely. However, When we look at the probiotic side, the evidence we're seeing is still constrained to very specific use cases. So I think people look at a probiotic these days and they see it as a one-size-fits-all solution, whereas we know, and the WHO have also come out with the same set of guidelines for, I think, four very specific use cases in women's health, for infants, for antibiotic use and for immune health.

they are the four evidence-based use cases for when we should be taking a probiotic. Everything outside of that, and particularly the ones that you see, you know, reduces anxiety, helps you feel calmer, you know, a gut brain acts as probiotic. The evidence is just not there yet. And people are taking these things, spending so much money on them as well. And there's really very, very little evidence to show that it's working in that way. There will be a time potentially where that is expanded, but for now I would say, buy when you need it, and buy-bye for everything else. And then on the prebiotic side,

buy all the time. And I'm slightly biased because I do a lot of research in the prebiotic fibre space, but it is the food for your gut bacteria. It is the only thing that they can break down and provide these really important substances from without prebiotic fiber in your diet, then your gut bacteria essentially starve and they die off. And we know that the gut microbiome is key to everything that's happening into our body. So without giving your body the right types of fiber, the right types of prebiotic fiber, specifically, then we're essentially killing off all of our native gut bacteria. I think people do get confused, but prebiotics can be found in

natural foods as well, like onion and garlic, leaks, green bananas and oats. So it is found in everyday foods, but people do struggle to get enough prebiotics in their diet. And that's where a supplement can definitely help. So buy for sure. The whole reason we introduced this section was because, you know, your financial health is so important to your wellness as well. And if you're just buying all these products that ultimately just make you stressed out and don't work, then that can have such a big impact on your stress.

So thank you very much for clearing a lot of those up. Thank you for listening. If you would like to hear the full episode with even more jam-packed knowledge, then just click the link in the description.