Gut check time: What is gut health and why is it important? Discover how gut health affects your whole body, including 7 signs of an unhealthy gut and the most important steps you can take to improve your gut health.

Our own Coach Tim Skwiat explains everything that goes into a healthy gut with Montel and Olivia on The Balancing Act. Click the following link to learn about all the BioTRUST products that support a healthy gut biome. Below you will find the transcript from the interview.

Montel: Well, you know, optimal health begins in the gut. In fact, poor gut health can have the most consequences, literally from head to toe.

Olivia: Absolutely. I mean, let’s just list some of them, right. Poor immune health, skin issues, joint problems, mood disturbances, energy imbalances, weight issues, and of course, digestion problems.

Montel: Like I said, head to toe. But there’s something we can do about it.

Olivia: That’s right. And here with more is Tim Skwiat, Vice President of Research & Development at BioTrust Nutrition. Welcome.

Tim: Thanks so much for having me, guys.

Olivia: Thanks for being here. So, I was reading here that you are a Precision Nutrition Coach and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. So, you’re really passionate about health and making people have a better life, right?

Tim: Right.

Olivia: It’s really here, right? Does it start here?

Tim: You gotta start with the gut check. You nailed it, Olga. And you know, over 2,000 years ago Hippocrates said all disease begins in the gut, and the father of modern medicine, he was he was right on cue. We now have this huge body of evidence that shows us that all the health magic or challenges begin in the gut. There are over 100 trillion microbes that live in our gut and make up this gut microbiome, right?

Montel: 100 trillion.

Tim: And check this out that there’s roughly 37 trillion cells in the human body, so these guys outnumber us by a factor of three, and their genes outnumber us by a factor of 100.

Olivia: So we got to keep it in check.

Tim: We’ve got to keep it in check, and it really starts with that gut microbiome.

Montel: So, now you know, behavioral modification and eating a proper diet, that’s not enough by itself, right?

Tim: Well, we’re just facing an uphill battle. But the good news is that we can control things. We’re in the driver’s seat and there’s a lot of things we can control, but there’s a lot of threats out there to this microbiome that we have. Food, for instance. Well, let me take a step back, that research has looked into this and genetics only account for about 2 to 10% of the variation in the gut microbiome. Food that we eat can be anywhere from 20 to 57%, so we need to make sure that we’re eating our fruits and vegetables, which are rich in phytonutrients and fibers that help feed these good guys. But we also have to watch out for the threats, the things that can threaten our gut microbiome and lead to this dysbiosis, this imbalance that would be smoking, alcohol, environmental toxins like pesticides, even traveling, over-the-counter medications, and antibiotics would be some things that we want to be careful with.

Montel: Wow.

Olivia: Now we hear a lot about probiotics, right? I mean, that’s big, where everybody knows about probiotics. But I was reading here that we should incorporate pre- and postbiotic into our routine. Tell me about that.

Tim: Yes, for sure, Olga. And probiotics are great. They’re very helpful. Those are kind of the good guys that make up our gut microbiome and they can help establish that healthy balance and maybe even have some positive immune system functions as well, but prebiotics is the food that our probiotics feed on. So, they’re extremely important to maintain that healthy balance and help those good guys thrive. The postbiotics are essentially these byproducts that the probiotics make in the body as a result of feeding on these prebiotics. And these postbiotics, in particular something called butyrate, fuels the immune system, it helps lower inflammation in the intestines, it helps seal the gut lining, it helps with brain and cravings, and all kinds of things. And the problem is most people are deficient in that butyrate because they don’t have this healthy balance of butyrate-producing bacteria. They don’t consume enough fruits and vegetables to feed those guys.

Olivia: To get that.

Montel: Now you brought some examples with you, right?

Tim: Yes, yes sir. So, I brought Pro-X10™, which is our probiotic, and not just your typical probiotic. There are six strains of probiotics in there, but it also has a prebiotic in there. This prebiotic is really cool because it not only feeds the good guys, it also selectively targets the bad guys. It’s kind of like a sniper for those bad bacteria. And then another one that’s really, really important is something called Ageless Biome™, and Ageless Biome™ has that postbiotic, that postbiotic ingredient that many people are deficient in, and it combines it with a prebiotic that increases the body’s production of butyrate naturally. So, it’s a double-edged sword for increasing this postbiotic. It’s got the shortcut giving it to yourself and then also the fuel for your body to create it itself. And then I also brought something called Gut Reg™, which Gut Reg™ is going to help fortify the gut’s defense systems, so naturally helping to improve the ecosystem in your body as well as fortify the gut lining. And then a digestive enzyme is also a key piece of the digestive health puzzle and that’s AbsorbMax™.

Olivia: So, what is it, like two times a day?

Tim: So, the probiotic would be two times a day, and the Ageless Biome is going to be once a day, the Gut Reg™ would be once or twice a day, depending on how much support you need. And the enzymes would be is just with every meal.

Montel: If people want to get more information, where would they go?

Tim: Great question, Montel. That would be at BioTrust.com. Super easy to order. You can find your products there. We have a 60-day money back guarantee. Another thing you can feel good about when you order from BioTrust is that for every order placed, we’re going to feed a hungry child through No Kid Hungry.

Olivia: Oh, my gosh. I love that. That’s the best way to end this.

Montel: That’s great.

Olivia: They’re helping us and they’re helping someone else, as well.

Montel: Thanks so much for being part of the show.

Tim: Thank you guys.

Olivia: Thank you, coach.

Tim: Appreciate it.

Olivia: And if you’d like more information, you go to our website TheBalancingAct.com.

Montel: And we’ll be back right after this.