Q&A with Abbey Sharp

What initially sparked your interest in the connection between diet and gut health, and how has your perspective evolved over the years?

I am unfortunately part of the 12-15% of North Americans who have IBS, so I’ve dealt with painful digestive symptoms like bloating, abdominal pain and constipation most of my life. I started getting interested in nutrition in my late teens when it struck me that I could reduce my symptoms by paying better attention to my diet. It turned out that IBS is far more complicated (for me and for many others) than just removing one or two foods, as it is better described as a gut-brain disorder where the communication between the digestive system and the nervous system becomes dysregulated. So while my primitive teenage understanding of “gut health” was simply about having regular bathroom habits, as a dietitian, I now know that it encompasses and affects nearly every system in the body. The health of the gut impacts our immune system, weight management, mood and mental health, blood sugars, hormones and so much more.

In your opinion, what are some of the most common misconceptions people have about gut health and the microbiome?

There is so much we are learning about the microbiome, which means myths may become facts and facts may become myths as our understanding emerges.  

I think one of the big misunderstandings is that gut health is simply about pooping or not feeling bloated. The truth is that the health of the gut affects the health of literally every other system in the body – our immune system, metabolism, hormones, mental health, and more. 

Another myth that admittedly irks me is that you can “heal” or “revolutionize” your gut with one specific detox diet or food. The microbiome isn’t like a machine you can tune up every six months, it’s a living breathing ecosystem that needs constant and consistent care. So while there are a multitude of ways to abruptly change your microbiome for that day or possibly a few days (i.e. stark diet change, a onetime workout “challenge”, or a single “shot” of probiotics), it will generally return back to its usual orientation soon after. To see real lasting changes to bacteria diversity and balance can take weeks to months of sustained healthy habits, not a $200 day of juice.

How do you approach recommending dietary changes for improving gut health, and what do you consider the most impactful foods or habits to focus on?

Eating more fiber is the #1 most impactful dietary move you can make for your gut health, and it’s not just because it helps you poop. Fiber is essentially food for our gut bacteria. It’s considered microbiota-accessible carbohydrates because our human digestive system can’t break them down, but our gut microbes can. Like people, different types of bacteria prefer different types of fiber, so if we want to promote a biodiverse microbiome, we want to try to eat a varied, fiber rich diet. Research suggests that people who eat 30+ different plant-based foods per week have greater microbial diversity than those who eat fewer than 10. So remember, variety is the spice of life! When adding fiber to your diet, start slow and go slow to prevent bloating, cramps and gas. Increase portion sizes of high fiber foods very gradually over time (so start with just 1-2 tablespoons of bran cereal, then work up to a ½ cup for example) and make sure to pair it with lots of water to prevent paradoxical constipation from too much bulk in the colon. If you have a sensitive gut and are prone to bloating from high fiber foods (or more specifically, what we call FODMAPs), but you still want to reap the rewards of the benefits of these nutrient-dense foods, consider taking a high quality digestive supplement. That’s one of the main reasons why I developed Neue Theory’s new product, Digest + Debloat. I wanted to tackle painful bloating from all angles so that you can reap the gut-healthy benefits of the foods you love without discomfort.

Probiotics and prebiotics are often discussed in relation to gut health—can you explain the difference between the two and how people can incorporate them into their diets?

Probiotics are the live microorganisms that inhabit the gut (plus other areas of the body like the vagina, mouth, skin and respiratory system) that confer health benefits throughout the body. They’re considered “good” bacteria because they can compete and edge out harmful microbes, support immune function, produce beneficial by-products of fermentation called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and protect the gut barrier.  

To get in more probiotics from your diet, you can include a variety of fermented foods like yogurt and kefir (with live active cultures), sauerkraut (unpasteurized/raw), kimchi, miso, tempeh, and kombucha. However, it’s very hard to determine how much (if any) bacteria survive in a food product, and what strains are present (which is important because different strains have different benefits). So for a clinical dosage, it’s best to look for a probiotic supplement where you can control the exact strains of bacteria and the dosage. In many cases, you may need millions or billions of CFUs (colony forming units) or a specific strain known to address your unique concern to feel a difference in your symptoms. For example, we added a clinical dose of 5 Billion CFUs of spore-forming bacillus strain probiotics to Neue Theory’s 2-in-1 Probiotic Protein powder which has specifically been shown to have anti-bloating effects.  

In contrast, prebiotics are the fuel for the probiotic bacteria. All fiber contributes to the general nourishment of the gut ecosystem, but think about prebiotics are the high value “superfoods” that have been clinically shown to selectively feed beneficial bacteria and produce the highest levels of beneficial by-products.  

How can someone start to identify if they have an imbalance in their gut microbiome, and what are the signs or symptoms they should look for?

While gut imbalances (also called dysbiosis) are common, they can be tricky to recognize and perhaps even trickier to treat in a targeted way. The most common symptoms are those that affect the digestive tract specifically like bloating after meals, excess gas, constipation, diarrhea, undigested food in stool and stomach cramps. But because the microbiome also affects nearly every other system in the body, these GI disturbances may also be accompanied by seemingly unrelated symptoms like mood swings, frequent infections, eczema, chronic fatigue, severe acne, joint pain and sleep disturbances. In some cases there are tests to identify if a certain pathogenic species is present or overgrowing (like the breath tests for SIBO or H.Pylori, stool tests for C. Difficile, salmonella or campylobacter), but often diagnosis is made through clinical observations and trial and error changes to diet and supplements. If you think you may be suffering from dysbiosis, always speak to your doctor before making any changes.

What role does stress and mental health play in gut health, and what are some simple strategies people can adopt to support both their mind and gut?

Stress and mental health play a profound, bidirectional role in gut health thanks to the vagus nerve constantly sending messages between the gut and the brain via what we know as the brain-gut axis. If you’ve ever experienced butterflies or loose bowels when you’re nervous, you can appreciate how powerful this connection can be.

Stress can slow digestion (causing IBS symptoms), suppress the immune function of the gut lining, and alter the gut microbiome to reduce beneficial species and increase pathogenic opportunistic ones. Meanwhile, gut dysbiosis can also affect our mental health as well. Since 90-95% of our happy hormone serotonin is produced in the gut, when our microbiome is compromised, we can see increases in anxiety and depression, poor sleep quality and an imbalance of calming vs excitatory neurotransmitters.

Not being stressed is obviously easier said than done, especially when our stress is influenced by major life events or circumstances. But one little thing you can try (that doesn’t require a major life change) is to activate the vagus nerve. Exercises like deep belly (diaphragmatic) breathing, humming, singing, or gargling with water, cold exposure, yoga, mindfulness and body scans can help tone or activate the vagus nerve which then flips the switch from fight and flight mode to rest and digest mode.