Olive oil and bone broth: Do viral gut health foods actually work?

Gut health has become one of social media's favourite buzzwords.

From drinking chia seed water first thing in the morning to adding sea moss gel to smoothies and sipping bone broth to "heal" your gut, these products are credited with everything from better moods to more energy.

But behind the viral foods, scientists say the reality is more complicated - especially as it's a growing field with new evidence emerging almost every day.

While the gut microbiome does play a crucial role in our wellbeing, evidence for many of these fixes is thin and for most healthy people, obsessing over gut "healing" may be unnecessary.

What is the gut microbiome?

BBC science broadcaster Caroline Steel describes the gut as the entire digestive tract, from mouth to anus.

Inside it lives the gut microbiome - trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi that play a crucial role in how the body functions and "impacts your mental and physical health".

Steel says our "gut microbiome is more unique than our fingerprint" and a healthy microbiome is linked to better energy extraction from food, blood sugar regulation and immune defence.

Do viral foods live up to the hype?

Microbiologist Alan Walker and gut health scientist Dr Megan Rossi say many trending foods contain a "small seed of truth" but are often oversold as miracle products.

Steel says signs that something may be wrong with your gut can include persistent constipation, diarrhoea, excessive gas or ongoing abdominal pain.

In these cases, she explains it's important people should seek medical advice rather than turning to extreme elimination diets.

"If you've got a problem with your gut then doing something like cutting out bread isn't going to heal it."

She stresses that most people do not need dramatic dietary interventions and "most of us don't need to heal our gut as if your gut is healthy, none of these things are going to make a difference".

Rather than chasing trends, she says there are some easy things people can do to keep their gut happy like "eating more plants, increasing fibre and cutting back on ultra-processed foods".