Dr Xand: Five easy food swaps to improve your gut health

Scroll through social media or glance at the supermarket shelves and you'll see endless products claiming to improve your gut health.

It seems everyone's talking about looking after their microbiome - the trillions of tiny organisms living in our digestive system – which influence everything from digestion and immunity to mood and sleep.

Gut health is all about having the right mix of bacteria and enough fibre-rich food to keep everything moving and your body feeling its best.

The key to keeping the microbes happy is feeding them the right food and it's easier than you think to maintain a healthy gut.

Instead of reaching for pricey probiotic shots or snacks, I recommend making these five easy food swaps to give your gut a boost.

Of course there are many other foods you can consume to improve your gut health like drinking kombucha or eating fermented food such as kimchi or sauerkraut, but it's not necessary to focus on that too much.

The most important thing for your gut and overall health is eating a range of whole foods that are rich in fibre like fruits and vegetables.

And when it comes to supplements and probiotics, my advice is the same - there's no evidence it will do you any good and products like probiotic drinks and powders promising miraculous results can cost you hundreds of pounds which I see as a waste of money.

Additional reporting by Yasmin Rufo