Featured Image Credit: Grace Cary/Alexander Spatari/Getty Images
Topics: Health, Science, Social Media, TikTok, Viral, Food and Drink
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Health, Science, Social Media, TikTok, Viral, Food and Drink
There's one nutrient which may hold the key to good gut health but you shouldn't go rushing to buy supplements anytime soon.
If you have good gut health, well done, congratulations, felicitations to you because you're one of the lucky few.
It seems like every friend, uncle and dog seems to have issues with their guts these days but apparently there's one key nutrient which may help save us all - I'll believe it when I see it.
Doctor Joseph Salhab - who goes by @thestomachdoc on TikTok - is a gastroenterologist and gut, liver and pancreas specialist who uses his platform to raise awareness about digestive health.
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In a video shared to his social media earlier this month, Dr Salhab revealed there's a way to 'boost your gut and liver' with one key nutrient.
Explaining he's a 'board certified gastroenterologist,' Dr Salhab explains studies have shown people who 'consistently meet their dietary requirements' for one particular vitamin, which is 'essential to gut and liver health, have a lower rate of certain gut diseases and a lower rate of fatty liver diseases' - fatty liver disease the 'number one cause of liver disease worldwide'.
The mighty vitamin in question? Vitamin E.
Drawing on a study published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Dr Salhab shared a screenshot showing the title of the paper reading: "Dietary Vitamin E Intake is Associated with a Reduced Risk of Developing Digestive Diseases and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease."
Vitamin E is 'a powerful antioxidant and protects the liver against oxidative stress. It can help heal the liver and can help boost your immunity."
Cleveland Clinic adds: "This important vitamin - part of nearly 200 biochemical reactions in your body — is critical in how your immune system functions."
However, that's not to say you should be hurrying to your phone and ordering Vitamin E supplements anytime soon.
Dr Salhab recommends consulting with your doctor before you think about taking supplements to up your vitamin E intake as, 'if not taken correctly', they can have 'significant side effects'.
Instead, the doctor recommends trying to get enough vitamin E in through food such as avocado, olive oil, spinach, broccoli, blackberries, kiwis, mangos, nuts and hazelnuts.
Although, ultimately, as Cleveland Clinic notes, it's important to focus on having a completely balanced diet with enough vitamin C, A and D, alongside folic acid, iron, selenium and zinc too - not much to ask, eh?
May the odds be ever in your favor.