Course description

Live yoghurt drinks, kombucha, "gut reset" bundles, poo kits that promise to tell you what to eat: gut health is everywhere, and it's hard to know what's true. This course explains how your gut works in plain language, what the evidence and UK health advice actually say, and the everyday eating habits that help digestion, from more fibre and a wider range of plants to enough fluids and moving more.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, and each one ends with a short, practical exercise. You follow Pualani, an office manager at a primary school in Bury St Edmunds, through a year of small changes: the £150 bundle she nearly ordered, the GP appointment she'd put off, her food and gut diary, an eight-week fibre plan with one too-big week, her first jar of sauerkraut, and the gut health plan she wrote at the end. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, example answers, a cheat sheet and printable tools, including a red flags card, a food and gut diary spreadsheet, a fibre finder, recipe cards, a home ferment checklist, a claims checker and a higher-fibre week planner.

What you'll learn

• Getting started: what gut health means, a plain tour of your digestive system, the red flag symptoms that need a GP, NHS 111 or 999, judging claims, and a two-week food and gut diary.
• Everyday digestion: what's normal for you, constipation, short bouts of diarrhoea, bloating and wind, and heartburn and indigestion, with the NHS self-help steps.
• Fibre explained: what fibre is, the 30 g a day advice, where fibre comes from, reading labels, and increasing it gradually without the wind.
• Fibre through the day: higher-fibre breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, three recipes, safe leftovers, rice and beans, and fibre on a budget.
• Plants, variety and your gut: variety, prebiotic foods, 5 A Day, wholegrains, and beans, lentils, nuts and seeds.
• Fermented foods: what's live and what isn't, yoghurt and kefir labels, sauerkraut and kimchi, kombucha, and fermenting vegetables at home safely.
• Probiotics, supplements and claims: what the NHS and BDA say about probiotics, antibiotics and your gut, detoxes and gut resets, home kits, and a claims checker.
• Gut conditions and getting help: IBS, coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, food allergy and intolerance, and bowel cancer screening, for understanding and signposting, never for diagnosing.
• Everyday habits and your gut: drinks, moving more, stress and sleep, holidays and shift work, and gut health in pregnancy, childhood and later life.
• Your gut health plan and next steps: looking back, your own review, planning a higher-fibre week as a final project, your one-page plan, and finding reliable help.

Who it's for

Adults who are curious about gut health claims and want simple, evidence-based eating habits for comfortable digestion. You don't need any previous knowledge or special equipment, and the recipes use everyday, affordable ingredients.

What this course is, and isn't

This course is general information about everyday eating and digestion, based on advice from the NHS, the British Dietetic Association, the Food Standards Agency and the Eatwell Guide. It isn't a diagnosis or a treatment, it doesn't recommend any supplement or brand, and it doesn't replace your GP, a pharmacist or a registered dietitian. It explains which symptoms need a GP, NHS 111 or 999, and how to get the right help for conditions such as IBS and coeliac disease. It's written for adults.

What will I learn?

• Explain in plain words how your digestive system works and what
• Know the red flag symptoms that need a GP, NHS 111 or 999, in each UK nation
• Handle everyday constipation, short bouts of diarrhoea, bloating, wind and heartburn using NHS self-help steps
• Work out how much fibre you eat, read fibre on labels and increase it gradually towards about 30 g a day
• Plan and cook higher-fibre breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks safely and on a budget
• Choose and store live yoghurt, kefir and fermented vegetables, and follow the safety rules for fermenting at home
• Judge probiotics, detoxes, gut resets and home kits with a simple claims checker
• Recognise when symptoms might mean IBS, coeliac disease, IBD, an allergy or an intolerance, and get the right help
• Write your own gut health plan and plan a higher-fibre week you'd really eat

Frequently asked questions