4 Things About Gut Health Even Experts Admit They Don't Know

Don't believe everything advertised on supplements. There's still a lot of mystery surrounding how our gut affects our body and brain.

What if millions of tiny beings lining your digestive tract were controlling much more than the direction of your food? A walk through your local health food store quickly shows the extent to which misinformation and confusion around gut health abound — you see hundreds of choices for prebiotics, probiotics, fermented foods and more claiming to help protect you from cancer, depression and everything in between. But do they work? And is the gut really that powerful?

The elusive and mysterious study of the microbiome (the bacteria and other microorganisms that live in our bodies) and the potential powers our gut health holds, is one area doctors still have much to learn about ― even those who study it every day. Experts themselves say they have just scratched the surface in their understanding of how gut health affects the rest of the body and mind.