Hippocrates said it over two thousand years ago: all disease begins in the gut. Modern nutrition is only now catching up to what he already knew, that if you want to heal from almost anything, healing starts here first.
I didn’t just believe this in theory. I tested it, on myself, over two years ago now.
My gut test came back low in three things that matter more than most people realise: butyrate, propionate, and SCFAs, short-chain fatty acids. These aren’t obscure numbers. They’re what your gut bacteria produce when they’re thriving, and they’re linked to everything from inflammation control to how well your body absorbs nutrients in the first place. Low levels don’t shout at you the way a fever does. They just quietly undermine everything else you’re trying to do for your health.
So I changed what I fed my gut, not just myself, and turned it around within three months. Resistant starch: cooled potatoes, rice, oats, legumes, slightly green bananas. Inulin and FOS from garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, and Jerusalem and globe artichokes. Pectin from apples, apricots, carrots, and oranges. Beans and lentils most days. I have sauerkraut with my salad now, sometimes bought, sometimes made myself, and a poached apple every night for soluble fibre.
Beyond specific foods, I simply widened what I ate. Aim for dozens of different plants a week rather than the same handful on rotation, variety feeds a more diverse community of bacteria, which is what maximises butyrate and propionate production in the first place. If you’re increasing fibre, do it slowly and drink plenty of water, or your gut will let you know about it.
This is the principle I bring into every client plan. You can eat “healthy” and still be starving your gut of what it actually needs to produce these compounds. The only way to know is to test, then feed it properly, not generically.
Heal the gut, and so much else starts to heal with it.
Prevention rather than cure.
Milvia Pili
Functional Nutritional Therapist
