Buy or Bye: Trending Gut-Health Products
March 17th, 2025
Writer: Sophie Gingold
I’m a very health-conscious person. As someone with a sensitive stomach, I pay close attention to the ingredients I consume, leading to my intrigue with the countless ads claiming to miraculously heal your gut. An abundance of gut-health products are trending across TikTok: Coconut Cult, sea moss gel, kefir, kombucha, green powders, and detox shots. Do these products actually work, or is this just another example of people buying into the consumerism of popular wellness products?
Trillions of microbes–bacteria and other microorganisms–live in our gut, referred to as the microbiome. To maintain the health of our digestive system, there must be a balanced ecosystem of these microbes. Gut-healthy products, claiming to support this ecosystem, have become increasingly mainstream largely due to media coverage and influencers. Current trending products like kombucha and kefir were once known almost exclusively within the health-conscious community, but in 2024, the kefir market reached a value of $1.99 billion, and the kombucha market reached $2.97 billion, indicating large market expansion (Eastlake).
It’s easy to believe health claims online; however, these are often simply misleading marketing tactics, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing which products are actually beneficial for your body. Many people spot the word “probiotic” on a label and automatically assume the product is healthy, which is not always true. The beneficial bacteria in foods such as yogurt are often destroyed during processing and pasteurization or diminished by the abundance of added sugars, which harm gut health. Furthermore, certain strains of probiotics are designed to target specific parts of the digestive tract, such as Bifidobacterium longum, which reduces inflammation. However, unless a product contains a sufficient amount of live bacteria–typically between one and ten billion colony-forming units (CFUs) per serving–there is a good chance it will not meaningfully impact the microbiome (Kitnick and Yap).
So, which products are actually worth the hype? Below, I evaluate a few of the most popular gut-health products and examine what research suggests regarding their impact.
Buy: Kefir
According to a study by the Mayo Clinic, kefir helped improve the gut health of critically ill ICU patients. Stool samples collected before and after administration showed an improvement in the Gut Microbiome Wellness Index (GMWI), demonstrating kefir’s measurable probiotic benefits (Gupta).
2. Buy: Coconut Cult
According to The Nutrition Insider, Coconut Cult contains 50 billion CFUs across 16 bacterial species. Moreover, Coconut Cult products include Bifidobacterium longum, one of the probiotic strains proven to support the digestive tract (Glosz). Although Coconut Cult often receives criticism for its high price, its high CF count and inclusion of researched strains may offer real benefits.
3. Bye: Green powders
Many green powders, such as Bloom, are marketed as daily solutions to “fix” the gut. However, most people already obtain sufficient nutrients from a balanced diet, and a powder cannot replace the benefits of whole vegetables. One of the ingredients in Bloom and many other green powders is inulin, a type of fiber used as a prebiotic. While inulin can support gut health by feeding beneficial bacteria, research published by the NCBI shows that it may also cause gastrointestinal distress, including bloating, pain, and diarrhea. For those with sensitive stomachs, this may defeat the entire purpose of taking the supplement (Bonemma).
Works Cited
Bonnema, Angela L., et al. “Gastrointestinal Tolerance of Chicory Inulin Products.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association, vol. 110, no. 6, June 2010, pp. 865–868, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2010.03.025.
Eastlake, Donna. “Gut Health: Why This Consumer Trend Is Here to Stay.” FoodNavigator.com, 14 Mar. 2024, www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2024/03/14/Gut-health-Why-this-consumer-trend-is-here-to-stay/.
Glosz, Cambria. “Coconut Cult Yogurt Review from a Registered Dietitian.” The Nutrition Insider, 13 Feb. 2025, thenutritioninsider.com/reviews/coconut-cult-yogurt-review/.
“Kefir May Improve Gut Health of Patients in the ICU - Mayo Clinic.” Mayoclinic.org, 2024, www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/pulmonary-medicine/news/kefir-may-improve-gut-health-of-patients-in-the-icu/mac-20566637.
Kitnick, Sara, and Malia Yap. “#GutTok Trends That Actually Work for Gut Health & What to Avoid.” Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2025, www.latimes.com/live-well/nutrition/story/guttok-gut-health-trends.
