Your gut's summer survival guide: Why your digestive health needs extra care in the warmer months

The boarding pass is tucked safely in your passport, your holiday wardrobe is neatly packed, and you've stocked up on suncream. Summer has arrived with a flutter of excitement and the promise of new adventures.

But there's one more thing to add to your summer holiday checklist: your gut.

Your gut microbiome is a community of trillions of bacteria that play a vital role in keeping you healthy – supporting your immune system, helping you digest food, and even influencing your mood. It’s about to embark on its own summer journey – and it could be a little more turbulent than your flight.

Here's how smart, simple choices and the support of a high-quality supplement can help you safely soar away on adventures all summer long.

Summer's gut challenges

Summer brings a perfect storm of digestive disruptions that can knock your gut microbiome off balance. Understanding these challenges is the first step to protecting your digestive health during the warmer months.

Heat disrupts your bacterial balance
Higher temperatures don't just affect your comfort – they can change the ratio of bacteria species in your gut microbiome. Warmer weather causes the otherwise helpful Firmicutes bacteria to dominate, and too much Firmicutes has been shown to help increase weight gain and obesity. Heat also makes your gut lining more 'leaky', allowing harmful pathogens into the body more easily. These can trigger inflammation and oxidative stress, putting pressure on your immune system and potentially leaving you more vulnerable to infection.

Summer eating sabotages your microbiome
Summer eating is one of life's great pleasures. There's something magical about sharing food outdoors, whether it's barbecues, picnics or garden parties. But all those rich barbecue sauces, processed meats and sugary treats in abundance can encourage unfriendly gut bacteria to flourish – while starving the beneficial microbes that keep your digestive system running smoothly.

Travel introduces bacterial chaos
Trying street food in Bangkok or sampling fresh seafood on a Greek island can be so romantic – but these joyful culinary adventures can also lead to an unwelcome souvenir. Travellers' diarrhoea is the most common illness contracted abroad, affecting up to 20 per cent of travellers even in less risky destinations in Southern Europe. It's not that the local food and water is necessarily unsafe – it's just that your gut microbiome simply hasn't had time to adapt. Swimming pools, hot tubs and spas can also be trouble hotspots.

Jet lag creates gut lag
Sitting for long periods, eating and drinking fizzy drinks in a low-pressure cabin that expands your stomach gases... Flying is a recipe for uncomfortable bloating and sluggish digestion. But it doesn't end there. Jet lag doesn't only mess with your sleep cycle – it can throw your entire digestive rhythm off kilter too, sometimes called 'gut lag'. Time zone changes and the irregular eating and sleeping patterns that follow have been shown to disrupt the gut microbiome. This can lead to an imbalance called 'gut dysbiosis', which is linked to problems like poor sleep and stress, as well as potential long-term inflammation.

Your summer gut survival toolkit

Armed with knowledge of these challenges, you can take proactive steps to protect your digestive health throughout the summer months.

Build your immune defences
A healthy, balanced microbiome doesn't just help digest food – it's also your first line of immune defence. Between 70 to 80 per cent of your immune cells are in the gut, helping your immune system spot and defend against threats. Focus on strengthening your microbiome to build up your gut's natural defences against summer's bacterial challenges.

Balance summer indulgences
Don't deny yourself the joys of summer eating – just make sure to tip the balance in favour of a healthy gut. Moderate the sugar and balance with plenty of fibre-rich foods, which support both your gut microbiome and a healthy digestive rhythm. Stay well-hydrated too, as summer heat increases your fluid needs, with dehydration leading to constipation.

Travel smart
Embrace the classics of safe travel. Check the advice for your destination at TravelHealthPro. Wash your hands frequently, peel raw fruits and vegetables yourself, and opt for freshly cooked meals that are still piping hot. That buffet that's been sitting in the sun for hours? Perhaps give it a miss.

Sync your circadian rhythm
Help your gut adjust by syncing with local time as quickly as possible. Before you leave, start nudging your sleep cycle towards your new time zone. After arrival, resist the temptation to nap during the day, adjust to new, regular mealtimes, and seek out natural daylight to help reset your circadian rhythm.

Give your gut a head start

While these lifestyle strategies form the foundation of summer gut health, good quality supplements that support your gut microbiome can amplify their effectiveness by providing consistent support when you need it most.

ProBio 8+ is a multi-strain probiotic supplement containing eight highly researched and carefully selected bacteria chosen for their gut support, including key friendly species such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

Each sachet contains three billion colony-forming units of bacteria in a convenient, vanilla-flavoured daily powder that swiftly dissolves in water, milk or yoghurt. But in order to start helping you, the bacteria need to survive the difficult journey to the gut. 

ProBio 8+ is different from other supplements thanks to its unique Probioact Technology® – a special formulation of strain-specific prebiotics, including inulin and other minerals and proteins, which protect, nourish and support the bacteria. 

This ensures ProBio 8+ has higher effectiveness compared to other probiotic products, by helping the strains of friendly bacteria not only to survive but thrive on arrival in the gut, swiftly blooming to help balance and support your personal microbiome community.

Biome Nourish+ is a prebiotic supplement aimed at nourishing and helping your good bacteria to thrive. It contains Biotis™ HP-GOS, which is a source of fibre, a much-needed nutrient that most of us fall short of in our diet, but is great for gut bacteria.

Giving your gut microbiome some back-up ahead of and even during your travels will help prepare it for some of the challenges it might face this summer.

Your summer gut quick wins

Whether you're exploring exotic destinations or soaking up sunshine in your back garden, Biome Nourish+ and ProBio 8+ sachets are easy to carry with you and maintain your routine. A good combination of smart habits and gut microbiome support will leave you primed, resilient and ready to embrace every summer adventure that comes your way.