Trust your gut

This piece is a sponsored article written by the Stake Connect team. Stake Connect aims to bring interesting business stories to our customer base. While there are commercial agreements with the featured companies, we take a balanced stance, retain final editorial control and the priority is making content that's valuable to our community.

TikTok is a force of nature, changing everything from social media viewing habits to the music industry. And it’s also having an impact on health habits, with #GutTok being one of the top trending topics of the year.

Under hashtags like #GutTok, #GutHealth and more, influencers are posting thousands of videos sharing their gut health struggles and remedies. It gets eyeballs, with these posts raking in just under a billion views. Their overarching theme? That gut health is at the foundation of overall wellbeing. 

That could be right, as 80% of your immune system is in your stomach and intestines. So if the bacteria residing there is off-balance, it makes sense that you will be too. Several factors can contribute to poor gut health, including stress, poor nutrition and long-term use of antibiotics. Its impact is far-reaching, as apparently over 40% of people have a gastrointestinal disorder. Studies even link diseases like cancer and arthritis to poor gut health. But how do you fix it?

Everyone has unique gut flora, and what works for one influencer may not work for you. But at-home gut testing kits are fast emerging as the solution to know what’s going on inside you. Australian-listed company Microba (ASX: $MAP) is one player in this space, sending out testing kits to people’s homes. From there, samples are sent to labs before customers receive a breakdown of the findings and even potential treatments. 

It’s a lucrative sector, with the global microbiome-based gut health market projected to be worth US$89.9b by 2030. Not bad for a field of science that wasn’t taken seriously until recently. Fueling this projection in part is the COVID hangover. With people becoming more health-conscious, microbiome-focused efforts present a unique avenue for those looking to explore preventative health initiatives.  

It’s early days for gut tech, but there are plenty of companies working to close the gap and discover new information to improve their offerings. What’s your gut feel about this as an investment?

This section of The Wrap is sponsored by Microba, but it has been written independently by Stake. It is not a recommendation to invest in the company, and does not constitute financial advice. As always, do your own research and consider speaking with a licensed financial adviser before making any investment decisions.