Gut Microbiome – The Nutrition Factor – Vicky Ellenport

Gut Microbiome and Multiple Sclerosis

Vicky Ellenport — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 07:25:32 +0000

Gut Microbiome and Multiple Sclerosis: What a New 2026 Study Found

A new study has found distinct differences in the gut microbiome of people newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with healthy individuals.

MS is an inflammatory, neurodegenerative autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system. The immune cells mistakenly attack the myelin sheath surrounding nerve fibres, damaging nerves and disrupting nerve signaling.

About the study

Italian researchers used shotgun metagenomic sequencing to analyse stool samples from 53 adults with MS, recruited across four centres between 2017 and 2023, and 55 healthy controls. Patients were newly diagnosed, had not yet started disease-modifying therapies, and anyone who had used antibiotics in the previous three months was excluded. Almost half had received a short course of steroids at diagnosis, which the researchers accounted for in their analysis.

Which gut bacteria were linked to MS?

The gut microbiome differed significantly between people with MS and healthy controls:

Barnesiella sp. An22 and Romboutsia ilealis were more abundant in MS and associated with a higher lesion burden.
Clostridium innocuum and Ruminococcus sp. JL13D9 were more abundant in MS and associated with spinal cord lesions.
Bacteroides species (B. ovatus, B. cellulosilyticus) were depleted, which may reflect reduced anti-inflammatory capacity. The MS microbiome also showed a reduced capacity to produce butyrate, an anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acid.

Could microbiome testing help predict MS progression?

The researchers suggest that gut microbiome profiling at diagnosis may help identify patients at higher risk of faster disease progression and could offer new targets for microbiome-based interventions, though larger studies are needed to confirm this. They concluded that “incorporating microbiome analysis into clinical practice could contribute to more personalised management of MS.”

What this means for autoimmune gut health

In clinic, we often see that targeted microbiome modulation can help shift the gut ecosystem towards a more anti-inflammatory profile.

If you live with an autoimmune condition and want to understand how microbiome testing could inform your overall treatment, book a consultation with me in my Melbourne clinic or online.

References:
Maglione A, et al. (2026) Gut microbiome profiling at multiple sclerosis onset as a potential early prognostic marker of disease course: evidence from an observational cohort study, eBioMedicine,132:106470. doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2026.106470

Postbiotics: A new player in gut microbiome health?

Vicky Ellenport — Sun, 10 May 2026 04:06:36 +0000

Recently, a few clients have asked me about postbiotics, so I decided to write a blog to point them in the right direction, as there are now several postbiotic supplements on the market proclaiming a benefit to the gut microbiome.

Most people are familiar with prebiotics and probiotics. Probiotics are live microorganisms that inhabit the gut microbiome and are beneficial for health. Prebiotics are a non-digestible fibre that stimulates the growth and activity of beneficial bacteria. Synbiotics contain both probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics are generally considered beneficial for gut health, with strong evidence base for many of these supplements.

What are postbiotics?

Postbiotic supplements contain bacterial products and cell fragments or even whole, inactivated or heat-killed bacterial cells that have are believed to have a therapeutic effect. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) defines a postbiotic supplement as ‘a preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host.’

Postbiotics can include:

short chain fatty acids (SCFA), like butyrate
inactivated or heat-killed bacterial cells
bacterial cell wall fragments
peptides and proteins
enzymes
carbohydrate polymers
other fermentation derived compounds

One of the advantages of postbiotics is that they contain no live organisms. This may be helpful because they do not need to be refrigerated (like some probiotics do), and they could be safely consumed by immunocompromised clients who may not be able to take probiotics.

What does the research say about their benefits?

Recent studies suggest postbiotics may support gut health through three main mechanisms.

Immune modulation – microbial cell components interact with immune receptors, helping regulate inflammatory responses by reducing the release of pro-inflammatory chemical messengers known as cytokines.
Gut barrier support – some postbiotics may improve gut lining integrity, through the action of the short chain fatty acid butyrate which can help tighten cell walls and reduce intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut).
Promoting antimicrobial activity – the different cell components have been shown to protect against gut pathogens.

Some examples of postbiotics

A good example of a postbiotic is butyrate, an important short chain fatty acid that plays a key role in maintaining the integrity of the gut lining, amongst many other benefits. We have been using butyrate in clinical practice for several years now, for very specific purposes, and the results have been consistently promising, with an excellent safety profile. More often though, we use prebiotics to feed up the butyrate-producing bacteria in the gut as this delivers higher ‘doses’ of butyrate right where it’s needed.

While butyrate is a single bacterial metabolite, a very different supplement has been developed in the United States. It’s a postbiotic that is derived from carefully screened human donors, rigorously tested for disease and selected for their healthy, biodiverse microbiome. However, there are currently no peer-reviewed studies on this product, therefore we would not recommend this product in our treatment plans.

Other products on the market contain a product derived from anaerobically fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast). This product has undergone clinical research, and the postbiotics themselves have also been clinically tested. It is used in a few products that I found while researching and while I won’t prescribe them yet, I do plan on trying them out on myself.

Postbiotics are also naturally found in fermented foods, including those that have been pasteurised or cooked. It’s long been thought that these postbiotics can have beneficial effects even without live bacteria present. For example, sourdough bread includes beneficial acids produced during the proving process and of course the bacteria and yeasts introduced through the sourdough culture that don’t survive the oven.

Looking to the future

Though research into postbiotics is still in its early stages, there is growing evidence that they can provide gut health benefits. However, our primary focus is usually on nourishing the gut microbiome through food and targeted prebiotics first, using treatment plans that are grounded in evidence from clinical trials and peer reviewed medical research.

If you are experiencing gut symptoms and have been struggling to get answers, please get in touch. My focus is on discovering the root cause of gut issues through testing and evidence-based treatment protocols.

Vicky Ellenport BHSc NUT is a registered Clinical Nutritionist and Microbiome Analyst.

REFERENCES

Guo et al (2025). Effects of Lactobacillus paracei JY062 Postbiotic on Intestinal Barrier, Immunity, and Gut Microbiota. Nutrients, 17(7), 1272. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17071272

Possemiers et al. (2013). A dried yeast fermentate selectively modulates both the luminal and mucosal gut microbiota and protects against inflammation, as studied in an integrated in vitro approach. J Agric Food Chem doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/jf402137r

Smolinska et al (2025). A Review of the Influence of Prebiotics, Probiotics, Synbiotics, and Postbiotics on the Human Gut Microbiome and Intestinal Integrity. J. Clin. Med. 14, 3673. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14113673

Yang et al (2023). Tributyrin alleviates gut microbiota dysbiosis to repair intestinal damage in antibiotic-treated mice. PLoS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289364

Żółkiewicz et al (2020) Postbiotics-A Step Beyond Pre- and Probiotics. Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082189

Do we have to live with constipation?

Vicky Ellenport — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 05:36:53 +0000

Constipation is a common problem for many people but instead of resorting to laxatives, it is important to identify the underlying cause.

Constipation occurs when stool is moving too slowly through the digestive tract usually causing it to become dry and hard. Bowel movements can become infrequent or difficult to pass and there can be a feeling of incomplete evacuation.

Some common symptoms of constipation are:

Bloating
Excessive gas and distension
Painful bowel movements
Fatigue
Brain fog

Healthy bowel movements should happen at least once a day, and ideally 2-3 times a day.

While occasional bouts of constipation are normal, chronic cases can significantly impact our quality of life.

Some of the possible causes of constipation are stress, dehydration, a low fibre diet and a lack of exercise. However, certain illnesses, medications, insufficient digestive enzymes, Sibo (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth) and microbiome dysbiosis can all contribute to constipation.

For most people, increasing exercise and improving diet and hydration is enough to improve bowel motions.

But what if that doesn’t work?

Then it’s time to get help from a qualified practitioner to uncover what else may be going on.

The top 3 things I consider when a client seeks support for constipation are:

Are they eating enough fibre, drinking enough water, and exercising? If not, increasing these 3 things is the easiest and quickest to remedy.
What is their gut transit time? A simple gut transit test can determine how quickly the food they eat ends up in the toilet bowl. The ideal is 14-24 hours! A slow transit time can often result in constipation, and it is common to have daily bowel motions yet still be constipated.
Do they have an overgrowth of opportunistic microbes? There are a group of microbes called Archaea that live in our gut and produce methane gas. Methane slows transit time often resulting in constipation.

I use stool testing to determine what may be contributing to a client’s constipation. I then develop individual treatment protocols that focus on food, probiotics, prebiotics, and if necessary, herbal remedies.

If constipation is a problem for you and you want to understand what the underlying cause may be, book in for a discovery call with me.

REFERENCES:

Bin Waqar et al. (2019). Methane and Constipation-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Entwining Pillars of Emerging Neurogastroenterology. Cureus, 11(5), e4764. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.4764

Chan et al. (2007). Increasing dietary fiber intake in terms of kiwifruit improves constipation in Chinese patients. World journal of gastroenterology, 13(35), 4771–4775. DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i35.4771

Gao et al. (2019). Exercise therapy in patients with constipation: a systematic review and meta analysis of randomized controlled trials. Scandinavian journal of gastroenterology, 54(2), 169–177.
DOI: 10.1080/00365521.2019.1568544

Soltanian et al. (2019). Effect of flaxseed or psyllium vs. placebo on management of constipation, weight, glycemia, and lipids: A randomized trial in constipated patients with type 2 diabetes. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, 29, 41-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2018.11.002