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The Good Gut Guide: Delicious Recipes & a Simple 6-Week Plan for Inner Health & Outer Beauty
Delicious recipes and the ultimate wellbeing plan for a healthy gut in 6 weeks.
'A better gut means better health. It really is that simple. And it works at every level of the body, as friendly microbes affect not only the digestion of our food but also brain health, mood, emotions, energy levels, ageing, weight loss and so much more. Understanding this can give us the blueprint for a longer, happier, healthier life.'
Liz Earle, MBE is one of the world's most respected and trusted authorities on wellbeing. Following on from her popular 6-week guide Skin , Liz now reveals a brand-new plan to detox, cleanse and nourish the digestive system to improve your inner health and outer beauty.
Packed with the latest science and beautifully illustrated throughout, The Good Gut Guide provides practical advice on pre- and probiotics, fermented foods and how best to address your individual needs and goals - whether these be specific to life stage, a long-standing health issue or weight loss.
An expert in feel-good food and eating well to look your best, Liz also shares 80 nutritious recipes - including many suitable for vegetarians - to help you achieve wellbeing from within.
'A better gut means better health. It really is that simple. And it works at every level of the body, as friendly microbes affect not only the digestion of our food but also brain health, mood, emotions, energy levels, ageing, weight loss and so much more. Understanding this can give us the blueprint for a longer, happier, healthier life.'
Liz Earle, MBE is one of the world's most respected and trusted authorities on wellbeing. Following on from her popular 6-week guide Skin , Liz now reveals a brand-new plan to detox, cleanse and nourish the digestive system to improve your inner health and outer beauty.
Packed with the latest science and beautifully illustrated throughout, The Good Gut Guide provides practical advice on pre- and probiotics, fermented foods and how best to address your individual needs and goals - whether these be specific to life stage, a long-standing health issue or weight loss.
An expert in feel-good food and eating well to look your best, Liz also shares 80 nutritious recipes - including many suitable for vegetarians - to help you achieve wellbeing from within.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published July 31, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 27, 2026
DISAPPOINTING, FEAR-BASED WELLNESS DRESSED UP AS SCIENCE.
I really wanted to like this book. The premise, supporting gut health through food and lifestyle changes, is reasonable and interesting. Unfortunately, the execution leans heavily into exaggeration, fear-based framing and constant supplement escalation. It is deeply disappointing to see this presented as authoritative guidance.
Throughout the book, normal bodily processes are treated as fragile and in need of continuous optimisation. There is repeated emphasis on “detoxing”, boosting glutathione (the “master detoxifier”), layering probiotics, magnesium (alongside K2 and D), mushroom extracts, 5-HTP, selenium, primrose oil; the list keeps growing. By the end, it reads less like food guidance and more like a supplement protocol. If someone genuinely requires that many pills to function, they likely need medical assessment, not another expanding stack of supplements.
A recurring issue is the bundling of sensible advice with unsupported claims, presented as though they carry equal weight. “Slow down when you eat” sits alongside instructions to “alkalise your gut” with lemon water. A daily walk is framed with the same confidence as a quarterly bentonite clay cleanse. This creates a false equivalence between broadly accepted lifestyle guidance and interventions that lack robust evidence.
The language is also frequently overstated. For example:
“Dried fruit… is pretty much the same as munching sugar cubes.” (p.76)
This is simply not accurate. Dried fruit is concentrated sugar, but it also contains fibre and micronutrients. Equating it with sugar cubes is reductive and unnecessarily alarmist.
There is also troubling use of terms such as:
“Type 3 diabetes” to describe Alzheimer's. (p.45)
This is not a recognised medical diagnosis. It is sometimes used informally in research discussions about Alzheimer’s disease, but presenting it in a dietary context without nuance risks misleading readers and amplifying fear.
More concerning are the implied links between antibiotics and autism. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition with strong genetic underpinnings. Suggesting or implying causal links through gut health narratives without robust evidence crosses into irresponsible territory. (p.38)
Carbohydrates are repeatedly framed as destabilising, anxiety-provoking or inherently disruptive to blood sugar unless carefully engineered with fat and protein. The tone veers towards carbohydrate demonisation rather than balanced guidance. Not everyone needs to manipulate their porridge to “optimise serotonin transport”.
There is also a persistent use of vague, emotive phrases, such as “soothe the itch from within” or “heal the gut”, which sound scientific but lack clear mechanisms or defined outcomes. This kind of language replaces precision with suggestion.
There are kernels of truth throughout, magnesium matters, fibre matters, gut bacteria matter. But these points are repeatedly stretched beyond the evidence into sweeping claims that “everyone would benefit” from supplementation, cleansing or ongoing intervention.
In the end, the book feels less like empowering nutrition advice and more like lifestyle medicalisation, where ordinary food becomes suspect, supermarket produce is subtly inferior to “organic” alternatives, and everyday wellbeing is reframed as a project requiring constant optimisation.
Liz Earle ends the book with a collection of interesting and genuinely healthy recipes. It's a shame they weren't presented on their own, without the fear-based framing and oversimplified scientific claims that dominate the first half.
I really wanted to like this book. The premise, supporting gut health through food and lifestyle changes, is reasonable and interesting. Unfortunately, the execution leans heavily into exaggeration, fear-based framing and constant supplement escalation. It is deeply disappointing to see this presented as authoritative guidance.
Throughout the book, normal bodily processes are treated as fragile and in need of continuous optimisation. There is repeated emphasis on “detoxing”, boosting glutathione (the “master detoxifier”), layering probiotics, magnesium (alongside K2 and D), mushroom extracts, 5-HTP, selenium, primrose oil; the list keeps growing. By the end, it reads less like food guidance and more like a supplement protocol. If someone genuinely requires that many pills to function, they likely need medical assessment, not another expanding stack of supplements.
A recurring issue is the bundling of sensible advice with unsupported claims, presented as though they carry equal weight. “Slow down when you eat” sits alongside instructions to “alkalise your gut” with lemon water. A daily walk is framed with the same confidence as a quarterly bentonite clay cleanse. This creates a false equivalence between broadly accepted lifestyle guidance and interventions that lack robust evidence.
The language is also frequently overstated. For example:
“Dried fruit… is pretty much the same as munching sugar cubes.” (p.76)
This is simply not accurate. Dried fruit is concentrated sugar, but it also contains fibre and micronutrients. Equating it with sugar cubes is reductive and unnecessarily alarmist.
There is also troubling use of terms such as:
“Type 3 diabetes” to describe Alzheimer's. (p.45)
This is not a recognised medical diagnosis. It is sometimes used informally in research discussions about Alzheimer’s disease, but presenting it in a dietary context without nuance risks misleading readers and amplifying fear.
More concerning are the implied links between antibiotics and autism. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition with strong genetic underpinnings. Suggesting or implying causal links through gut health narratives without robust evidence crosses into irresponsible territory. (p.38)
Carbohydrates are repeatedly framed as destabilising, anxiety-provoking or inherently disruptive to blood sugar unless carefully engineered with fat and protein. The tone veers towards carbohydrate demonisation rather than balanced guidance. Not everyone needs to manipulate their porridge to “optimise serotonin transport”.
There is also a persistent use of vague, emotive phrases, such as “soothe the itch from within” or “heal the gut”, which sound scientific but lack clear mechanisms or defined outcomes. This kind of language replaces precision with suggestion.
There are kernels of truth throughout, magnesium matters, fibre matters, gut bacteria matter. But these points are repeatedly stretched beyond the evidence into sweeping claims that “everyone would benefit” from supplementation, cleansing or ongoing intervention.
In the end, the book feels less like empowering nutrition advice and more like lifestyle medicalisation, where ordinary food becomes suspect, supermarket produce is subtly inferior to “organic” alternatives, and everyday wellbeing is reframed as a project requiring constant optimisation.
Liz Earle ends the book with a collection of interesting and genuinely healthy recipes. It's a shame they weren't presented on their own, without the fear-based framing and oversimplified scientific claims that dominate the first half.
September 28, 2017
From a very personal perspective, I was hoping that this book would be based on a vegetarian diet. This was totally wrong and I don't feel that it would be right to deduct a star from the review on that basis. I made my assumption on the fact that my long time fave skincare brand are proudly vegetarian, but it wasn't to be.
This book carries Liz's hallmark of excellent and up to date research that is provided in a straight forward, accessible format.
I picked up a few new nuggets of information, but as a voracious reader of health based nutrition, there was less than I hoped for.
However, this book is absolutely ideal for those wanting to start on a nutrition journey or those with limited background in the subject, although almost everyone will get something from it.
Whilst it didn't meet my expectations, this was not a fault of the book. I urge you to read it.
This book carries Liz's hallmark of excellent and up to date research that is provided in a straight forward, accessible format.
I picked up a few new nuggets of information, but as a voracious reader of health based nutrition, there was less than I hoped for.
However, this book is absolutely ideal for those wanting to start on a nutrition journey or those with limited background in the subject, although almost everyone will get something from it.
Whilst it didn't meet my expectations, this was not a fault of the book. I urge you to read it.
February 18, 2025
Not bad.
This book had some interesting ideas and recipes but on the whole, I can't say I was massively impressed. Also some of the ingredients and suggested items, I wouldn't even know where to purchase them locally.🤔🤔🤔
This book had some interesting ideas and recipes but on the whole, I can't say I was massively impressed. Also some of the ingredients and suggested items, I wouldn't even know where to purchase them locally.🤔🤔🤔
September 25, 2018
A good easy to understand gut guide with simple recipes for fermented foods like sourdough, kimchi, kombucha, etc. as well as incredible gut pleasing tasty meals and deserts.
January 31, 2022
V good
September 22, 2022
Great informative book, love Liz Earle!
July 17, 2018
I have found this book so helpful. I have had stomach and bowel problems for alittle while now and have found the information and suggestions in the book invaluable. I have even tried making my own organic yoghurt. It was really nice.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews