Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
TREAT DIGESTION NATURALLY! To find out more see our bookings page here: https://www.byronherbalist.com.au/appointments/
My name is Todd Mansfield and I’m a clinical herbalist dedicated to digestive health. Every week I treat Australian and New Zealand patients with IBS, IBD, SIBO, reflux, indigestion, bloating, loose bowel movements and constipation.
Follow my work here: instagram.com/byron.herbalist
For everyone else, I’m passionate about supporting you so follow along with this free content to support your digestion naturally!
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Prebiotics - gut friendly fibre used to improve digestion, bloating, gas, abdominal pain and BMs by feeding beneficial bacteria (the good guys) in your gut and bringing balance.
I love them, use and recommend a variety of them each and every day in the clinic but I also see them poorly tolerated if used improperly.
The most important piece of information I'll cover when considering a prebiotic for a patient is how reactive is their gut?
If someone can't tolerate a whole range of foods, has quite severe or long lasting symptoms or has tried gentle prebiotics before with poor tolerance then I'll skip them for the time being.
There are ways to bring typically well tolerated prebiotic fibres in even in cases like these.
1. Start with low FODMAP gentle soluble prebiotics.
My fav here is PHGG but I'll also use acacia fibre for some
2. Start with a pinch and work up
IF this still triggers reactions like gas, bloating and abdominal pain it tells me the gut balance is really in rough shape. Here I'll pause fibres and work on herbs, probiotics (if tolerated) and consider the advanced option below.
3. Jump straight to postbiotics
Butyrate is the lynchpin of a healthy large bowel. Without healthy and sufficient butyrate production inflammation, microbial imbalances and slow transit time can all worsen. I've seen the right type of butyrate to be much better tolerated in ultra sensitive patients compared to prebiotics. Then with improvements we can work back to prebiotics in the future.
TREAT DIGESTION NATURALLY! To find out more see our bookings page here: https://www.byronherbalist.com.au/appointments/
My name is Todd Mansfield and I’m a clinical herbalist dedicated to digestive health. Every week I treat Australian and New Zealand patients with IBS, IBD, SIBO, reflux, indigestion, bloating, loose bowel movements and constipation.
Follow my work here: instagram.com/byron.herbalist
For everyone else, I’m passionate about supporting you so follow along with this free content to support your digestion naturally!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prebiotics - gut friendly fibre used to improve digestion, bloating, gas, abdominal pain and BMs by feeding beneficial bacteria (the good guys) in your gut and bringing balance.
I love them, use and recommend a variety of them each and every day in the clinic but I also see them poorly tolerated if used improperly.
The most important piece of information I'll cover when considering a prebiotic for a patient is how reactive is their gut?
If someone can't tolerate a whole range of foods, has quite severe or long lasting symptoms or has tried gentle prebiotics before with poor tolerance then I'll skip them for the time being.
There are ways to bring typically well tolerated prebiotic fibres in even in cases like these.
1. Start with low FODMAP gentle soluble prebiotics.
My fav here is PHGG but I'll also use acacia fibre for some
2. Start with a pinch and work up
IF this still triggers reactions like gas, bloating and abdominal pain it tells me the gut balance is really in rough shape. Here I'll pause fibres and work on herbs, probiotics (if tolerated) and consider the advanced option below.
3. Jump straight to postbiotics
Butyrate is the lynchpin of a healthy large bowel. Without healthy and sufficient butyrate production inflammation, microbial imbalances and slow transit time can all worsen. I've seen the right type of butyrate to be much better tolerated in ultra sensitive patients compared to prebiotics. Then with improvements we can work back to prebiotics in the future.
