The Simple (And Slightly Gross) Way To Check Your Gut Health Using Sweetcorn

Is it us or is everyone talking about gut health right now?

We recently learned that sourdough bread is better for our guts, that gut health is tied to Alzheimer’s disease, and there are specific times of the day that are best to eat to protect your gut health (to name a few).

However, with all this news coming at once, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and not understand where to start with your own gut health. How do you even know if yours is that healthy beyond how it feels?

Well, according to Nick Ilott, senior researcher and lead bioinformatician at The Oxford Centre for Microbiome Studies, University of Oxford, all you need is a little bit of sweetcorn.

I’m sure you know where this is going.

The sweetcorn test: how to simply test your gut health

First of all, and this may be difficult for some people, to do this test, you can’t eat sweetcorn for 7-10 days in something that is called the ‘wash-out phase’. 

Once this time has passed, note down the date and time and eat some sweetcorn. You don’t need to have more than a handful of corn for this test to work but if you’ve been craving some corn on the cob, treat yourself.

Ilott explained: “Because the outer shell of the corn is indigestible, it will pass through your gastrointestinal tract with the rest of the food you’ve eaten and will eventually be visible in your stool.”

Loo-vely.

What you then need to do is keep an eye on the next few stools that you pass, and once you do spot a little kernel or two, note down the date and time.

“If you pass the corn in 12 hours or less, your gut is fast. If you don’t pass it for around 48 hours of more, then your gut is slow,” explained the expert.

“If you find your gut motility is on either end of the spectrum, there are fortunately things you can do to improve it.”

He advises that if your gut is consistently fast, you should visit your doctor for further tests.

Studies suggest that the median gut motility time is about 28 hours, and it’s considered “normal” for an individual person’s transit time to fall between 10 and 73 hours. If yours falls within this range, you don’t have to seek any further advice.

However, Ilott urges that if you feel your gut motility time is a little slow but you aren’t experiencing symptoms such as bloating, abdominal pain, lack of appetite or nausea, you should eat more fruit and vegetables to increase your fibre intake, as well as drink more water and exercise.