The latest in our focus on the gut microbiome, this episode takes a further look deep into our lower intestine to find out all about our gut health and how it impacts on our overall health and wellbeing. Why does our gut microbiome affect us so greatly? What foods can we eat to cultivate a healthy gut microbiome? How are popular diets and supplements affect this area of our health?

To answer all these questions and more, we've assembled an incredible panel of experts who will take us on a journey into our gut microbiome. Joining host Stefan Gates are Julie Thompson, Information Manager, Guts UK, Allison Clark, Nutritionist and Mariette Abrahams, CEO, Qina.

About our panel



Allison Clark, Nutritionist


Allison Clark has a masters in nutrition and health from Open University in Barcelona and a master in journalism. She is a freelance writer and nutritionist and has written various peer review papers about the role the gut microbiota plays in health, disease and endurance exercise performance. Allison is passionate about the role diet and the gut microbiota play in health and disease.


Julie Thompson, Guts UK


Julie Thompson is the Information Manager at Guts UK charity www.gutscharity.org.uk. She has had twelve years’ experience of working in the NHS as a dietitian specialising in gastroenterology. She has also written for the British Journal of Nursing, Nurse Prescribing magazine and NHD magazine. Professionally, she is a member of the Gastroenterology Specialist Group of the British Dietetic Association and was a member of the working group for development of UK guidelines on Irritable Bowel Syndrome and diet and a lay member of the NICE Quality Standards for IBS development group. She has also written a systematic review on probiotic treatment in IBS.


Guts UK have information booklets and pages on the website called ‘The role of gut bacteria in health and disease’ and also ‘Gut microbiome (poo) testing’  for people to read more on the subject. They can be downloaded from www.gutscharity.org.uk on the lifestyle page or contact info@gutscharity.org.uk or 07821 122246 for a hardcopy


Mariëtte Abrahams, CEO, Qina


Mariëtte Abrahams MBA PhD- Nutrition business consultant and founder of Qina, a boutique consultancy that provides nutrition expertise, nutrition data-science, speaking and innovation services with the goal of closing the gap between industry, technology, academia and health practitioners. She is a guest lecturer at London’s St Mary’s university on business innovation and entrepreneurship for nutrition professionals and a published researcher. She is passionate about prevention, how technology can be an enabler for equitable health solutions as well as ethical AI with a focus on inclusion. She is a regular speaker, panellist, and moderator on the topic of personalised nutrition and wellbeing at national, international and corporate events. She is currently based in Portugal and her mission is to challenge, to inspire and to connect.