Over the last few years, probiotics and gut health have been all the rage in taking care of our microbiome, which is the bacteria living inside of us.

The pandemic has had a negative effect on our microbiome which relies on various diverse bacteria to function properly. Since we haven't traveled, touched people or things that diverse bacteria isn't finding its way into our bodies.

One doctor says the pandemic has wreaked havoc on our gut health and she has tips to get our guts back on track by helping us understand what affects our microbiome.

"Essentially, everything affects our microbiome. From the food that we eat to the exercise we get, to the amount of stress we are under, and a lot of people have been under a lot of stress over the last year. We feel more isolated, people might be having different kinds of food sensitivities," said Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe. "Not going out and about certainly protected us from dangerous viruses like COVID, but also reduced our exposure to other good bacteria in our in our surroundings."

Dr. Cutcliffe says having the good and bad bacteria together is the key to a healthy gut. So a good diet, safely getting back out in public, enjoying sunshine and exercising will go a long way to making healthy changes.