Catherine Tyldesley health: Former Corrie star on how she drastically fixed her gut issues

Catherine Tyldesley says parents called her 'crazy' for Corrie exit

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Most recently sharing her freshly decorated Christmas home with her Instagram followers, the glamorous actress is handling the ups and downs of pregnancy brilliantly. Talking exclusively with Express.co.uk, the star detailed how already her current pregnancy has differed to her first, when she gave birth to son Alfie back in 2015. Catherine said: “It’s been really different right from the beginning. The first three months of this pregnancy was tough because I had really bad sickness. I do feel better now though.” Another thing that has changed drastically for the actress is her diet, and how she looks after her gut. 

When the star was 18, she shed a whopping six stone, shrinking from a size 22 to a size 10.

But after an experience on an ITV Tonight documentary, the star realised what she was getting wrong and how she could improve her diet.

“The first time I did the Tonight programme they did a gut analysis and experts felt that I needed to cut down on animal produce.

“But now that I am pregnant I am even more into my nutrition. I am constantly thinking about balance within my diet and making sure that I get a wide range of nutrients.”

Speaking previously to The Mirror about her gut analysis results, Catherine said: “I was a stickler for meat, meat, meat. At one point I was even eating steak for breakfast when I was doing a lot of weight training.

“I have a good friend who is a nutritionist and when I told him what I was eating he said, ‘Blimey, Cath, you’re not a bodybuilder’.

“But at that point in time, if you went to the gym or had a personal trainer, the message seemed to be protein, protein, protein.

“When you are on a weight-loss journey and weight-train, you can almost develop a fear of carbs.”

Soon Catherine realised that overindulging on animal products can lead to inflammation, especially if individuals do not “buy wisely”.

“My gut bacteria wasn’t flourishing. In order for it to work properly, diversity is key. And although I was eating some vegetables, you should really be aiming for 30 different plant-based products each week.

“I changed my diet to become more plant based and in turn felt much better actually. I am not completely plant based, but the majority of what I do eat is fruit and vegetables, and the odd bit of animal produce,” Catherine added.

According to The Mirror, the gut health products sector was worth £750 million a year in 2020. And Professor Tim Spector is one of those experts who highlights the benefits of gut-friendly foods.

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Joining Catherine in her Tonight programme, which aired last year, he advised “treading carefully” with products that claim they are good for gut health, but secretly aren’t.

Professor Tim said the things to look out for include high levels of sugar, artificial sweeteners, long lists of ingredients and foods that have been heavily processed, as your body “doesn’t know how to process them”.

One product that Catherine has found success with is Symprove – a water-based formula, taken daily to help maintain healthy bacteria in the gut.

Mentioning the product Catherine said: “I started on Symprove probably around eight years ago, and the difference for me probably started within three to four weeks.

“I had quite a few digestive issues at the time, and after being on Symprove for a few weeks I was able to stop taking my medication.”

During her time on Strictly Come Dancing, Catherine’s weight plummeted, so much so that her clothes were far too big, but instead of bingeing on all the wrong foods Catherine used Symprove and stayed away from anything she “can’t pronounce” on labels to get her back to a healthier weight.

“I still keep a food diary, and then I look back and think ‘maybe I am eating too much animal produce, maybe I could cut back on X,Y,Z,” Catherine added. “Taking responsibility for your own health is something we all need to do.”

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