Hugh Pym: I've been trying to hack my gut, to age better

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Guts have become a source of immense fascination. Social media influencers promote unproven supplements said to boost gut health, whilst milk and kombucha brands promise to nourish them with "good bacteria". Some have dismissed the gut-obsession as a passing fad - however many doctors think that our gut microbiome might affect a whole spectrum of things, from mental health to the likelihood of getting certain cancers. But there's another medical possibility: that our gut impacts how well, or badly, we age. Which is why, a few months ago, the BBC's health editor Hugh Pyn found himself at St Mary's Hospital in London, preparing to receive a nerve-wracking insight into his own gut health. This is what he discovered. (Image: Getty)