When I heard Dr Mosley say that prebiotics might help sleep problems, I didn’t know that he meant potato starch. I began taking a dessert spoonful of psyllium husks stirred into a large glass of water at bedtime. I was astounded to find that although I am in my late 60s, I started getting eight hours a night of refreshing sleep. The disadvantage is that psyllium husks are marketed as a laxative, and I found that after a couple of weeks I needed to take a break. Has anyone else tried psyllium husks to help sleep? Does it really work? I try to tell my friends about it, but they only give me funny looks.

Maybe you should try reducing the amount you take each time, if you’re having to take a break from it. Tom Kerridge’s book, ‘The Dopamine Diet’, has some recipes in it that use psyllium. Haven’t tried it specifically for sleep (only bought the stuff yesterday, to put in the recipes!), but it may well work as you suggest. Never really thought of it as a prebiotic, I have to admit!

I bought the Easyfibre Cleanse natural psyllium husks from Healthspan, and am following the dosage and instructions to take a break which come with it. Psyllium husks have only a very mild laxative effect, but it is cumulative over a couple of weeks and I found myself getting increasing windiness However, it is all worth it for the quality of the sleep, such as I do not remember having had since I was a young adult. Despite being marketed as a laxative, the product is listed under probiotics and prebiotics on the Healthspan website.

I tried halving the amount I was taking to one heaped teaspoonful in a glass of water, but it didn’t really seem to work. The dessert spoonful is much more effective.

I’m lucky enough to sleep like a log so I can’t confirm that the husks help with that. However I always take the husks with me on holiday, or when away from home, as due to my normally high fibre diet, my gut grinds to a halt without it. I take a heaped tsp in a glass of water each day and that works perfectly for me.

I’ve been using psyllium for several years – 2 tablespoons in warm water every morning. I started using it to supplement my fibre intake. I’ve experienced no untoward side effects and couldn’t imagine life without it.