Unfortunately, there’s an R in the month now and it’s time to face facts. First of all, I’m getting early-onset bingo wings, so midweek beer and chocolate is out until Christmas.

The second is I’m coming into my busiest time of the year, with a few TV projects coming up and a book I have to get to the publishers in January 2019.

On top of that my two kids seem to have taken up every single sport in the Olympics except pigeon shooting, and I can already feel the uptick in my stress levels.

So as of last week, I’m back on the kefir, a fermented probiotic drink that can be made with milk, water or coconut water.

Fans of kefir claim it’s good for your gut and what’s good for your gut is good for mind.

The purists like to use their own starter or “mother” culture, which is like little bits of cauliflower, that can be used again and again to make a fresh batch of the drink.

These aren’t easy to get — you nearly need someone on the inside, an uber-hippy who’ll sort you out with the good stuff.

My wife has just such a connection in West Cork (where else?), and arrived home one day with some in a bowl. We’re not the best at looking after live cultures in our place and they died within a month, from lack of attention. I’m told this happens to a lot of newbies.

So now I cheat a bit, and use freeze-dried sachets of powder, derived from the original mother cultures. I mix these with milk and end up with something resembling natural yoghurt, which you can put in your porridge or smoothie or that fruit salad you post on Instagram to make your friends feel bad about themselves.

I know it all sounds a bit Gwyneth Paltrow, but I believe it works, at least for me.

I’m not the only one. Kefir fans claim it contains good bacteria that boost your immune and digestive systems, lower cholesterol and blood pressure and can even reduce the risk of cancer. In fairness, none of this has been proven beyond doubt.

Put it this way — the UK website of the company that makes my kefir grains says they are prohibited by EU regulations from telling me the benefits of kefir. (Maybe they’ll be able to take back control after Brexit and fill us in on the details.)

Also, researchers at the Weizmann Institute in Israel recently published a study which claimed that probiotics don’t work for 50% of the population, because they resist the good bacteria, which go straight through their system and out the other end.

That said, a professor who researches genetic epidemiology at King’s College in London is quoted in the Daily Telegraph, saying this not a reason to shun probiotics, adding that it’s often prescribed by doctors in France for a patient who is complaining of a cold.

So when it comes to the benefits of probiotics, it depends on who you ask.

All I know is they work for me. Let me explain what I mean by “works”. When I started taking kefir a year ago, it didn’t clear up some long-standing ailment or overhaul my digestive system. Kefir just made me feel good about myself.

I enjoyed the process of making up a fresh batch, even though there’s a bit of work and patience involved. (I think I just like all the stirring.) I like pouring it over our porridge every morning.

I like the back story, that kefir comes from the Caucasus Mountain region, where people seem to live forever.

I also like the way I slept better last winter, didn’t catch any bad bugs and generally felt more alert. I’ve felt more sluggish over the summer, since I gave it up, although that could be down to eating chocolate at night and beer-buzz Tuesdays.

None of this is going to make its way into a medical journal, for or against kefir or other probiotics. Maybe this just the placebo effect, and I feel better because I expect to feel better.

But for now, I’m glad to be back on the kefir and already feel better about things than I did last week.

I can see why kefir mightn’t work for you. The taste is a bit Conor McGregor, it wouldn’t be for everyone. You have to make a fresh batch about once a week and it takes over a day for that batch to be ready for consumption.

If you want to do take something other than kefir to aid your gut, then a supplement like Zenflore might be the one for you.

Sold in capsule form, the manufacturers worked with Professors Ted Dinan and John Cryan from UCC, whose work focuses on the gut-brain axis. Zenflore contains a natural culture, part of the family of bacteria passed from mother to baby during birth, and the manufacturers claim that along with vitamins in their supplement, it can combat stress-related fatigue.

I won’t be going for a supplement just yet. I like the ritual of making and tasting kefir, and I genuinely think it’s good for me. I guess you could call it a gut feeling.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT GUT HEALTH, PROBIOTICS

The gut is responsible for producing 90% of the serotonin in the body, which affects our mood.

Professor Dinan and his team in UCC found that certain bacteria, known as psychobiotic, can have a positive mental health benefit.

They established a direct connection between our brain and gut, where a two-way conversation occurs along the vagus nerve, and this has an effecton our stress responses.

Zenflore contains the 1714-Serenitas culture, which is part of the family of bacteria passed from mother to child during birth.

Tested

This culture has been clinically tested and shown to help people with everyday stress levels. According to Britain’s National Health Service website, probiotics are classified as food and not subject to rigorous testing that applies to medicine. They add that probiotics “appear to be safe” for people with healthy immune systems and shouldn’t cause any unpleasant side effects.

The website also says there is evidence that probiotics can aid gut health in premature babies, shorten an episode of diarrhoea caused by a stomach bug, and may reduce bloating and flatulence for some people who suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

On the other hand, they add there is a lack of conclusive evidence that probiotics boost your immune system.

HOW TO TAKE KEFIR

• Buy it ready-made in a health shop.
• Ferment it yourself at home, using freeze-dried grains. One way is stir the grains into a litre of milk, leave it rest at room temperature for around 24 hours before transferring to the fridge, where is will last for 4 to 5 days.
• Use “mother culture” if you can get it, this is a live culture that can be used and re-used to make batches of the drink, as long as you look after it.