Healthy Gut Diet

6 Of the Best Foods For a Healthy Gut

Your gut plays a vitally important role in your body’s immune system and an unhealthy gut could cause you to experience headaches, mood swings, confusion, forgetfulness as well as diarrhea and diseases.

It’s also worth observing that before the modern day diet & processed foods were introduced into our diet, our ancestors didn’t suffer with the health & gut problems that we have these days as their diets consisted largely of fermented & cultured foods which provided them with large amounts of beneficial bacteria.

Because the gut plays such a huge role in a healthy body, it’s important to ensure balance and stability in your gut for optimal health which can be done by eating a gut healthy diet containing prebiotic & probiotic rich foods.

1. Kefir

Kefir, derived from the Turkish word keyif, meaning “feeling good” after eating, is a fermented type of yogurt that can be sipped & contains the probiotic lactobacillus kefiri which protects against harmful bacteria & will boost your immune system.

It is important to store it at a cold temperature as the cultures are sensitive to heat & it is also best to avoid Kefir that has a high sugar content as it will damage your healthy intestinal flora.

2. Full Fat Greek Yogurt

Whilst Kefir has a broader range of nutrients than yogurt, Greek yogurt will provide you with a powerful dairy-based probiotic to help introduce more healthy bacteria & boost your gut health.

3. Prebiotic Foods

Prebiotic foods are those high in fiber which contain ingredients that encourage improved gut flora health.

Whilst there are a number of good & bad gut flora, the two types of healthy gut flora that you would want to boost with the consumption of prebiotics are;

• lactobacilli
• bifidobacteri

Prebiotics are not to be confused with probiotics – the difference between the two can be summarised as follows;

• Prebiotics provide food for the good bacteria already living in your gut – you cannot digest them but your gut flora will.
• Probiotics provide your gut with a direct contribution of good bacteria.

Here’s a list of some of the best prebiotic foods;

• Almonds
• Asparagus
• Bananas
• Burdock root
• Chicory (as used in coffee substitutes)
• Endive
• Garlic, onions & leeks
• Greens (especially dandelion greens)
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Kiwi fruit
• Mushrooms

Prebiotics aren’t the answer for everyone especially for those who suffer with IBS (irritable Bowel Syndrome) or FODMAPs intolerance or for people who just feel bloated & uncomfortable after eating foods from the list above.

However, one of the good side effects of consuming “prebiotic foods” which has little to do with the health of your gut, is that prebiotics increase the absorption of calcium and consequently improve bone mineral density.

4. Green Vegetables

Green vegetables that are high in fiber & other essential minerals include;

• Broccoli
• Kale
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Asparagus
• Green beans

5. Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is actually just fermented cabbage which is just a preservation technique that your gut will thank you for.

Avoid the tinned sauerkraut as it will probably contain preservatives & won’t have the healthy bacteria as it will have been destroyed.

6. Other Gut Healthy Foods

• Bone broth
• Organ meats (like liver)
• Mint
• Cinnamon
• Tumeric
• Fermented vegetables

Things That Could Cause Bad Gut Health

• Antibiotics
• NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
• Infection
• Stress
• Birth control pill
• Insufficient sleep
• Gluten, grains and legumes (and other toxic foods)
• Excess sugars & carbohydrate consumption
• Inflammation from consumption of vegetable oils and polyunsaturated & omega 6 fats – gut inflammation causes poor nutrient absorption
• Lack of nutrients & vitamin deficiency
• Poor immune system which could be caused or compounded by any of the above

For a Happy Gut…

Of the 100 trillion bacteria hosted in your body, most of them reside in your gut which is your body’s main area of exchange and contact with  toxins & pathogens.

As a result of this most diseases originate in the gut which emphasizes the gut’s direct role in your overall health and for it accounting for 70% of the body’s entire immune system.

Therefore to improve the health of your gut the best starting point is to avoid consumption of the foods that could cause gut issues (above) & increase your consumption of the “gut healthy” type of foods.

Introducing more of the good bacteria to your system should help you to be able to rebuild the healthy gut flora with an high.

This strategy may not work for everyone but just by increasing the amount of the lactobacillus bacteria in your diet should contribute significantly towards enjoying a healthy gut.

The Paleo diet could provide you with the best food options your body needs for optimal gut health…

Start eating a wholesome, nutrient dense diet with this comprehensive Paleo starter program here »