Our diet, or what we consume, has a huge impact on the health of your gut microbiome. A gut microbiome is a collection of trillions of microorganisms found mainly in the large intestine, including bacteria, yeast, and viruses.
More and more studies indicate that these microorganisms may actually influence a wide variety of health outcomes. Let’s take a look at the role gut health plays in our overall health.
Digestion, Metabolism, and Nutrient Absorption
It is no surprise that the microbiome is responsible for healthy digestion and metabolism, given the location of its headquarters. In addition, it helps break down toxins found in our food, as well as the synthesis of certain amino acids and vitamins.
Immunity
A healthy immune system depends on a healthy microbiome that contains both beneficial and harmful bacteria. In addition, the biome modulates a wide range of immune cells in the body, making it an MVP in overall health.
Brain Function, Nervous System And Mental Health
There is also a surprising connection between the gut microbiome and your mood, as the intestines contain nerve cells that communicate with the brain. Intestinal nerve cells communicate bidirectionally with the central nervous system, whose star is the brain, through this gut-brain axis.
Because of this connection, the health of our brains affects the health of our guts and vice versa. Research has shown that the health of our gut microbiome is associated with mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, cognitive function, and stress management.
Longevity And Chronic Diseases
In addition, the gut microbiome plays a key role in the development and expression of chronic diseases. A review of multiple studies found that the health of the microbiome plays an important role in the prevention (or expression) of many chronic diseases, including metabolic, neurologic, cardiovascular, and respiratory disorders.
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, kidney disease, liver disease, and asthma are among them. Additionally, gut health contributes to calcium absorption and bone cell health, preventing osteoporosis and maintaining healthy bones.
Here’s How You Can Keep Your Gut Healthy
A variety of genetic and lifestyle factors can affect the balance of microbes in the gut, both directly and indirectly. These factors include exercise, stress levels, sleep, hydration status, and, of course, nutrition. Your microbiome is largely determined by what you eat. Gut health is best achieved through foods that contain healthy gut bacteria, nutrients to feed those bacteria, and compounds that temper and prevent inflammation.
Now that you know gut health is important for your overall health, you may be eager to boost your microbiome. Making informed food choices is one of the best ways to fix your gut. When it comes to gut health, here are some of the best types of food to eat for gut health:
Fibre
A key component of healthy digestion is fibre, which provides structure to aid digestion. Fibres come in two forms: soluble and insoluble, and we all need both to reap the benefits they provide. In the gastrointestinal tract (GI), soluble fibre dissolves in water and forms a gel. Conversely, insoluble fibre does the opposite: it does not dissolve in water and adds bulk, keeping things moving and preventing constipation.
Some types of fibre aren’t completely broken down in the digestive process and end up in the intestines. These survivors are really important sources of food for our healthy gut bacteria and are also known as prebiotics (which we’ll discuss shortly). Several familiar fibre-rich foods are prebiotics, including bananas, apples, asparagus, berries, flaxseed, broccoli, garlic, oats, onions, leafy greens, tomatoes, and legumes such as beans, lentils, and peas.
Prebiotics
Prebiotics are typically soluble fibres that cannot be digested by humans, but they can be digested by bacteria in our gut.Our intestinal bacteria flourish when we consume prebiotics. There are so many prebiotic foods available to us today. Prebiotic food sources include barley, onions, garlic, leeks, honey, cocoa, flaxseed, seaweed, whole wheat products, dandelion greens, mushrooms, asparagus, cabbage, apples, oats, watermelon, bananas, and chickpeas.
Probiotics
Introducing more healthy bacteria to the gut microbiome is one of the best ways to build a thriving microbiome. You can achieve this by eating foods rich in probiotics, which are healthy bacteria. Either probiotic foods are enriched with bacteria or bacteria are grown in them during fermentation. Fermentation is a metabolic process in which bacteria facilitate a chemical reaction in the food or beverage in question, resulting in desirable results.
As a result, increased health benefits, longer shelf life, or enhanced flavour profiles may be achieved. It is true that some fermented foods, such as sourdough bread or beer, do not contain probiotics, but many others do. Sauerkraut, tempeh, kombucha, miso, kimchi, kefir, yoghurt, buttermilk, and certain types of pickles (that are fermented, not just pickled in vinegar) are excellent probiotic foods.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Eating foods that help your body fight and prevent inflammation is another pillar of gut-healthy food choices. When consumed in excess, pro-inflammatory foods can irritate the gut and negatively affect the microbiome, preventing it from performing its vital functions. In general, anti-inflammatory foods are packed with vitamins and minerals. In addition to omega-3 fatty acids, they may contain helpful plant compounds. Since polyphenols are antioxidants, they promote healthy microorganism growth while inhibiting harmful pathogen growth in the gut.
There are many sources of polyphenols, including berries, nuts, dark green vegetables, tea, beans, apples, cherries, onions, olives, cloves, capers, oregano, sage, thyme, and many more. All plants contain some of these amazing compounds, which is why eating a variety of plants is beneficial for gut health. It’s a good rule of thumb that plant food that’s brilliantly coloured is more likely to be polyphenol-rich. Walnuts, chia seeds, hemp, salmon, sardines, anchovies, and soybeans are also anti-inflammatory foods with omega-3 fats.
Make It A point To Limit Or Remove Gut-Inflammatory Foods From Your Diet
Some foods and ingredients don’t support, or even actively irritate, gut health. In our diets, all foods have a place, and nothing is completely off-limits. Your microbiome will change if you strike the right balance and de-emphasize the less-beneficial bites and drinks. Inflammatory foods often lack fiber or have been stripped of their natural fibers (think: refined grains), which requires mindfulness and moderation.
A number of foods fit into this category, including alcohol, processed foods, sugars, and fried foods. Research has found that red meat can release a pro-inflammatory metabolite in the body that’s linked to heart disease. In addition, added sugars should also be avoided whenever possible.
Aside from causing inflammation in the gut, added sugars are known to negatively impact the balance of healthy and bad bacteria in the gut. In addition, they compromise the mucosal barrier in the gut, leaving us more susceptible to illness and infection. Artificial sweeteners too, may disrupt our biome’s balance of bacteria.
We hope this article has given you a better understanding of your gut microbiome, and why it is important for your health and well-being.
THE LIFESTYLE COLLECTIVE 