Trust Your Gut, Part 2 Food for Optimal Gut Health
- anita1032
- Feb 13, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 20, 2024
What if you or a family member are one of the 40% with gut issues? (1) Even if you don’t have issues now, prevention is worth more than gold! The good news is that the food we eat is one of the most important factors impacting gut health. Research has shown several types of foods, as described below, can lead to optimal gut health – and a few types of foods, described below, lead to gut issues and disease (2,3,4). So, now’s the time to add the ‘Optimal Gut Health’ foods to your grocery list and meals and see how many of the ‘Gut Distress’ foods you can avoid. It helps to track the foods you eat along with tracking your gut symptoms (or hopefully lack of symptoms). The tracking enables you to develop deeper insights into your own personal and unique gut health so you can enhance the quality of food you eat to ultimately lead to better gut health, which then leads to feeling, performing, and being at your best!
It’s important to note:
1) an unhealthy gut can signal or lead to disease: Be sure to talk with your physician about your symptoms. It’s also highly recommended to see a dietitian and/or a functional medicine physician who specializes in gut health,
2) we all have a unique DNA: So, especially with our digestive system, what nourishes and cleanses the gut for many, for example, garlic (prebiotics) or bell peppers (fiber), may signal a food intolerance for some. Thus, it is an exploratory and trial-and-error process to discover what foods may be contributing to your poor gut health and/or food intolerances leading to symptoms. So again, this is where dietitians and functional medicine practitioners can be of tremendous help.
3 Food Types That Can Lead to Optimal Gut Health:
Fiber-Rich Foods:
Fiber is the most crucial ingredient for gut health as it improves the ‘quality’ of the microbiome and is also essential for the cleansing and elimination of our digestive system. Only about 5% of Americans get 30-40 grams of fiber they need per day. Choosing organic as often as possible is best to avoid consuming toxins through pesticides and preservatives. Here is an excellent overview of fiber-rich foods: The Fabulousness of Fiber: Why It’s Critical for Gut Health.
Probiotics:
Probiotic foods contain the ‘good’ live bacteria that interact with and stimulate a healthy microbiome. The 2001 definition of probiotics by developed by the World Health Organization, is “the bacteria that, when consumed at an adequate level, improves health,” and also “cures and prevents disease.” (5,6) These foods are generally fermented foods like: (7)
kefir
yogurt with live active cultures
pickled vegetables
tempeh
kombucha tea
kimchi
miso
tamari
tofu
apple cider vinegar
and sauerkraut
Prebiotics:
Prebiotic foods nourish and multiply the good bacteria in the gut. In the world of nutrition, prebiotics and their collective health benefits are a relatively new finding. The term was first introduced in 1995, and then in 2008, fully defined by the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) as “a selectively fermented ingredient that results in specific changes in the composition and/or activity of the gastrointestinal microbiota, thus conferring benefit(s) upon
health,” and “prebiotics are resistant to acidic pH of the stomach, and generally aren’t absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, the prebiotic can be fermented by intestinal microbiota, and overall, the prebiotic is health-enhancing.” (8) Foods high in prebiotics include: (9)
garlic
onions
leeks
dandelion greens
asparagus
barley
oats
honey
Jerusalem artichoke
chicory root
Read Part 3: ‘Foods that Destroy Gut Health’ next!
References:
1. New survey finds forty percent of Americans’ daily lives are disrupted by digestive troubles
https://gastro.org/press-releases/new-survey-finds-forty-percent-of-americans-daily- lives-are-disrupted-by-digestive-troubles/
2. Influence of diet on the gut microbiome and implications for human health
3. Dietary fiber and prebiotics and the gastrointestinal microbiota https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28165863/
4. Therapeutic Benefits and Dietary Restrictions of Fiber Intake: A State of the Art Review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9268622/
5. Why Healing Your Gut (and Keeping Your Gut Happy) Is Essential for Good Health
6. Role of Probiotics in Human Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9733784/
7. How to Feed Your Gut
8. Prebiotics: Definition, Types, Sources, Mechanisms, and Clinical Applications
9. Fiber and Prebiotics: Mechanisms and Health Benefits https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/5/4/1417
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