Bloating, constipated, or can’t relieve that gas bubble?

It might be due to poor gut health

The gastrointestinal tract transports food from the mouth to the tummy, absorbs nutrients, and stores energy while shuffling waste out of the body. It’s no doubt that maintaining a healthy gut is essential to being a healthy human. If you choose to fuel yourself, you won’t live your best life. Simple but true.

With over 100 trillion microorganisms – bacteria, yeast, and viruses – living in the digestive tract need to be in balance to maintain a healthy life, both physically and mentally. Keep reading if you’d like to learn more about keeping a healthy gut with healthy nutrition in mind.

Key Team Players

Experts suggest consuming foods with fiber, probiotics, prebiotics, or a combination of the three. The speed at which food moves through your gut can be regulated with the grain. Find fiber in plant-based foods like apples and spinach.

Probiotics are found in fermented foods and are beneficial microorganisms, known as “good” bacteria, and help fight infection. Prebiotics are plant fibers that cannot be easily digested but act as nutrition for healthy bacteria with your gut.

 Head to local farmers’ markets and incorporate these tips into your diet for better gut health:

1. Increase fiber intake. Twenty-five grams for women and 28 grams for men a day, which is equivalent to around 2-3 cups. You will need to stay hydrated to keep the GI tract functioning well. Try legumes, raspberries, barley, bran, and Bulgar.
2. Ditch fake sugar. Artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes draw in a crowd with promises of sugar and caloric reduction. Don’t give in. Healthline suggests artificial sweeteners may disrupt the balance of gut bacteria in individuals, which increases the chances of developing the disease. Sweet treats should be fruit-based.
3. Pick up some prebiotic fiber. Recent studies show that taking prebiotics, non-digestible carbohydrates, may help probiotics become adaptive to fluctuations of environmental conditions, including temperature or pH changes within the body. Eating foods with high prebiotic-rich foods will encourage bacteria to multiply in the gut. Garlic, onions, whole grains, bananas, asparagus are good choices.
4. Eat fermented foods and take probiotics. Fermented foods naturally contain probiotics that assist in boosting the ‘good’ type of bacteria. Some foods may include kefir, kimchi, kombucha, miso, tempeh, and fermented veggies.
5. Fresh Herbs and spices: Turmeric has been shown to decrease tumor size and fight inflammation. Immune boosters are easy to find and incorporate into your diet. Oregano, basil, and parsley just to name a few.
6. Vegetarian. Being a vegetarian may be suitable for your gut. Studies show a significant difference in microbes between meat-eaters and vegetarians due to the high levels of prebiotic fiber the diet contains.
7. Avoid the ‘not so good stuff.’ You should not be spending too much time with alcohol, caffeine, sweetened fruit drinks, fried food, and sugary sodas!

Speak with a local clinical nutritionist, to discuss proper diet, basic meal plans, and essential testing (like food allergy)

to get back on track with your gut health.

We found this excellent springtime salad that has a few of each of the suggested additions to your diet. We think you will love it!  

https://www.feastingathome.com/shaved-cauliflower-and-spring-pea-salad-w-yogurt-and-mint/

Love your Gut and it will love you back with a healthy immune system! Something we just cannot take for granted!

Bon ‘Appetit