Great Gut Blog

Feeding Your Gut Microbiome

Posted by Brad Dennis, Ph.D. on

Feeding Your Gut Microbiome

One of the best ways to keep your gut healthy is to feed it right. Ensuring you’re offering adequate nutrition and support to the many beneficial microbes that reside in your gut is key to not just your gut’s health, but to your overall health as well.

More Vegetables and fruits

This one probably comes as no surprise. Vegetables are not only packed with vitamins and minerals, but many of them also contain good amounts of the dietary fiber (aka prebiotics) that literally feed the bacteria in your gut. When possible, go with raw veggies; make a salad a day your goal. But if raw veggies aren’t your thing, steamed or roasted are nearly as good. Those with tender stomachs may want to instead opt for homemade soups made with veggies; the long cooking times of soups can make digesting veggies easier on the stomach.

More Fermented Foods

Fermented foods have also been shown to benefit the gut. This can mean foods like sauerkraut, natto, kimchi, yogurt, pickles (note: most commercially-made pickles are not fermented. For true fermented pickles, you’ll need to either make your own, or check a health food store), and drinks like boza, buttermilk, kefir, and kombucha.

More Nuts and Seeds

A handful of nuts and/or seeds makes a great healthy snack. Instead of reaching for a candy bar, try some almonds. Sprinkle flax seeds on your morning oatmeal.

Less Meat

This one can be difficult, as many of us really love our beef and pork. But there are a couple of ways you can moderate your meat intake. You can try choosing one day a week to be meatless, or you can replace meat with fish. Instead of a steak, have a piece of salmon. In a recipe, try replacing pork with chicken.

Less Sugar

Try and wean yourself off of refined sugar as much as possible. Sugar is one of the gut’s greatest enemies. And artificial sweeteners are no better. Go for honey if you really need to sweeten something.

Less Alcohol

As with sugar, alcohol, especially in large quantities, isn’t good for the gut.

Finally, make sure you are getting enough prebiotics and probiotics in your diet every day. This can be difficult to do with food alone, so finding high-quality supplements can help. Our Great Gut prebiotic blend is a sure-fire way to ensure you’re getting the right amount of prebiotic fiber every day.

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