Taking care of your gut health is essential for overall wellbeing.
The gut microbiome diet is a nutrient-rich, plant-based approach to eating that focuses on optimising your inner bacteria. This diet emphasises whole, unprocessed foods and eliminates added sugars, refined carbs and processed foods. Eating this way helps maintain the balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut, which can help protect you from disease and improve your physical and mental health.
In this guide, we'll explain what gut microbiome diet is, why it's important and how to get started. We'll provide tips for shopping and meal planning, give you recipes to try out, and discuss practical strategies for optimising your inner bacteria.
Don't worry if it feels overwhelming at first – we're here to help you make the journey as easy as possible!
What Is the Gut Microbiome Diet?
The gut microbiome diet is a nourishing way to help your body cultivate a healthy balance of bacteria in your digestive system. By consuming a mix of prebiotics, probiotics, and fermented foods, you can ensure that your digestive system stays rich in good bacteria. This will help the body better absorb nutrients, ward off toxins and improve overall health.
The gut microbiome diet is based on the idea that many diseases and conditions stem from an imbalance of bacteria in the gut. It encompasses five core principles:
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Limit processed foods, sugars, and refined carbohydrates
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Increase fiber intake from fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds
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Consume probiotic foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha tea and kefir
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Eat organic whenever possible
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Incorporate prebiotic foods such as garlic, onions, bananas, asparagus and artichokes.
By following these simple guidelines you can set yourself on the path to better health through gut microbiome dieting.
Why Your Gut Health Matters: The Role of Gut Bacteria
Your gut microbiome isn't just important for your digestion; it also affects many other aspects of your health, including your mood, your energy levels, and even your immune system. That's because the bacteria in your gut interact with other organs and systems throughout your body, sending signals and orchestrating processes that help keep you healthy.
Gut bacteria have been found to play a role in influencing everything from the way you handle stress to how easily you can fall asleep at night. They can even affect inflammation levels and how well certain medications work for you - both good things to consider when optimizing the microbiome in your gut.
Having a healthy gut microbiome is about more than just what goes into it - it's also about how it interacts with the environment around it (like the rest of your body). Eating a balanced diet full of prebiotics and probiotics, getting enough sleep and exercise, managing stress, and limiting sugar intake are all important steps to take when optimizing your inner bacteria.
Foods to Eat on the Gut Microbiome Diet
Eating the right foods can have a huge impact on the composition of your gut microbiome. Eating a diet rich in fiber, proteins, fruits and vegetables as well as whole-grains has been shown to optimize the diversity of bacteria in your gut. Here is a list of some of the best food you should include in your gut microbiome diet:
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Fermented Foods: Sauerkraut, Kimchi and Kombucha are excellent sources of probiotics that can help to balance the bacteria in your gut.
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Prebiotic Foods: Foods such as onions, leeks, garlic and bananas contain prebiotics which act as food for the good bacteria in your gut.
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High Fiber Foods: Eating foods high in fiber helps to keep things moving in your digestive tract and can improve digestion. Try adding oats, beans and legumes to your meals.
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Lean Proteins: Eating lean proteins such as fish, poultry and eggs will help you to stay full for longer periods of time which can help prevent overeating.
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Plant Based Oils: Adding plant based oils such as olive oil or coconut oil to your meals adds healthy fats which can help provide energy for a healthy microbiome.
By eating a variety of these healthy foods and pairing them with Goodgut Nutrition's supplements, you can create an optimum environment inside your gut which helps keep your microbiome balanced so that it can function properly!
Foods to Avoid on the Gut Microbiome Diet
A key part of following the gut microbiome diet is being aware of and avoiding certain foods that can negatively damage your inner bacteria.
Processed Foods & Artificial Sweeteners
Processed foods are generally high in added sugars, oils and salts, all of which contribute to poor gut health. These foods contain very few vitamins and minerals that your digestive system would benefit from. In addition, artificial sweeteners are incredibly hard for your microbiome to process, leading to a buildup of toxins and inflammation.
Refined Grains & Sugars
Foods such as white flour, white pasta, white rice and sugary snacks lack the essential fibers needed for good digestive health. These simple carbohydrates break down quickly in the body and produce short-term energy boosts - however their effects on gut microbiome health are not as beneficial.
Goodgut Nutrition recommend avoiding these ingredients and replacing them with high-fiber whole grains like quinoa or oats. Eating lean proteins, healthy fats from nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables can also be beneficial in optimizing your gut microbiome diet.
Tips to Improve Your Gut Microbiome
Following the gut microbiome diet is essential if you want to ensure your inner bacteria is in optimal condition. But there are some other tips that can help you along the way.
Eat Prebiotics
Prebiotics are a type of non-digestible fiber food that helps feed your probiotics, the 'good' bacteria in your gut. Prebiotic-rich foods include garlic, leeks, onions, asparagus, and bananas.
Get Moving
Physical activity is important for overall health, but it also helps stimulate your gut's muscle function and improves digestion. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise per day to keep your gut bacteria happy and healthy.
Take Supplements
If you find it difficult to maintain a balanced diet full of essential prebiotics and probiotics, look into supplements to give your gut an extra boost. Goodgut Nutrition makes high-quality products designed to get to the root cause of your digestive issues, like PolyPower.
Gut Microbiome Diet Supplements to Consider
A gut microbiome diet is only as good as its appropriate intake of foods that make gut bacteria grow. While foods can deliver beneficial bacteria and nutrition, supplements can offer extra support for fine-tuning your gut microbiome diet. Here are 3 supplement classes that Goodgut Nutrition offers to consider for optimizing your inner bacteria:
Probiotics
Goodgut Nutrition's vegan probiotics are formulated with 8 strains that can help to boost and diversify the good bacteria in your gut microbiome. The scientifically-dosed probiotic blend is easy to take and helps to provide digestive balance.
Prebiotics
For those who want an extra boost of gut bacteria, without increasing gas and pain consider PolyPowder. A blend of red fruits and vegetables to help to nourish the good bacteria in your gut while promoting a healthy metabolism. This nutrient-dense supplement can also help with regularity when taken twice a day with meals.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the gut microbiome diet can be a powerful tool to achieve and maintain a healthier lifestyle. It is an evidence-based approach to improving your gut microorganisms, and it can easily be tailored to fit any individual's needs.
By making simple dietary and lifestyle changes, you can increase the diversity and health of your gut microbiome. Feeding and nurturing the beneficial bacteria in your gut can have profound effects, leading to improved digestion, a stronger immune system, and increased overall well-being. For those looking to take a more proactive and personalized approach to their health, the gut microbiome diet is an excellent place to start.
