If you experience bloating after meals, the all embarrassing gas, brain fog, fatigue, mood swings, or food intolerances, then you most likely have imbalanced gut flora. These uncomfortable feelings were so well-known to me that I used to just dismiss them as “normal”. But there is no such thing as “normal” pain or discomfort: these are all signs from our body that something in our gut is off.
Did you know?
Approximately 90% of Americans produce too little stomach acid
We lose around 2 lbs of water while we're sleeping
Our microbiome is the most important organ for hormonal balance
Our microbiome affects our overall health
On a global scale our food diversity has dropped 75% in the last 100 years
5 top tips to maintaining a healthy gut
1. Apple Cider Vinegar first thing in the morning
Hydrochloric Acid (HCI), plays a vital role in the digestion of our food and absorption of nutrients. A diet excessive in carbohydrates, stress, nutrient deficiencies, allergies, and excess alcohol consumption can all contribute to the decline in HCl production can result in a sluggish digestive system.
The simple act of adding 1tbsp raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar to a glass of water each morning before your breakfast can help stimulate the HCl in your stomach, getting it geared up to digest your food. Just make sure its the right quality/brand. If in doubt, always look out for the tried and trusted Braggs brand.
Another good tip for those that ever experience that uncomfortable full feeling or acid reflux after a particularly large meal. The acid reflux in particular can be a result of too little stomach acid. So taking a small shot of apple cider vinegar is known to help alleviate some of these symptoms.
2. Sugar is not your friend
Ahh sugar. We all love to hate it. Or should I say hate to love it? But why exactly is this white molecule so harmful to our gut?
Because it feeds the bad guys! The key to maintaining a healthy gut, is ensuring the richness and diversity of beneficial bacteria within it. We'll get into how we can feed the good guys on the next 2 points, but one thing that we ned to be mindful of, is not feeding the bad guys!
When we eat a high-sugar diet, the undesirable bacteria thrive and start to grow out of control, they love sugar just as much as our children do. And while they're thriving off our late night bowl of ice-cream, our beneficial bacteria dwindle in numbers. This is when things can start to go awry with our health, overgrowths like Candida can present itself, and eventually symptoms of Leaky Gut can start to arise.
Now i'm not trying to suck the fun out of life, because what is life without dessert right? Just try make simple swaps when it comes to your treats and be mindful of how often you are actually eating sugar. It may not even be in the most obvious way. Packaged foods are a classic example of sugar sneaking its way into your diet. Things like yogurt, some milks, sauces, salad dressings, chips, granola/cereal, energy bars, protein powders and even some canned foods have alarming amounts of sugar to make the food more palatable to consumers.
3. Eat fermented foods
Fermented Foods encourage essential bacteria such as Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria to flourish in your gut, and actually help clear out some of the baddies like E. coli and C. difficile.
Try make a habit of adding at least one of the following foods into each meal/snack.
Sauerkraut - We're pretty spoilt for choice these days when it comes to sauerkraut options on the supermarket shelves. With the addition of herbs, spices, and even beetroot, you could have sauerkraut every day of the week, and never get bored. Traditionally sauerkraut is made from water, salt, and cabbage, and very little heat is applied to the final product in order to prevent killing off beneficial microbes.
Kimchi - This spicy Asian fermented cabbage, similar to sauerkraut, with a few ingredient swaps; provides you with loads of probiotics.
Kombucha - The bacteria (also known as the 'mother') feeds off sugar in the fermentation process so there is always going to be sugar in the ingredient list. However, the amount of sugar should be very minimal as during the fermentation process the bacteria should typically 'eat it'. Always check the sugar levels, as some companies add sugar and flavour in the bottling process to appeal to a wider audience. Anything above 8-10g per serving, I would avoid.
Coconut Yogurt - Good quality, store bought coconut yogurts can be costly so try making your own! It's easier than you would think and will cost you a fraction of the price. Using just Full fat coconut milk and a good quality probiotic capsule, in just 48 hours you'll have a probiotic rich yogurt to enjoy by the spoonful.
Check out Minimalist Baker's recipe here.
Natto - This traditional Japanese breakfast item is prepared with soybeans and is fermented to form the beneficial bacteria Bacillus. Although the smell and texture is less than desirable, this Superfood is rich in macronutrients and micronutrients, as it fantastically nutritious.
Tempeh - Made from Soybeans & a yeast starter; Tempeh isn't just a great protein option for Vegans. It undergoes controlled fermentation that make it a great source of probiotic bacteria.
4. Invest in a good Probiotic supplement
The beneficial bacteria—also called probiotics—in our gut (where most of our microbes live) are responsible for a variety of health-promoting functions, like regulating our immune system, balancing our blood sugar, helping us absorb nutrients, and even calming our emotions.
In the world of probiotic supplements, not all are created equal. Sometimes product labels aren’t entirely accurate, and in some cases, they are completely false. This is why it's so important to understand the nature of the supplements you are taking, and to ensure they are delivering the goodness you expect.
One of the most important and overlooked things to look for, is the probiotics 'survivability' – this is the ability for the probiotic bacteria specified on the label to make it not only from the manufacturer to the consumer, but also form your acidic mouth to your small or large intestines - ALIVE, so it can actually be effective.
If this beneficial bacteria can’t reach the intestines in large enough amounts, those supplements are simply ineffective.
It's important to do your research when looking for a probiotic that works for you. Look for companies that promote100% survivability rate like Silver Fern, which is a brand I use and trust.
5. Eat a diverse range of foods.
We're not told to 'eat the rainbow' just because it looks pretty on our plate. Eating a diverse range of foods, helps diversify the bacteria in our gut (our microbiome). The easiest way to do that is to aim on filling your plate with different colors from the rainbow. ie. carrots for orange, bell pepper & tomato for red, summer squash for yellow, eggplant & radish for purple, all the leafy greens, you get my drift?
Each of these foods contain different phytonutrients that nourish our gut ecology. Like all healthy ecosystems, richness of these species characterizes the microbiome in healthy individuals. On the flip side, a loss in species diversity (ie eating a small range of the same foods every day) is a common finding in several disease states. On any given day our Microbiomes are flooded with energy in the form of undigested and partially digested foods, it is the three or so pounds of bacteria living in our gut—mostly in the large intestine—that help us digest this food.
So to put it simply, eating a diverse range of food, will feed a diverse range of the good guys in your gut. In turn, you'll build a strong army of these 'good guys' to help break down your food and fight off bad bacteria, resulting in a stronger digestive system.
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