Gut health has become a hot topic in recent years, and for good reason.
Over the past few decades, new research has found links between gut health and the immune system, mood and mental health, and suggested it may play a role in autoimmune disease, skin disease, and even cancer. In other words, you can prevent and solve a number of physical and mental problems by simply taking care of your microbiome.
Studies show that gut health is one of the most important regulators of the general condition of the body, including weight, skin condition, susceptibility to allergies, hormonal levels.
Some foods support a healthy, balanced microbiome, while others contribute to imbalances associated with gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, as well as other chronic conditions such as obesity, asthma, colitis, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. .
Heed the following tips for protecting your gut.
Eat a variety of plant-based foods
Your grocery cart should include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds (flax, pumpkin, sesame).
The joy of those who eat plant foods every week, the population of intestinal bacteria is wider.
Plants are rich in fiber. It nourishes our intestines and increases the number of good microbes. If the microbes are well fed, they will multiply, which improves the health of our gut. gastrointestinal tract, creating a barrier and stopping the migration of harmful bacteria. And plants contain a variety of nutrients, prebiotics, and polyphenols, resulting in a more diverse gut composition.
You need both prebiotics and probiotics
Eating probiotics is one of the best ways to rebalance your gut. Probiotics have powerful antimicrobial activity, they improve the function of the intestinal wall and have a positive effect on the immune cells of the gastrointestinal tract.
The best way to get probiotics is to eat a variety of foods rich in these beneficial bacteria, such as yogurt, kefir and fermented vegetables.
Consume them several times a day and from different sources for maximum benefit. But if you're not getting enough probiotics through food alone, nutritionists recommend looking for high-quality probiotic supplements. Check with your doctor.
Dry yogurt or supplement should contain two of the most clinically studied types of beneficial bacteria, bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. The strains used have one of the best survival rates in the gastrointestinal tract.
Experts say you should also prioritize probiotics in addition to probiotics prebiotics. These indigestible fibers feed the beneficial bacteria in the gut.
The microbiome ferments prebiotics into short chain fatty acids. Short-chain fatty acids have powerful anti-inflammatory effects and strengthen the intestinal barrier to prevent pathogens from entering the bloodstream.
The best food sources of prebiotics are avocados, garlic, onions, leeks, and root vegetables.
Avoid processed foods
Processed foods such as sugar-added cereals, cookies, and chips usually contain little to no fiber, especially when they are made with refined flours rather than whole grains.
Fiber, on the other hand, helps keep the bowel moving and clean. Regular stools shorten the amount of time waste remains in the colon. People who suffer from chronic constipation have higher levels of methane-producing bacteria in their intestines. Methane not only slows down the digestive tract, but it can also migrate from the large intestine to the small intestine and cause a condition known as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), which in severe cases can lead to malabsorption and micronutrient deficiencies.
SIBO provokes bloating and/or increased gas formation, abdominal pain (often against the background of increased gas formation) — usually localized in the umbilical region, a feeling of «transfusion» or rumbling in the abdomen, weight loss, deficiency of micro-, macronutrients and vitamins.