Get your good gut bugs flourishing for better health.
The microorganisms living in your gut is known as your gut flora. These millions of little gut bugs include bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Your gut community is like a big, multiracial, multicultural city. There are, for example, more than 1000 species of bacteria that call your gut their home. Some bacteria enhance your health (good bacteria) while others (bad bacteria) attribute to health problems.
There will always be good and bad inhabitants in your gut. If harmful bacteria grow exponentially, your gut flora will be out of balance and the effects of this can be far-reaching. Just like renting out a house, you’d like renters to take care of the property. Learn how to restore balance in your gut so that good gut bugs can help take care of your health.
How do I help beneficial bacteria grow?
Maintaining a healthy balance in your gut is like taking care of your lawn. Leaving a patch of grass to take care of itself will not yield the results you want – you won’t have short, lush, leafy green grass. Your gut microbe will also not naturally recover if it is out of balance.
How do I get my good gut bugs to flourish?
1. Eat foods rich in prebiotics, probiotics and polyphenols.
Prebiotics act like a fertilizer that helps good gut bacteria grow. Lots of plant-based foods like bananas, nuts, oats, garlic, and beans are rich in prebiotics.
Probiotics are living organisms consisting of bacteria and yeast. Taking probiotics will help diversify your gut flora. The more diverse your gut flora is, the healthier your gut will be. Fermented foods like yogurt, kombucha, kefir, and sauerkraut already contain helpful bacteria.
Polyphenols are compounds in certain plant-based foods. These compounds can’t be digested by the human body but when beneficial bacteria break them down it promotes the growth of these bacteria. Foods rich in polyphenols include almonds, onions, blueberries, and broccoli.
2. Double your fibre intake
Unlike horses, elephants, or cows, we can’t extract any nutrients from fibre, but certain beneficial bacteria can digest it, which helps them multiply. Nourish your good gut inhabitants with high-fibre foods like raspberries, artichokes, green peas, broccoli, chickpeas, and lentils.
3. Work out
Exercise directly influences your gut bacteria. And your bacteria in turn, improve your tissue metabolism, cardiorespiratory fitness, and insulin resistance. Researchers found that the best exercise to do is aerobic exercises like swimming, cycling, dancing, walking, rowing, and running.
4. Take supplements
Probiotic supplements are not the ultimate solution for gut health. Evidence does suggest, however, that supplements can boost the growth of helpful bacteria. It is especially beneficial to take a supplement if you are taking antibiotics as antibiotics not only kill bad bacteria but beneficial bacteria as well.
5. Destress
If your gut flora is unbalanced, it can affect your mood. Depression and anxiety can affect your gut flora, but the reverse is also possible – your gut flora can affect your mental health.
6. Get into nature
As mentioned above, stress levels can change your gut flora. A simple way to combat stress is simply by spending time outdoors. Studies have also shown that growing up in microbe-rich environments—such as on a farm—can protect children from chronic disease as they get older.
7. Ditch the western diet
The western diet consists of a severely limited amount of ingredients and is full of highly processed, sugar-rich foods that are low in fibre. Bad bacteria flourish on this diet and this can lead to inflammation.
If you want to increase the diversity of your gut flora, you need to eat a diverse range of foods. Many people believe that following the Mediterranean diet is best for your gut. It focuses on consuming a variety of vegetables, whole grains, and healthy proteins like beans and nuts. You can also eat plenty of fruits of all colours (opt for fibre-rich fruits like apples, blackberries, and raspberries).
Takeaway
An unhealthy gut has far-reaching health complications – from developing IBS to struggles with mental health. Nourish your good gut bugs by feeding them a variety of fruits and veggies that are high in fibre. Also, take care to increase your prebiotics, probiotics, and polyphenols intake. Destress by spending time in nature and trying to get some good exercise. Get those good gut bugs to thrive so that they can help you stay healthy.
