Gut Health, Part 1

Let's jump right into the topic the heading indicated: Gut health!

The "gut" as it's so succinctly named refers to the digestive tract (the stomach and intestines) and its inhabitants: bacteria. In all of us, there is a mix of good and bad bacteria and the ratio between them is a good indicator of someone's health. Feeding good bacteria the foods they want such as probiotic rich foods, prebiotic foods, and foods high in fiber, ensures that they will keep providing benefits for your body.

What's the difference between those probiotics, prebiotics, and fiber?

Probiotics bring more bacteria to the party. These are fermented foods with active cultures: plain yogurt (no-sugar added varieties), plain kefir, kombucha, water kefir, miso, kimchi, lacto-fermented vegetables, and sauerkraut (the stuff in the refrigerated section, not shelf-stable wine sauerkraut). When looking at these, make sure to read the label searching for "active cultures." By varying the types of fermented foods you eat, you create a more diverse microbiome (the official term for the bacteria party), making it easier for your colony to bounce back under distress if some populations die off. If you aren't used to a fermented food, I recommend adding it into your diet very slowly to avoid sudden trips to the washroom.

Fiber is any non-digestible carbohydrate found in plant foods such as legumes, grains, produce, nuts, and seeds. The average person needs to eat 25-38* grams of fiber a day. Fiber helps with satiety, keeping things moving along, and the slow release of energy to keep your blood sugar stable.

Prebiotics are a special type of fiber that our gut bacteria can eat, keeping them healthy and happy. These are found in onion, leeks, wheat, garlic, oats, artichoke, unripe banana, beans, and cooked then cooled potato (potatoes have a special type of resistant starch that becomes indigestible by us when it is cooked then cooled, but our bacteria love it).

*What does 25-38 grams of fiber look like in a day?
Apple: 4.5 grams
2 slices of "Squirelly Bread": 10 grams
2 tbsp. of peanut butter: 3 grams
1 carrot: 2 grams
1 cup of broccoli: 2.5 grams
1 banana: 2.5 grams
1 cup of cooked quinoa: 3.5 grams

That's 28 grams. That all could be eaten by the time you finish lunch, let alone the rest of your day. By choosing whole foods (especially foods made with whole grains and legumes), getting in the fiber you need in a day can be effortless. However, *disclaimer,* if you aren't used to eating a whole lot of fiber in a day, add it in slooowly. Especially whole grains and legumes. Do eat them, please, but introduce only a little every day because it will take time for your gut bacteria to adjust and to grow in order to help break down the fiber for you.

Those three things, probiotics, prebiotics, and fiber, are great for increasing your little happy colony of bacteria. Things that hurt your little friends are sugar, stress, antibiotics, and environmental toxins (such as all the cleaners and hand sanitizers we're now using-- which is why I think this is the perfect time to turn our attention to helping these little guys thrive).

In order to keep this post from turning into a novel, I'm going to save the reasons why we need to care about our gut microbiome until next week. Keep your eyes opened for it!