The average healthy gut will have more than 50 trillion organisms and over 1000 different species! <\/em><\/p>– Source: Dr Michael Mosley, Clever Guts Diet (2017)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n So what can you do to improve your gut health and microbiome? Well a lot of it unsurprisingly is down to what we eat. Many people nowadays eat a lot of processed foods with little variety and much of the nutrition taken out of them in the process of making them. We have gone to a more \u2018beige\u2019 diet of unhealthy, highly processed foods topped off with a selection of high sugar snacks and drinks. It may sound slightly strange but changing to a more colourful diet can make you much more healthy, (we must point out colourful sweets don\u2019t count!), having more variation in the vegetables you eat will help you get all of the different nutrients you need for a healthy diet. Simply eating more colourful foods may sound a bit simplistic but it\u2019s an easy way to get an idea about how healthy your diet is. For example, greens such as lettuce, chard and kale are a great source of minerals such as magnesium, manganese and potassium; while yellow, red and orange fruit and vegetables usually contain carotenoids (choose carrots, tomatoes, peppers). <\/p>\n\n\n\n To eat more healthily in an effort to improve your gut health, first there is the Prebiotic side, and also the Probiotics. You may have heard of these two terms but perhaps not known they are different. We\u2019ll start with the prebiotics<\/strong> side, this the food you eat which will support the \u2018good\u2019 bacteria in your gut and help them thrive and make you more healthy. Eating oily fish helps increase the levels of bacteria associated with butyrate which plays a key role in maintaining gut health. Not all fish falls into this \u2018oily fish\u2019 category, the key ingredient is omega 3, white fish such as cod don\u2019t contain much omega 3 fatty acids so don\u2019t provide anything like the same benefits (although still a good source of protein). Some examples of oily fish would be sardines<\/a>, salmon<\/a> and mackerel<\/a>. If you don\u2019t eat fish you can find omega 3 in walnuts<\/a>, flaxseeds<\/a> and hemp oil<\/a> (although the levels of omega 3 are less than in oily fish). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yep, that\u2019s what you find in chocolate! Although sadly this doesn\u2019t mean you can now gorge on chocolate to improve your health. The reason chocolate can be so appealing and addictive is because it has the perfect \u201850:50\u2019 ratio (which you\u2019ll also find in ice cream and doughnuts) – the ratio of the calories within it, half of them being from sugar and half from fat. This is the same ratio as the first food we ever consume, breast milk, so we are perhaps wired to respond to this. If you think you think of foods which are high in sugar, but zero fat such as melon, or the other way around with steak, being high in fat but low in sugar, these don\u2019t have the same moreish appeal as something like chocolate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is through you can try dark chocolate, this is much less moreish and usually high in cocoa<\/a>. Whilst chocolate may not be good for you it is not the cocoa which is bad for you, but the excessive sugar levels, so try to pick chocolate with a high cocoa content and less sugar. Cocoa<\/a> is broken down in the gut to produce nitric oxide which expands arteries and good for cardiovascular system. Cocoa also contains flavonoids and polyohenols which are good for gut bacteria. Try a high quality source such as Aduna Super Cacao<\/a> which has 8x the usual flavanol content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Extra virgin olive oil<\/a> is a fantastic addition to add a bit of flavour to your food but it is also one of the healthiest fats you can consume as it\u2019s high in polyphenols and antioxidants which are good in dampening down inflammation, particularly in the gut. Also if you eat this, you are less likely to crave processed fat and sugar later on in the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To elaborate more on the recommendation to eat more colourful food and show how it really is the colours that matter here are a few which will help your gut health: Turmeric<\/a> is a spice which can easily be added to a variety of foods, you\u2019ll probably think of making a curry with it but it is great to sprinkle on vegetables before cooking or adding to salad dressing. Turmeric contains curcumin which inhibits the growth of bad bacteria, parasites and pathogenic fungi and also protects the wall of the intestine. Many middle eastern recipes contain turmeric if you need some inspiration!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inulin<\/a> is one of the most effective prebiotics which can\u2019t be digested but encourages the growth of good bacteria and turns this prebiotic fibre into chemicals like butyrate. Inulin is available as a powder<\/a> if you want to easily add it to your diet but you\u2019ll also find it in onions, garlic, asparagus and leeks as well as dandelion greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fibre is hugely important in our diet and essential to keep the good bacteria well fed. <\/strong>Fibre is difficult for your body to digest which is where your gut bacteria come in. It also has the bonus of making you feel fuller. You\u2019ll find fibre in fruits, but don\u2019t think this means you can just drink a fruit juice to get your fibre, you\u2019ll need to eat the fruit to get that (unless of course you make a smoothie from the whole fruit), good sources of fibre are fruits like apples, vegetables such as carrots and sweetcorn, peas pulses and beans. Other useful sources are: Whilst prebiotics act to help the existing bacteria in your gut thrive, probiotics<\/strong> will actually add good bacteria to your gut and hopefully they will stay and do you some good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yoghurt<\/a> is one of the best probiotic sources around. Homemade fresh yoghurt is much nicer than shop bought yoghurt and is much richer in bacteria like lactobacillus. You can add whatever you like on top of your yoghurt to add a bit of taste or add some flaxseeds<\/a> or nuts to give you some extra health benefit. A great breakfast which helps to keep you full, yoghurts with live cultures have been shown to help conditions such as antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (good to eat if you have been on a course of antibiotics to re-establish your microbiome and ensure it comes back healthy), IBS and constipation. There are a number of kits available, such as Easiyo<\/a>, to make it even easier (and more cost effective!) to make your own yoghurt at home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The benefits from cheese can vary greatly, most processed cheese will contain virtually no bacteria, so it\u2019s important to look for live and active cultures on the labels. A lot of good bacteria can be found in mozzarella, cheddar, cottage cheese, feta and blue cheeses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fermented foods have been created by microbes converting sugars into other compounds. Fermented foods have become popular in recent years as they contain high levels of good bacteria. Examples of fermented foods are wine, cheese, yoghurt as already mentioned but also things like sauerkraut<\/a>, kefir<\/a>, kimchi and apple cider vinegar<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a number of foods and drinks available now that have been created to help you build up your good bacteria such as Captain Kombucha drinks<\/a>, each bottle fermented with their own probiotic culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make it easier to get the cultures you need there are plenty of supplement capsules available to do just that:How to help<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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There are a huge number of different foods which can benefit your microbiome, these are just a few: <\/p>\n\n\n\nOily Fish<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Cocoa<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Olive Oil<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Colourful fruit and vegetables<\/strong>!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Greens<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>\u2013 leafy greens such as lettuce, kale and spinach \u2013 These are a great source of minerals such as magnesium, manganese and potassium.
Blue and purple<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>\u2013 Blackberries, red cabbage, blueberries and aubergines – These foods get their colouring from a flavonoid called anthocyanins, eating a good level of these flavonoids can encourage the growth of good bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and lactobacillus.
Yellow, red and orange<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>\u2013 Carrots, tomatoes<\/a>, bananas, peppers and squash \u2013 These are rich in carotenoids which can be converted to retinol, an active form of Vitamin A.
White<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>\u2013 onions, garlic, shallots and leeks \u2013 These are rich in allyl sulphur compounds and appear to be quite effective at killing the bad microbes in your gut.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nTurmeric <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Inulin<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Good Sources of Fibre <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Barley<\/a><\/em> – a great prebiotic as it contains lots of beta-glucan which promotes the growth of good bacteria. Oats<\/a> also contain large amounts of beta-glucan, try to get less processed oats to get the most from it.
Flaxseeds<\/a><\/em> are a good source of omega 3 and is also rich in insoluble fibre which can feed your microbiome.
Finally s<\/a><\/em><\/strong>eaweed<\/a><\/em> is full of fibre, can help reduce inflammation and can help promote bacteria which produce fatty acids like butyrate to encourage the growth of mucous lining. <\/p>\n\n\n\nProbiotics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Yoghurt<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Cheese<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Fermented Foods<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Fermented Drinks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a>Probiotic Capsules <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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