Best Foods for Gut Health
Health and Wellbeing
Your cart is empty.
SUBTOTAL
£0.00
Health and Wellbeing
What you eat directly impacts the bacteria in your gut, also known as the microbiome. Your gut plays a huge role in your health and wellbeing — not only does the good bacteria aid digestion, but it also keeps chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer away, reduces inflammation, keeps your brain healthy, staves off bad bacteria and maintains a healthy immune system. It’s very easy to transform your gut health by making changes in your diet. Here are the best foods which offer the biggest gut health benefits.
Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts, the most common ones being Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. As well as fighting off bad bacteria, probiotics are important as they maintain a healthy balance in your body so that the good bacteria can help your body digest food, create vitamins, break down and absorb medication and prevent bad bacteria from entering your gut.
Probiotic foods are made by adding microbes and allowing fermentation to take place. Some examples of probiotic foods include:
When shopping for probiotic foods, check the product labels for live, active cultures. Living microbes are important as they can join the living microbes which are already in your gut. Food containing Lactobacillus will usually be abbreviated as ‘L.’ on food labels, and those containing Bifidobacterium will have ‘B.’
Once you have these good bacteria in your gut, it’s important to keep them healthy and flourishing. Prebiotics are soluble fibres from plant-based foods that feed the probiotics and make your digestive system work better. Unlike probiotics, you won’t find prebiotics listed on food labels. This is because they’re present in label-less foods such as:
You can even combine probiotics and prebiotics into a single, gut-friendly meal. This is called synbiotic foods and delivers the benefits at once. Some examples include:
A diet rich in fibre or roughage can help with digestion and prevent constipation. Fibre is a type of carbohydrate found in plant-based foods and can be either soluble or insoluble. Soluble fibre dissolves in water and is broken down into a gel in the colon. Insoluble fibre doesn’t dissolve in water and remains intact as your food passes through the gastrointestinal tract. Both forms of fibre have health benefits and are needed for a healthy gut. Here are some examples of foods that are high in fibre:
Inflammation happens when your body sends out white blood cells and other compounds to protect you from infections and defend it against harmful agents like viruses and bacteria. However, sometimes inflammation can happen even when there isn’t a harmful agent. This is when inflammation is a bad thing and can cause a range of diseases like diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s, as well as gut issues like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
The good news is that there are plenty of anti-inflammatory foods that you can add to your diet to help cool down inflammation. These foods contain nutrients like vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids which all promote gut health. Some of the best anti-inflammatory foods include:
For a healthy gut, it’s important to have a varied diet and include different foods, especially those that are probiotics, prebiotics, high-fibre foods and anti-inflammatory foods. The more varied your diet is, the more your gut benefits from valuable nutrients.
It’s also important to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. Water is essential for fibre to work properly in your gut, and also keeps your digestive system in check. However, caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea and sodas can actually increase acid in the stomach, with fizzy drinks making you feel bloated. Instead, choose healthier drinks like herbal teas and skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.
Make sure to also cut down on fat for a healthy gut. Fatty foods like chips and burgers are difficult to digest, triggering your stomach to make more acid. These foods can cause stomach pain, heartburn and contractions in the colon for people with IBS. Opt for lean meat and fish and choose to grill instead of fry foods.
News
It’s no secret that herbs and spices are essential ingredients in Indian cuisine. If you love Indian food and want to learn to cook it at home, we have the...
Read MoreNews
PRIME hydration has been sweeping the UK in recent weeks and has been difficult to find on the shelves of mainstream UK supermarkets. The drink PRIME was created by Logan...
Read MoreMowgli Street Food By Nisha Katona Back in 2014, Nisha Katona made a huge career change, switching roles from barrister to restaurant owner. Her dream was to serve the sort...
Read MoreSeasonal Ideas
A DIY charcuterie board makes the perfect table centrepiece this Christmas. The great thing about it is that you can experiment and tailor it to your taste. There’s no right...
Read More