The human gut. Many view it to be a messy place, slimy intestine walls and acids strong enough to maim steel. In reality, the gut is a curious place, teeming with life. It isn’t just a place for digesting food, but also a complex ecosystem with trillions of microorganisms. This small but vibrant community plays a larger role than you might think, earning itself the name, “the second brain” of the body. Learning to cultivate proper gut health can provide a number of benefits, while also preventing a host of problems.
What’s Gut Health?
The history of gut health dates back thousands of years. Ancient texts such as the Hippocratic Corpus and Ebers Papyrus noted the significant role of digestion in one’s health. Hippocrates saw the gut as being the site of where “all diseases begin.” However it wasn’t until in recent centuries that practical knowledge met modern science.
Scientists discovered the gut microbiome with the advent of new instruments. A massive collection of bacteria, fungi and viruses, all with roles in the maintenance of digestion, and surprisingly much more.
Benefits of Good Gut Health
Initial studies concerning gut health centered around digestion, and avoiding common issues like constipation, bloating and excessive gas. However, as time progresses, research revealed good gut health can mean a big difference in immunity, nutrient absorption, and even mood.
Good gut health often means improved immune health. Immune functions like eliminating harmful pathogens, maintaining immune homeostasis, and preventing autoimmune issues all are bolstered by a proper gut microbiome. The gut and immune system are in constant communication, whereby good bacteria produce signaling molecules for immune regulation, promoting immune tolerance and innate immunity.
Similar to the brain, the gut plays a surprisingly significant role in mood regulation. The gut-brain axis works to link the central nervous system(CNS), autonomic nervous system(ANS), gastrointestinal tract, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis. This communication means the brain can influence digestion, and the gut can influence mood, cognition, and mental health. Fueling the gut with good foods and supporting good bacteria can directly influence mental state.
Nutrient absorption is probably the most self explanatory function of the gut. Good gut health influences mineral absorption and enzyme production in the gastrointestinal tract. In practice, this can mean less risk of obesity, better nutrition and prevent metabolic disorders.
What You Should Avoid
The first step to a good gut microbiome isn’t to start adding arbitrary supplements into your routine. Rather, it involves the reduction in certain dietary choices which are likely hurting your gut health more than you think.
Processed Foods
The Western diet, an infamous collection of refined sugars, preservatives, and chemicals also found in your car lubricants. As tasty as some foods are, they are destroying your gut health, killing healthy bacteria in bulk. Infamous for causing diabetes, obesity and heart diseases, processed foods adds to its resume, “Gut Health Nuke.”
Processed foods work to promote bad bacteria, which work to hurt us more than help us. Bad bacteria are thought to cause inflammation, worsen mood, and even cause generational problems.
Alcohol
Daily intake of alcohol can mean serious harm for your gut. The buildup of alcohol metabolites can harm both the liver and gut, promoting inflammation and organ damage. In fact, bodily inflammation is considered to be promoted by inflammation in the gut. Bodily inflammation can lead to chronic liver disease, gastrointestinal cancer, and IBS.
Alcohol directly influences microbiota bacteria, the gastrointestinal barrier and immune function throughout the body. When having more than 2 drinks, standard bodily conversion processes are overloaded and gut microbiome begins to suffer. The good bacteria is killed or ineffective, while bad bacteria begins to overgrow, leading to increased inflammation and worsened communication with the immune system.
Stress
Gut health is also dependent on behavioral factors as well, like exercise, hydration and stress. Just as the gut is responsible for partly determining mood, mood can determine gut health. High levels of stress have been found to decrease the efficacy of beneficial bacteria, working against digestive processes.
Keep in mind however, just as stress can hurt your gut health, good gut health can help limit stress. This is best approached with diet.
Foods for Good Gut Health
So you may be asking, what should I be eating? This is an age old question, but in the case of gut health, the answer is surprisingly simple.
Prebiotics
These are compounds which act as food for the microflora in the gut. These are normally fiber rich plant fibers which are fermented in the colon. Given the fiber content and way prebiotics are digested, they often have benefits like satiation, blood sugar regulation, and cardiovascular support.
Some easy foods to implement in your diet rich in prebiotics are raspberries, leeks, beans, asparagus, garlic, bananas, watermelon and pears. These foods will aid your gut health and also happen to taste great.
Probiotics
Probiotics are live microorganisms in fermented food that directly increase healthy gut bacteria. They are helpful in treating digestive orders like IBS, constipation, diarrhea, and even skin conditions like eczema. Daily consumption of probiotics will also improve immune tolerance.
Some common probiotics are yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, and kombucha. Kefir particularly is a great option, as it is loaded not only with millions of microorganisms, and has an arguably better nutritional profile than yogurt, its dairy cousin. Seek out refrigerated products as heat kills bacteria.
Polyphenols
These beneficial plant metabolites show great promise in promoting one’s health. Polyphenols are known antioxidants, combatting oxidative stress and as a result, being anti-inflammatory, antibacterial(the bad kind), and immune supporters. In the gut, microbes catabolize polyphenols and release bioactive metabolites. In turn, they directly support healthy bacteria growth while preventing bad bacteria from forming and impacting digestion.
Good sources of polyphenols for digestion are raw honey, apples, dark chocolate, berries, tea, coffee, and nuts.
