Pamper Your Gut Bacteria: 9 Foods Your Microbiota Loves

Taking care of your gut bacteria (microbe) means taking care of your overall health. To pamper your gut bacteria and improve the flora, the easiest way is, by far, through your diet.

Here are nine nutritional actions that help keep your gut healthy by feeding good bacteria and inhibiting the growth of harmful microbes:

– Diversify!

• A very diverse diet, especially when it comes to foods of plant origin, ensures maximum diversification of the intestinal microflora. Increase your consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits to improve your fiber intake, and favor variety, in order to ensure bacterial diversity.

• Green leafy vegetables contain a specific type of sugar that feeds good gut bacteria, helping to fend off more harmful microbes. This sugar, sulfoquinophose (SQ) is produced in plants by photosynthesis. Some of the microbes in your gut specialize in fermenting soluble fiber from fruits and vegetables, and the byproducts of this fermentation help nourish the cells that line the colon, preventing health problems associated with IBS. The main by-products of fermentation are short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, propionate, and acetate. These short-chain fatty acids help fuel and reset the immune system, which helps prevent inflammatory disorders such as asthma and Crohn’s disease. They also increase the number of specialized immune cells called regulatory T cells, which help prevent autoimmune responses.

• Consume traditionally fermented foods such as fermented vegetables, yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and kombucha. The fermentation process results in foods that are naturally high in beneficial live bacteria, and are simple and inexpensive to prepare at home.

• Eat foods rich in prebiotics such as the resistant starches found in green bananas, papayas, and mangoes, as well as seeds and products such as potato starch, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, and shirataki noodles.

• Consider taking a fiber supplement. Eating 25 to 50 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories consumed is a healthy goal. If you’re struggling to get enough fiber through your diet, consider taking a supplement of organic psyllium seeds, flaxseeds, hemp, or chia seed husks.

• Avoid artificial sweeteners. Research shows that aspartame causes an overgrowth of disease-causing bacteria in your gut, such as Clostridium and Enterobacter.

• Eat foods rich in polyphenols. Like prebiotics, polyphenols help nourish the good bacteria in the gut. Raw cacao (dark chocolate), grape skins, matcha green tea, onions, blueberries and broccoli are good sources.

• Take a good quality probiotic supplement. Look for a supplement that meets the following conditions to ensure quality and efficacy: The bacteria strains in the product must be able to survive the acid in your stomach and bile, so that enough bacteria reach your gut alive. Strains of bacteria should have a beneficial effect on health. The activity of probiotics must be ensured throughout the manufacturing process, storage period and shelf life of the product.

• Breastfeed your baby for at least six months to improve their microbiota. Breast milk contains oligosaccharides (complex chains of simple sugars), and their main function is to nourish your baby’s intestinal flora. Commercial infant formula does not contain it.