Eating For a Healthy Gut

It makes sense that if you want a healthy gut, you should eat healthy… But where to start? There’s so much information out there and it can be overwhelming to sift through it all, let alone overhaul your entire diet…. Which is exactly why I’m making things simple for you! 

What Your Gut Wants to Eat

Your gut is so important to your health because it impacts everything from your digestion to your brain to your heart and even your mood. As you get older, it becomes even more important to focus on your everyday wellness routine – and that includes your diet and your gut health! Even if you’re not experiencing any symptoms of poor gut health, you’ll want it to stay in tip-top shape. 

A simple way to support your gut health is to feed it properly. All the bacteria in your gut need to eat to survive, just like you. The “good” bacteria love to nibble on insoluble fiber (prebiotics) that are tough enough to survive the trip through your stomach. The “bad” bacteria prefer the opposite: they thrive in a low-fiber environment filled with sugars, processed foods, many grains, additives, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and fillers.

What Happens When Bad Bacteria Thrive?

Experts theorize that when there’s not enough food for your good bacteria, they physically starve. This gives the bad bacteria a chance to get a foothold, which can cause some major problems. It all hinges on the lining of your gut.

The gut lining is a super important part of your immune system because it forms a barrier between the food you eat and the rest of your body. When the bad bacteria begin to take over, the lining becomes too permeable and toxins, bacteria, and even partially digested foods can “leak out” of your digestive system and make their way into your bloodstream.  

This is called leaky gut and can lead to inflammation and even trigger an immune system response. Over time, this can cause a whole host of problems like chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, auto-immune diseases, skin conditions, and more.

This is why I always talk about eating whole, “clean” foods; when your gut is happy, it makes the rest of your body happy.

Keep It Simple

There is no need to go and completely overhaul your fridge, pantry, and diet to start making healthy changes to feed your gut what it wants. Start small! Small wins always add up to bigger successes, so choose steps that are sustainable for you. Then, as you see improvements, I bet you’ll want to keep going. 

That means it’s time to feed those good bacteria with fiber by adding more vegetables, berries, whole grains, and/or nuts to your routine. If this is all new to you, then keep it simple with these food ideas:

• A salad with fresh veggies, cooked beans, and an olive oil and vinegar dressing.
• Raw veggies and hummus as a snack.
• Switch out white rice for quinoa, barley, or amaranth. 
• Add a handful of whole berries to your breakfast.
• Snack on a serving of nuts with an apple or pear with the skin on. 

When you focus on adding more fiber to your diet, you and your gut bacteria will feel better. With that comes more energy, which is essential! Because without energy, it’s much harder to accomplish your goals and live the life you want. 

Finding My Own Balance

We’re dealing with all of this in our household right now. My son has gradually been getting better on the gut healing protocol his doctor put him on in June. He also started his senior year in high school two weeks ago, and was even riding his bike again here and there. 

Then last week he started to regress again. It seems to be a two steps forward, one step back experience for him. We had all hoped that he would have a completely normal start to the school year where he was able to go each day and keep up on his schoolwork, but the reality is he’s missed several days already. 

With this being his last year of highschool, my son is feeling overwhelmed about it all. That means I’m stepping up to advocate for him, meet with his school counselor and others, and try to create a plan that will accommodate his health needs while still getting him to graduation day alongside his peers. 

I’d hoped to be putting in more time on getting a good start on my book, but right now I’m focusing on setting him up for success, while also doing what I can to take care of myself and reduce my own stress. It all comes full circle, because if I don’t take care of myself, I’m not able to have as much patience as I need to take care of him.

It’s all a balancing act and we all do the best we can. So, I’m making cooking healthy food a priority right now. My son needs it to heal his gut, and my husband and I also need to take good care of ourselves so that we can support him! 

REFERENCES:

• www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-leaky-gut-real
• www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/6/11/18652653/diet-weight-loss-ultra-processed-foods-microbiome?__c=1
• www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5872783/