Improving Gut Health: A Path to Wellness

by Ashley Keating August 6, 2024

Improving Gut Health: A Path to Wellness

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You have probably heard about the importance of gut health.

Our gut health is essential for everything from digestion and nutrient absorption to immune function and overall well-being. "Gut health" refers to everything in our digestive tract, including the microorganisms' function and balance.

Gut health has emerged as a cornerstone of overall well-being. It helps with everything from our immune system to mental health. Research consistently points to a healthy gut to help prevent getting sick, improve overall digestion, and even boost our mood.

So, we know what Gut health is, but how do we improve it? What foods or principles are most important? How do probiotics fit in? Read on for more!

The Importance of Gut Health

Our Gut is often referred to as our "second brain." It's home to trillions of bacteria, known as the "gut microbiome."

These organisms play a huge role in our ability to digest food, absorb nutrients from our food, and protect against harmful germs.

Did you know that about 70% of our immune cells live in our Gut? It's true! That means a healthy and balanced gut microbiome is essential for maintaining a supercharged immune system, which means getting less sick often.

On the other hand, an imbalanced or unhealthy gut microbiome can lead to various health issues. Some of these include things you might expect, like digestive distress and weakened immunity.

However, new research indicates that it might also contribute to mental health challenges like anxiety and depression through the gut-brain axis!

You can see why a healthy gut is essential for overall health and disease prevention.

How to Maintain a Healthy Gut: Food

So, how should we go about improving or sustaining a healthy gut?

Whole, unprocessed foods rich in fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats are essential for a healthy gut. The Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes these principles and more, is a powerful tool in your hands to look after the health of your Gut.

But whether you adopt a Mediterranean Diet or not, these foods can help support your Gut:

1. Fiber-Rich Foods: Fiber promotes regular bowel movements and prevents constipation. Fiber-rich foods create a happy, healthy environment for gut bacteria to thrive. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes are foods to focus on. These foods are high in dietary fiber and are superstars for gut health. The Mediterranean diet is primarily plant-based and encourages us to base our meals around these foods.

2. Healthy Fats: Healthy fats support gut health by reducing inflammation and promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria. In the Mediterranean diet, olive oil is emphasized. It's rich in monounsaturated fats and has anti-inflammatory properties. Other healthy fats include avocado, fatty fish, seeds, and nuts.

3. Fermented Foods (rich in probiotics) can further enhance gut health. Foods like yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, and pickles contain naturally-occurring probiotics. Probiotics are live bacteria that help maintain a healthy balance in the gut microbiome, offering a reassuring boost to your gut health. You can also take probiotics as a supplement—more on that below!

4. Prebiotic foods: Prebiotic foods are beneficial because they contain non-digestible fibers that serve as food for the beneficial bacteria in your Gut. These foods can also decrease inflammation and support the growth of good, beneficial bacteria. Examples of prebiotic foods include garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, and bananas.

See below for meal ideas that can help support a healthy gut!

What to Avoid for Gut Health?

As you consider increasing your intake of gut-healthy foods like vegetables, consider reducing your intake of the top five offenders. These foods and lifestyle factors can harm your gut health, so it's essential to be cautious and aware of potential pitfalls.

1. High Sugar and Processed Foods: Diets high in refined sugars and processed foods can promote the growth of harmful bacteria and yeast in the Gut. The Mediterranean Diet and most healthy diets encourage us to limit our intake of too much sugar and too many processed foods.

2. Low Fiber Intake: Fiber is essential for feeding beneficial gut bacteria. Diets low in fiber can reduce bacterial diversity and the production of beneficial short-chain fatty acids. Eat more beans, veggies, and fruits!

3. High-fat Diets: Excessive consumption of unhealthy fats, especially trans fats found in processed foods, can lead to inflammation, negatively affecting gut bacteria. Consider making your dairy low-fat, choosing lower-fat cuts of meat, and reducing processed foods.

4. Artificial Sweeteners/ Sugar Substitutes: Some studies suggest that artificial sweeteners may negatively affect the gut microbiota and metabolic health. If you need an occasional sweet treat, add natural sweetness, like fruit or honey.

5. Food Additives like Emulsifiers and Preservatives: Certain food additives, such as emulsifiers, have been shown to disrupt gut bacteria and contribute to inflammation. This is another excellent reason to make your food as much as possible!

Non-food Considerations:

1. Overuse of Antibiotics: Antibiotics are essential for treating bacterial infections, but they can also kill beneficial gut bacteria, leading to an imbalance in the gut microbiome. Overusing or misusing antibiotics can exacerbate this issue, so only use antibiotics when necessary.

2. Smoking: Smoking has been linked to reduced microbial diversity and harmful changes in the gut microbiome, as well as increased inflammation.

Gut-Healthy Meal Ideas

Here are some yummy meals, from breakfast to lunch and dinner, that can help keep your tastebuds and Gut healthy and happy! Mix and match these meals for a full day of supporting your best gut health.

1. Greek Yogurt with Berries and Nuts: Start your day with a bowl of plain Greek yogurt topped with fresh berries, a drizzle of honey, and a handful of nuts. This meal provides probiotics, fiber, and healthy fats, all beneficial for gut health. We recommend buying plain Greek yogurt to avoid the extra sugar, which can be bad for gut health.

2. Quinoa Salad: Combine cooked quinoa with chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Quinoa is an excellent source of fiber, and the vegetables add a variety of nutrients and polyphenols. Feel free to swap in whatever veggies and herbs sound good to you and top it with some probiotic-rich kimchi for added benefit.

3. Grilled Salmon with a Side of Sautéed Spinach and Garlic: Salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids with anti-inflammatory properties. Spinach and garlic are high in fiber and antioxidants, which promote a healthy gut.

4. Chickpea and Vegetable Stew: Sauté onions, garlic, and spices like cumin and paprika in olive oil. Add chopped vegetables (carrots, zucchini, bell peppers), canned chickpeas, and tomatoes. Simmer until vegetables are tender. This fiber-rich dish is hearty and supports gut health.

5. Olive Oil and Herb-Marinated Chicken: Marinate chicken breasts in olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. Grill or bake until cooked through. For a balanced, gut-friendly meal, serve with whole grain couscous and a mixed green salad. Serve with a side of pickles for an extra boost!

6. Whole Grain Toast with Avocado and Fermented Veggies: Spread mashed avocado on whole-grain toast and top with fermented vegetables like sauerkraut or kimchi. This simple meal combines fiber, healthy fats, and probiotics.

More Support for a Healthy Gut? Lifestyle!

Did you know food is not the only way to support a healthy gut? In addition, what you do outside of mealtime can improve your Gut, too! Regular physical activity (exercise), enough quality sleep, and good stress management are essential parts of a gut-friendly lifestyle.

1. Exercise: Regular exercise has been shown to increase the diversity of gut bacteria, which indicates a healthy gut. Exercise also promotes regular bowel movements and reduces inflammation, which is essential for overall and gut health.

2. Sleep: Quality sleep is crucial for health. Poor sleep can disrupt the gut microbiome and increase inflammation. So can sleeping too little each night. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night to support a healthy gut.

3. Stress Management: Chronic stress negatively impacts gut health by altering the microbiome and increasing inflammation. Meditation, deep breathing, and yoga can help manage stress levels and support gut health.

If reading the list of foods to eat and lifestyle changes to support a healthy gut has you feeling a little bit stressed, you aren't alone! Many of us do not get the recommended fiber, sleep, or exercise daily.

What else can we do to support our gut health as we try to adopt a healthier diet and lifestyle? A probiotic supplement could be helpful.

I've eaten a Mediterranean Diet for years, but becoming a mom helped convince me to add a probiotic to my routine. With newborns at first and then tons of early-morning activities with elementary-aged kids now, I do not always get enough sleep, and my stress management sometimes leaves something to be desired.

I love knowing that a probiotic can help bridge that gap between my actual lifestyle and my ideal one. The right probiotic made a massive difference in my overall quality of life. More on that in a minute.

Why Should You Consider a Probiotic?

If you struggle with getting enough sleep, fiber, prebiotics, or stress management, a probiotic may be a great supplement to add to your life.

Probiotics can provide essential health benefits that support robust gut health, immunity, mood support, and digestion support.

What to Consider When Selecting a Probiotic

Perhaps you have decided to try out a probiotic. You may feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of probiotics available today! How do you choose? Which one is the most effective? Which one is just a waste of money?

Here's my story. I first started using probiotics regularly after my first kid was born. I have been lactose intolerant for most of my life, had an annoying skin issue as an adult, and was sick a lot as my kids brought home germs from daycare and then school.

I tried many different brands and types: probiotics with varying numbers of strands per pill, refrigerated kinds, and shelf-stable ones. In ten years, I never felt much change.

I finally found spore-based probiotics. For the first time in a decade of using probiotics, I felt an actual difference!

Within the first month, I noticed that my skin had cleared up. Two months later, I seemed to be tolerating dairy more effectively (which was a massive win for me). Three months in, I realized I had not been sick, even though it was flu season. After a year, I was impressed to note that I had had 70% fewer colds than in previous years.

The joke in our family used to be that when anybody was sick, Mom was also ill. Now, my immune system is just working better. Even when people around me carry germs, my body seems better primed to fight off those germs.

A year and a half later, everyone in my family takes spore-based probiotics. The best ones I've found, that I personally use, are from Just Thrive. My youngest kids take their gummy probiotics.

What are Spore-Based Probiotics?

For probiotics to be effective, they must survive the stomach's acidic environment and reach the small intestine. Once they enter the intestine, they must stick to the gut lining and integrate into the microbiome.

Spore-based probiotics exist in spore form, which is resistant to harsh environmental conditions. This means they can survive stomach acid and reach the intestines, where they can germinate and become active, vegetative bacteria. This is where they start to work!

On the other hand, regular probiotics are typically already in their active, vegetative state. Because of this more delicate state, stomach acid can more easily destroy them.

I was shocked to learn that many probiotics on the market today are not resilient enough to survive stomach bile—meaning they die before they reach the intestines. No wonder I did not notice any differences.

Regular probiotics require careful handling, refrigeration, or specific formulations (like special coatings) to help them reach the intestines alive. How much they can work depends entirely on their ability to survive the stomach and inhabit the Gut.

Here's the reminder that with all things related to health, the benefits of specific supplements like spore-based probiotics can vary from person to person. Discuss new supplements with your provider!

This is my personal experience and what I have learned from research.

Here are a few articles that I found helpful:

UNT research shows benefits of spore-based probiotic supplements

NIH Survival of Spore-Based Probiotics

NIH Spore-Based Probiotics on Skin Health

Gut Health for the Win!

There's no denying how important a healthy gut is to overall wellness, immune support, good digestion, and much more.

Supporting gut health is crucial for overall well-being. Happily, the Mediterranean diet offers a comprehensive approach to achieving this. By incorporating fiber-rich foods, healthy fats, and polyphenols, along with adopting beneficial lifestyle changes, you can cultivate a healthy gut and enjoy the myriad of benefits that come with it.

Disclaimer: Before adding any supplement to your diet, it is important to discuss with your healthcare provider about your individual needs. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.