Healthy eating isn’t just about avoiding unhealthy foods – it’s also about eating the right things. And balancing our diets with nutrient-rich foods is key to creating a healthier lifestyle and promoting a healthier gut. While it may not be easy to completely overhaul your diet, there are small practices that you can do to get started. If you’re looking for quick and easy food swaps, this article is just what you need. Here’s a glance at gut health on the menu.
1. What is Gut Health and Why Should You Care?
Adding more gut-friendly food to your diet can offer a multitude of health benefits, from improving your digestion and reducing inflammation to boosting your immunity. It’s all thanks to how the gut’s microbiome works. But what is gut health, and why should you care?
Gut Microbiome: What You Should Know
Your gut contains thousands of microorganisms, otherwise known as bacteria or microbiome. It helps to break down and absorb food, and it also plays a role in your overall health. If your gut health is unbalanced, it can lead to digestive problems, fatigue, inflammation, and weakened immunity.
How to Improve Gut Health
Fortunately, there are some easy nutritional changes you can make to improve your gut health:
- Choose whole grain, fiber-rich foods like brown rice, oats, quinoa, and beans
- Add probiotics to your diet in the form of fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, and kimchi
- Opt for healthy oils, like olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil
- Snack on prebiotic-rich foods like bananas, onions, leeks, soybeans, and asparagus
By implementing these food swaps and regularly eating pre and probiotic-rich foods, you can help to rebalance your gut microbiome, reducing inflammation, increasing nutrient absorption, and improving your overall health and wellbeing.
2. Making Quick and Easy Food Swaps for Better Gut Health
Most people want to eat healthy, but it can be difficult to make better choices when you’re short on time. Fortunately, making simple food swaps can be an easy, quick way to improve your gut health—without feeling like you’re making a huge lifestyle change. Here are some easy ways to get started:
- Swap processed foods for homemade dishes: When possible, make your meals from scratch. This can help you ensure you’re getting more wholesome ingredients into your diet.
- Shop the perimeter of the grocery store: For the most nutritious foods, shop around the outside edges of the store (where you’ll find the produce, dairy, meat, and fish).
- Try probiotic-rich foods: To give your gut a healthy boost, add probiotic-rich foods to your diet such as yogurt, sauerkraut, and kombucha.
- Swap processed snacks for natural options: Avoid processed snacks like chips and candy and opt for more natural options like nuts, seeds, and fruit, which are packed with filling fiber and other nutrients.
As with any diet swap, start gradually. Make one small change at a time, and eventually, you’ll be on your way to better gut health!
3. Common Foods to Prioritize or Avoid for a Healthy Gut
Avoid:
- Processed and processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and lunch meats
- Refined grains like white flour, white pasta, and white bread
- Refined sweeteners like white or brown sugar
- Highly processed snacks like chips, crackers, and cookies
- Refined oils like canola, soybean, vegetable, and corn
Prioritize:
- High-fiber foods like legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and whole grains
- Yogurt and kefir that contain probiotics
- Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, and miso
- Unprocessed and less processed lean proteins like poultry, fish, eggs, and tofu
- Healthy fats like extra-virgin olive oil, avocados, and nuts
Prioritizing these foods whenever possible is key to getting your gut health on track. Switching from processed meats to unprocessed proteins like fish and eggs can help keep inflammation levels down, which is beneficial for overall health. Eating more whole foods and avoiding processed options can make a huge difference in your gut health as well. Adding probiotics and fermented foods to your diet regularly can help feed the good bacteria in your gut, improving digestion and your immune function.
Meanwhile, avoiding processed and refined foods can help reduce inflammation in your gut. There are a lot of extra chemicals and fillers in these foods that can be hard on your digestion, and opting for more natural options can make a big difference.
4. Nutrients Essential for a Healthy Microbiome
If you want to promote gut health through food swaps, then it’s important to understand which nutrients are essential for a healthy microbiome. The two main categories of these essential nutrients are carbohydrates and proteins. Here are the nutrients you should be looking out for:
Carbohydrates:
- Fiber
- Prebiotics
- Resistant starches
These are all important because they aid digestion and help nourish the bacteria in your gut, while keeping you full and promoting a healthy microbiome.
Proteins:
- Eggs
- Fish
- Nuts and seeds
Protein provides amino acids, which are essential for gut health and also help break down food for better digestion. Eating plenty of these protein sources can be an easy way to help support your microbiome.
5. The Benefits of Maintaining a Healthy Gut
Having a healthy gut is key for overall health. Here are five benefits you get when you keep your gut healthy with the right food swaps:
- Increased mental clarity and energy: When your digestive system is working well, the nutrients in food can be fully absorbed and used to fuel your body. This means more energy and focus throughout the day.
- Better nutrient absorption: A healthy gut microbiota helps your digestive system absorb micronutrients in food. This means you get more of the good stuff, like vitamins and minerals, out of the food you eat.
- Improved gut microbiome: Eating high-fiber foods and swapping out unhealthy refined sugar snacks helps to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in your gut. This helps to keep your gut chemistry balanced and regulate your digestion.
- Stronger immunity: Eating nutritious foods helps to build up your immune system. A healthy gut can help to fight off infection and protect you from illness.
- Healthier skin: Poor gut health can lead to skin issues like acne and inflammation. Eating a balanced diet helps to keep your body healthy and nourished, and will in turn reflect on your skin.
When you make the switch to healthier, gut-friendly food choices, you’ll soon start feeling the benefits! Being mindful of your gut health can be simple and delicious! You don’t have to compromise one bit in order to get a balanced diet. With these quick and easy food swaps, you now have the knowledge and the tools to make sure you’re giving your gut the best care possible.