How to Keep Your Gut Biome Healthy

Your biome is all of the healthy bacteria in and on your body. Healthy bacteria lives on your skin, in your nose, and in the gut. Your gut biome is of particular importance. That is because your digestive system is your first line of defense of your immune system. A healthy gut means a healthier immune system. There are up to 1000 species of bacteria in an individual‘s gut microbiome. Bacterial cells in the body outnumber human cells by around 10 trillion!! Keeping your gut biome healthy is of critical importance to your overall health and wellness. There are many ways to keep your gut biome healthy.

Eat the Rainbow
One way to keep your gut biome healthy is by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. The bacteria in your gut thrive off of different types of fruits and vegetables. Eating the rainbow helps to improve systemic inflammation, your gut health, your immune system, your skin, and even your vision! Eating the rainbow is one way to ensure that you are getting a variety of fruits and vegetables. Choosing between purple, red, orange, green, yellow, and white fruits and vegetables will help to ensure a healthier gut biome.Try finding these foods next time you go shopping: Purple: eggplant, grapes, purple cabbage
 Red: beets, strawberry, tomatoes
 orange: carrots, oranges, yams
 green: broccoli, spinach, green apples
 yellow: bananas, squash, yellow bell peppers
 white: onion, garlic, jicama

While on Phase 1 of Ideal Protein, all fruits and starchy vegetables are temporality eliminated. Be sure to choose your “rainbow” from the approved select and ocassional vegetables list. Once you are in Phase 2 and Phase 3, your selection is limitless! 

Fermented Foods

Another way to keep your gut biome healthy is by eating fermented foods. Fermented foods enhance the diversity of gut microbes. They also decrease signs of inflammation in your gut. Foods like yogurt, kimchi, kefir, kombucha, pickles, and sauerkraut are great sources of fermented foods.

While on Phase 1, feel free to choose kimchi, pickles, and sauerkraut as your fermented food choices. 

Pre-biotics

Pre-biotics are dietary fiber that will feed the friendly bacteria in your gut. Prebiotics should not be confused with probiotics. While probiotics are the live bacteria found in certain foods, prebiotics are what feed the probiotics, helping them to stay alive. Having a diet rich in these foods will help keep your digestive system healthy.

Pre-biotics foods:

Managing your stress is another way of keeping your gut biome healthy. Stress can create systemic inflammation in the body that can even have a negative effect in your gut. Managing stress through yoga, meditation, journaling, or exercise can help keep your gut healthy. Stress reduction is also an important part of weight loss.

Sugar and Processed Foods

Processed food and sugar are known to have a negative effect on the gut biome. An unhealthy amount of processed foods and refined sugar can create systemic inflammation in the body. This inflammation can also occur in the gut, which will weaken it. This can then lead to elimination of the beneficial bacteria in your gut. Unfortunately this imbalance can increase your cravings for sugar which will further damage the gut, creating a pathological loop.

Many of us don’t realize we have a gut biome and don’t even really pay attention to our gut health until we have symptoms. Symptoms of bloating, stomach aches, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, and diarrhea are common signs and symptoms that your gut flora may be off. Try incorporating some healthier foods into your diet and managing your stress to see if you can combat these issues. You may also want to consider supplementing with a good probiotic and prebiotic.