Ten Foods That Help Make Your Gut Healthy

If you can incorporate these 10 foods into your diet, it should help you significantly with symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea.

1. Jerusalem artichoke:

Jerusalem artichokes are sweet-tasting tubers from the sunflower family. You can roast, fried, or grate Jerusalem artichokes.

Jerusalem artichokes contain a lot of inulin, a type of prebiotic sugar.

The prebiotics in Jerusalem artichokes will travel right through to the colon and feed the beneficial bacteria. Some clients with low levels of lactobacillus and bifidobacteria experience big increases after eating Jerusalem artichoke for several months.

You only need one or two small pieces of Jerusalem artichoke per day to increase the beneficial bacteria. If you’ve got a very sensitive digestive tract, don’t go crazy on Jerusalem artichokes because you could end up with a very upset stomach.

2. Bananas:

Be careful with bananas on the Candida diet. Plantain bananas (sometimes also called green bananas) are okay if you have Candida, particularly if they’re cooked in coconut milk, which adds even more antifungal capacity.

There are a lot of compounds in bananas that build good health and reduce inflammation. Bananas contain prebiotics that help increase beneficial bacteria.

Make sure you eat bananas when they are not to brown and not too green. A banana a day is a fantastic way to build excellent colonic health.

3. Garlic

Garlic is both a prebiotic and an antimicrobial. Garlic helps to clean up unwanted bacteria and yeast in the gut. Garlic also helps boost beneficial bacteria.

A 2013 study published in Food Science and Human Wellness found that garlic boosted the creation of many good gut microbes. Research shows that garlic prevents many gastrointestinal diseases.

Garlic is good, but make sure you purchase garlic that’s organic and locally grown. Don’t buy garlic imported from Asia where’s it’s been irradiated and potentially contains heavy metals.

4. Butter

Butter may seem like an unlikely candidate in this list of healthy foods, but butter contains some excellent fats. The good lipids in butter can help establish good hormonal health. Butter contains butyric acid, a fatty acid that contributes to colonic health. Clarified butter, or Ghee, is even healthier than regular butter. Ghee has been linked to reduced inflammation.

Make sure the butter you eat is organic and from grass-fed cows.

5. Cruciferous vegetables

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale contain glucosinolates, a compound that helps break down toxins in the body. The sulfur-containing metabolites found in cruciferous vegetables are broken down by microbes into substances that reduce inflammation and the risk of certain cancers.

Cruciferous vegetables can also help build up the levels of beneficial bacteria like lactobacillus. I suggest having cruciferous vegetables daily.

6. Berries

Berries contain many different compounds that have positive health benefits. Some of the compounds in berries reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. Berry pigments such as anthocyanins are antioxidants. Berries have different types of fiber that have a positive effect on beneficial gut bacteria.

7. Beans

All kinds of beans can improve your gut health. The fiber in legumes helps strengthen intestinal cells and intestinal walls. Legumes can also help with constipation and bloating.

Beans encourage proper weight loss because they leave you feeling full. You get protein when you eat beans while benefiting the beneficial bacteria in your gut. Legumes contain B vitamins and folate, which play a powerful role in regulating gut function.

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8. Fermented foods

I recommend eating fermented foods, particularly the plant-based ones, miso and tempeh. Tempeh is basically tofu that has inoculated with bacteria leading to fermentation.

Fermented foods are very powerful in terms of inoculating your gut with good bacteria and allowing the proliferation of beneficial bugs.

In addition to miso and tempeh, you could consider sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, kimchi, or the Greek drink, kumis.

Be careful with fermented foods if you have a weak digestive system or are early on in recovery from a gut problem. You can end up feeling very sick if you incorporate fermented foods into your diet too quickly.

9. Seaweed

Many studies demonstrate the positive effect of seaweed on beneficial bacteria in the gut. A study of Japanese women found that high seaweed intake increases many different strains of good bacteria. Another study suggested that alginate, a substance in brown seaweed, can strengthen the gut mucous membrane, slow down digestion, and improve constipation.

Seaweeds contain an abundance of minerals and a massive amount of fiber.

10. Apples

Green apples are particularly good because they contain so many substances that build health. A 2014 study published in Food Chemistry found green apples boost good gut bacteria.

Apples also contain malic acid, which is helpful to people with fatigue. Take some magnesium supplements and have one or two green apples a day. It does wonders for energy, sleep, and metabolism. Apples are also great for weight management.

You will get a noticeable benefit from adding these 10 foods into your diet. I would call these ten foods some of the best for your gut. There are other strong contenders like avocado, but these ten still have impressive benefits.

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