Baldwin County Residents Learn The Best Foods To Eat For A Leaky Gut

Poor gut health can lead to health problems all over your body. If you have a leaky gut then there are certain foods you should eat to help your gut heal and certain foods you should avoid. Following these guidelines will help you get on track to living a healthier, happier life!

Incorporate Probiotic Foods Into Your Diet

Probiotic foods are loaded with the beneficial bacteria your gut needs. Including probiotic foods in your daily diet also increases your gut biodiversity. Having a diverse gut microbiota reduces inflammation in your gut and restores balance. 

Some good probiotic foods include:

• Kefir
• Yogurt
• Sauerkraut
• A few kinds of cheese
• Sourdough bread ( avoid if you are gluten sensitive! )
• Other fermented foods

There are also good probiotic supplements out there that you can take daily.

Other Foods that Are Good for Your Gut

Once you have a good diversity of beneficial gut bacteria, it’s important to feed them a variety of foods. Just like other living things, your gut bacteria need good nutrition to thrive. The fuel for your probiotics come from what’s called prebiotics. Prebiotics are found in plant fibers.

Vegetables

Vegetables are full of fiber and other nutrients your body needs to heal. One of the best vegetables to eat regularly is lightly steamed broccoli. It’s full of anti-inflammatory ingredients. Some other good vegetables include cabbage, carrots, zucchini, eggplant, and dark, leafy greens.

Healthy Fats

Foods high in healthy fats also have anti-inflammatory properties. Foods such as avocado and salmon are full of healthy, lean fats that promote overall body health. Nuts are also another great source of healthy fats and have lots of fiber. Walnuts are loaded with phytonutrients and have anti-inflammatory properties.

Fruit 

Fruit is another good source of prebiotic fiber. They are loaded with vitamins and minerals and berries, such as blueberries, are full of antioxidants. Other good fruits include grapes, papayas, mangoes, oranges, and strawberries.

Foods to Avoid

While you’re eating lots of good food to promote gut health, it’s important to remove foods from your diet that cause inflammation. These foods will hinder gut healing and can make your leaky gut even worse. When eating fermented foods, avoid those that use a sugar base to achieve fermentation.

Refined Sugar

Consuming refined sugar increases candida overgrowth. Sugar also causes overgrowth of harmful bacteria. A diet high in refined sugar has been shown to increase inflammation and reduce gut biodiversity.

Replace Vegetable Oil with Healthy Oils

Vegetable oil is not only bad for your heart health, but it also leads to inflammation in the gut. Stay away from any type of fried food. Instead, cook your own food in small amounts of healthy oils such as olive oil or coconut oil. Coconut oil is preferred when cooking at at elevated temperatures, as the higher temperatures may change olive oil from a “good fat” to a “bad fat”. But extra virgin olive oil is great for salads!

Simple Carbohydrates

Removing gluten altogether from the diet is essential when trying to heal your gut. Whether or not you do that is up to you, but this may be the key to success or failure in healing your gut. However, you should at least start by avoiding refined carbohydrates such as white flour. Simple carbohydrates are easily converted to sugar which promotes harmful bacteria growth. Remember, eating two slices of whole wheat toast raises blood sugar levels one hour after eating as much as drinking a can of Pepsi or Coke.

Processed Foods

Processed foods, especially processed meats, not only come with a higher risk of heart disease and cancer, they also reduce gut biodiversity. The added preservatives also lead to inflammation all over the body. So be smart and avoid them.

Artificial Sweeteners

One of the worst things for your gut health is artificial sweetener. Many people remove refined sugar and replace it with artificial sugars with the false idea that it’s better for them. However, these artificial sweeteners wreak havoc on your beneficial gut bacteria. Instead, if you need to use a sweetener, use Stevia and go for a Stevia that is clear of any additives . 

The Gut Authority Can Help with Leaky Gut

The team here at the Gut Authority can provide individualized counseling to help restore your gut health. We’ll run tests to see what’s causing your issue and then provide the support to help you make the diet and lifestyle changes to help your body heal itself. Give us a call today so we can schedule your first appointment!