Gut Health Diet Plan: Improve Digestion & Boost Your Microbiome

How Diet Affects Gut Health

The food you ingest influences the entire world of activities inside of you, including digestion, absorption of nutrients, and upkeep of a healthy gut. But the foods you consume do not just support your body - they also feed the trillions of microbes living in your intestines, known as the gut microbiome.

What Is the Gut Microbiome?

The human gastrointestinal tract harbours a diverse group of microorganisms, consisting of bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and other microbes, known as the gut microbiota. These microbes that influence every aspect of health and disease, including their genes, are known as the gut microbiome.

What does this diverse group of microbes residing in your gut do? Intestinal bacteria play a crucial role in carrying out these major functions:

• Improve digestion and absorption of nutrients from food by producing enzymes to break down complex food molecules.
• Strengthens the immune system by training immune cells to recognise pathogens and fight them more effectively.
• Reduce gut inflammation and symptoms like bloating and constipation.
• It improves your mood and reduces mental health issues like anxiety and depression through the gut-brain axis.

How Certain Foods Improve Gut Health

Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments.” – Bethenny Frankel, American TV personality and philanthropist.

Ever wondered why some foods are good for your gut and some are not? A gut-friendly diet stands apart from unhealthy choices in the following ways:

• A healthy diet feeds the beneficial gut bacteria. Certain foods contain prebiotics, which are special non-digestible fibres that act as a food source for probiotics (beneficial gut bacteria).
• An anti-inflammatory diet promotes the healing of gut inflammation and consequently alleviates issues of bloating, abdominal pain, and changes in bowel habits.
• A high-fibre diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds can support digestion, maintain the balance of the gut microbiome, promote healthy bowel movements, and reduce food cravings by keeping you feeling full for longer.

Best Diet Plan for Gut Health: What to Eat and What to Avoid

A good diet plan will give you nutrition, sustain your overall health, and align with your health goals. A well-structured diet plan should include gut-friendly foods that support digestion and exclude those that can disrupt the gut microbiome and cause gut issues. 

If you’re on the lookout for the perfect diet plan for good gut health, then this list of foods to eat and avoid will surely help you out.

1. Probiotic-Rich Foods (Healthy Gut Bacteria)

Probiotics are live microbes that support gut health when ingested. How do they help? Probiotics increase the diversity of beneficial bacteria in your gut and prevent the overgrowth of harmful microbes.

Probiotic foods you can include in your diet are:

• Yoghurt with live or active cultures.
• Kefir (a fermented milk drink rich in probiotics).
• Sauerkraut (a raw cabbage dish fermented by lactic acid bacteria).
• Kimchi (a dish prepared using salted and fermented veggies, especially cabbage and radish).
• Miso (a thick, fermented traditional Japanese seasoning).
• Tempeh (a fermented soybean product in a cake form).
• Kombucha (fermented black tea drink).

Tip: 

When you buy fermented foods for probiotic benefits, always select those that are naturally fermented, contain live cultures, and are unpasteurized.

2. Prebiotic Foods (Fuel for Gut Bacteria)

You’ve already heard about probiotics – beneficial bacteria for your gut. But what do these good microbes feed on to thrive? Prebiotics are special fibres found in certain foods that cannot be digested and serve as a food source for all the beneficial gut bacteria.

Some of the foods that contain prebiotics are:

• Garlic
• Onions
• Leeks
• Asparagus
• Mushroom
• Seaweed
• Bananas (especially green bananas)
• Apples
• Chickpeas, lentils, and soybeans
• Flax seeds and chia seeds

Tip:

A balanced and diverse gut microbiome can support good gut health. Include prebiotics in your daily diet to help beneficial gut bacteria thrive.

3. Fibre-rich foods for Digestion

Fibre is essential for gut health; it regulates the process of digestion, supports the friendly bacteria in the gut, and helps avoid problems such as constipation. 

Some examples of fibre-rich foods include:

• Whole grains like brown rice, oats, quinoa, and whole wheat.
• Legumes like lentils, kidney beans, and chickpeas.
• Fruits like almonds, pears, and avocados.
• Green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli, and brussels sprouts.
• Nuts and seeds like almonds, cashews, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds.

Note:

Be sure to introduce fibre-rich foods to your diet gradually so as not to create digestive symptoms of bloating and gas. When consuming fibre-rich foods, it is also wise to drink a lot of water to prevent constipation and help the digestion process in general.

4. Anti-inflammatory foods for Gut Healing

When the gut lining has been inflamed for a long time, it can result in discomfort in the digestive system, resulting in poor nutrient absorption and an increased risk of having autoimmune diseases. Including anti-inflammatory foods in your diet may reduce inflammation and soothe your gut. The best foods that fight inflammation are:

• Berries like strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.
• Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, tuna, and sardines.
• Herbs and spices like ginger, black pepper, and turmeric (contains curcumin, an anti-inflammatory compound).
• Green tea.
• Leafy green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, kale, and collards.
• Citrus fruits like oranges and lemons.

Tip:

An easy method to incorporate anti-inflammatory foods into your diet would be to add turmeric and ginger to meals or teas, as they have significant effects in decreasing inflammation in the gut.

5. Hydrating & Detoxifying Foods

Water is essential for all bodily functions, including the digestion of food and the elimination of waste.

The best foods that can hydrate your body include:

• Melons such as watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe,
• Vegetables like celery, cucumber, asparagus, and bell peppers.
• Herbal teas are made from herbs like peppermint, chamomile, and ginger.
• Fruits like berries, oranges, peaches, and pineapples.
• Bone broth (can support hydration along with tissue repair).

Tip: 

Want to keep your gut functioning optimally? Make sure you drink at least eight glasses of water or other low-calorie drinks daily.

6. Foods to Avoid for a Healthy Gut

Unhealthy and harmful food choices can lead to long-term gut health issues. These types of foods either disturb the gut microbiome by inducing inflammation or slow down digestion and, in general, metabolism. 

Here are some of the worst foods for gut health, and you might want to avoid them:

• Excessively sweet foods like candies, sugary drinks, and pastries.
• Processed foods like chips, fast food, frozen meals, and processed meats.
• Foods that contain artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin.
• High-fat foods like deep-fried and baked foods.
• Refined grain products like white pasta and white bread.
• Excessive intake of alcohol, caffeine, and carbonated drinks.
• Dairy products like milk, cheese, and yoghurt if you are lactose intolerant.

Tip:

Though occasional indulgence in these foods is okay, avoid using them regularly to maintain the balance of your gut microbiome.

Sample Gut Health Diet Plan

Want to follow a gut-healthy diet but struggling to get started? Well, it’s easier than you think. The experts at Nirva are here to guide you with personalised diet plans tailored to your health needs. Here’s a sample plan to get you started.

Meal Food Choices

• Breakfast: Oatmeal with flax seeds, yoghurt, and berries.
• Snack: A handful of almonds and a green tea are used to wash it down.
• Lunch: Grilled salmon with quinoa and steamed asparagus.
• Snack: A ripe banana along with kombucha.
• Dinner: Stir-fried tofu with brown rice and kimchi.

Tip:

A combination of probiotics, prebiotics, and fibre-rich foods consumed daily is the fuel to a thriving gut.

Additional Tips for Gut Health

As important as food is, your lifestyle matters, too. Here are some additional tips to help get your gut health back on track.

• Did you know that the process of digestion starts in the mouth? Careful chewing and slow eating are best. Do not eat too much or too fast, for it would only cause digestive problems, such as gas, bloating, or pain in the abdominal area.
• Be sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Water improves digestion and allows for the smooth elimination of waste products from the body.
• Be active and avoid a sedentary lifestyle. Movement will ease gut motility, improve digestion, and nourish a healthy gut microbiome.
• Chronic stress can alter the composition of gut bacteria, which can be countered by stress management techniques such as yoga, meditation, or breathing techniques.
• Sleep well. Disturbed or insufficient sleep can interfere with gut microbiome activities and consequently affect digestive processes.
• Avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotics, which may kill off good gut microbes along with the bad ones.
• Maintain regular meal times for healthy digestion.

Wrapping Up

A gut health diet plan needs to be planned well according to your specific health needs and concerns. Consulting a healthcare professional can help you tailor a gut health diet that supports digestion, nourishes your microbiome, and addresses any specific gut-related issues or symptoms you face.

A gut-friendly diet, when combined with proper hydration, sleep, stress management, physical exercise, and mindful eating habits, can transform your health and unlock a vibrant and energised version of yourself!