Do you suffer from symptoms such as gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea? If so, it’s important to understand that these gut problems are NOT normal. They are your body’s immune system telling you that it needs help! Today, I’ll talk about how you can support your body through working to support your immune system and stop it from fighting the food you are eating.
We all know, a healthy gut is essential for overall well-being, and it relies on more than just a balanced diet. Our immune system plays a key role in protecting the gut, acting as a shield to keep harmful bacteria out while maintaining a healthy gut lining. Special immune cells constantly patrol the digestive tract and the food you eat, ensuring that good bacteria thrive and bad bacteria are kept in check. At the same time, the immune system carefully controls inflammation, preventing it from getting out of hand and disrupting the balance of healthy bacteria. Achieving this balance is crucial for a well-functioning gut and, by extension, a healthy body.
The human microbiome, the team of good bacteria cells that work hard to keep your immune system strong by maintaining a healthy balance throughout your body. Your microbiome begins forming at birth and builds as you interact with the world around you. In fact, you have more bacterial cells in your body than you do human cells … 10 times more!
Here are five ways to strengthen your microbiome an improve how you feel, how you look, and strengthen your immune system against disease:
Eating primarily grass-fed meats, wild-caught salmon, pasture raised eggs, berries, fruits, vegetables and nuts/seeds is very important. It’s these eight foods that create vitality beyond your imagination. It’s amazing how much better my clients feel after a single week of avoiding processed food. Your body is strong, wants to maintain health, and will respond to these healthy-nutrient dense foods. When you eat this way, it’s called an anti-inflammatory diet – when your immune system can stop fighting the food you are eating on a daily basis, you start to feel amazing well.
Fermented foods – think beyond yogurt – such as sauerkraut, kefir and kimchi contain probiotic bacteria that enhance the healthy bacteria in our gut. It’s these probiotics that help feed the bacteria, digest our food better, absorb more nutrients, and get rid of toxins. Fermented foods are a powerhouse when it comes to improving healthy gut function.
Prebiotics (also known as fiber) are food ingredients that are not digested by your gut. Eating these fermentable food products will improve your microbiome. Feeding the healthy bacteria in the microbiome is one of the many roles a diet high in fiber does for the body. A few foods rich in prebiotic fiber are onions, leeks, chicory roots, green bananas, apples, beans, legumes, garlic, asparagus, oats and cabbage.
Although oral antibiotics can kill potentially pathogenic bacteria, they can also kill off a wide range of beneficial microbes in the body. They can permanently change the protective flora in the gut, affect your digestion, and increase inflammation in your body. Discuss alternatives to antibiotics with your doctor, and develop a plan together that works for you.
Fran Sutherlin, RD, MS is a local registered dietitian, digestive health coach, speaker, and owner of Sustainable Nutrition. She can be reached at 444-2122 or fran@fransutherlin.com.
