Eat Your Way to Good Gut Health
THE DIVERSITY of microbiota decreases as we age. Preliminary research indicates that increasing the diversity could reduce the inflammation associated with age and perk up the natural decline in immunity. “It’s called precision, personalized medicine,” says Dr. Dana Philpott, citing the future likelihood of taking the genetic map of a person and overlaying their microbiome to find the way cure a disease.
We do know right now that bac- terial diversity is important to overall health. Antibiotics can wipe out the gut bacteria and damage the cells lining the gut. Here are steps we can take to bring back or maintain gut microbiota diversity.
Foods that contain nutrients (prebiotics) that feed them (probiotics) can reestablish microbiota. The more food, or prebiotics, that probiotics have to eat, the more efficiently these live bacteria work and the healthier your gut will be. Examples of foods that con- tain prebiotics include onions, leeks, raw asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, raw garlic, chicory root, raw dandelion greens, underripe bananas.
Eat a rich and diverse diet high in dietary fibre such as found in pulses, whole grains and vegetables. (It’s the fibre that feeds anti-inflammatory bacteria, says Philpott.)
Include fats and proteins in your diet as microbes rely on them. Animal fats should be consumed in their natur-
al state, by leaving visible fat on the meat and the fatty skin on the poultry. They also say saturated fats are the best ones to use for cooking such as duck fat, lard, butter and ghee. For vegetarians, they recommend coconut oil. Good proteins include seafoods, almost all meats, eggs, poultry and vegetable-based proteins such as beans, pulses and nuts. Avoid all smoked and processed meats and foods and all dairy foods except butter.
Add fermented foods to your diet such as sauerkraut and kimchi. (During the fermentation process, some secrete proteins and large polymer molecules that act as antioxidants, prevent adhesion of intestinal pathogens, enhance immune responses, or improve blood lipids. But research gaps remain and these benefits need to be confirmed.)
Supplements of bacteria (probiotics) can help. You’ll need to experiment, however, to find which work the best for you. These supplements are not well regulated at the moment and the vast majority do not colonize the gut but pass through it (though they do provide a short-term benefit). The Clinical Guide to Probiotic Supplements avail- able in Canada: 2016 edition is available online at www.probioticchart.ca
Try to lose weight if you are overweight, but don’t use any artificial sweeteners. Research studies indicate that artificial sweeteners can cause weight gain and have been found to affect the gut bacteria and worsen the body’s ability to properly metabolize glucose. Grayshott does not permit them at all.
Exercise: as well as being good for many other reasons, it modifies the microbiome. —MS