The Roughage Stuff

If you really want to boost the population of good-for-you bugs in your digestive tract, it’s not only important to eat probiotic foods, but also items rich in fibre. Once consumed, non-digestible types of fibre are used as an energy source for the helpful bacteria in your gut, thereby increasing their numbers. You can load up on fibre by eating a variety of legumes, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine discovered that people who ate more than 30 types of plant-based foods per week had a greater diversity of gut microbiota than those who ate 10 or fewer types of plant foods in any given week. On the flip side, recent research suggests that a meat-heavy diet that favours bacon over beans can raise numbers of less-desirable bacteria.

“A recent study found that consuming probiotics can help shield athletes from developing upper respiratory tract infections.”