Your gut microbiome is made up of all the micro-organisms (bacteria) that live in your digestive tract. There are likely 10 times more bacterial cells in your body than there are human cells! In other words, we are mostly bacteria (not human!). A majority of these bacterial cells live in your digestive tract. There are hundreds of different types of bacteria in the gut and each person’s microbiota (aka bacteria) makeup is unique.

What do the bacteria in the gut do?

The bacteria in your gut protect the digestive tract from damage and help keep the gut lining healthy; support the immune system and help maintain immune system balance; protect against allergy development; make vitamins (such as vitamin K and B vitamins); inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria that can cause health issues; they help the body make neurochemicals such as serotonin and GABA that impact our moods; and they modulate and control inflammation throughout the body.

They key is to promote a healthy microbiome is with food.

While probiotic supplements are helpful and replace health beneficial bacteria quickly (I use these a lot with good results). The effects of probiotic supplements are only temporary. In other words, you only benefit from the probiotics while you are taking the supplement. Once you stop the supplement, your gut bacteria go back to the way they were. For permanent change, you need to grow your own beneficial bacteria, and this is done through diet and lifestyle

A healthy gut is one in which there is a diverse amount of bacteria in the gut (lots of different kinds of bacteria) and low levels of pathogenic bacteria (disease causing bacteria). Having plenty of “good” bacteria is key to keeping the “bad” bacteria in check.  Here are some things you can do to nourish your microbiome.

How to promote a healthy gut microbiome:

• Eat a wide diversity of multi-colored, whole plant foods and plant fibers. Plant food diversity = microbiota diversity.
• Get your hands dirty! Do lots of organic gardening or live on a farm!
• Eat more raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
• Exercise moderately – too much or too little can be a problem.
• Manage stress.
• Get adequate sleep.
• Avoid medications known to negatively impact the microbiome – proton pump inhibitors (for acid reflux), antibiotics and NSAIDs such as Advil and Tylenol.

Foods that feed a healthy and diverse microbiome:

The goal is to eat 30 different plant based foods every week (or 5 different plant foods per day)! The healthiest microbiome is the one with the greatest diversity. To achieve a diverse microbiome, eat a diverse diet!  Choose vegetables you’ve never tried before. These foods increase levels of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria, and Akkermansia:

• Fermented veggies – 3-4 TBSP sauerkraut, pickles, or kimchi. Always buy fermented veggies in the fridge section.
• Eat at least 30 grams of fiber/day (or 10 grams/meal) in the form of:
  • Legumes/lentils
  • Avocados – 1/2 avocado= 5 grams fiber
  • Kiwis- 2 kiwis= 4 grams fiber
  • Cruciferous vegetables – broccoli, kale, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, cabbage
  • Foods rich in prebiotic fibers (FOS and GOS)
    • FOS – Jerusalem artichokes, tubers, burdock root, chicory root, dandelion root, garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, artichokes.
    • GOS – Legumes (beans, lentils, peas), cruciferous vegetables, beets, rye sourdough, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
  • Nuts and seeds – especially chia seeds! 2 TBSP chia seeds = 10 grams fiber.
  • Whole grains – oats, oat bran, buckwheat, brown rice, black rice, wild rice, quinoa and millet
• Eat resistant starches. Resistant starches “resist” digestion and act like fiber, this means that they are not fully absorbed into the body and so have a lower effect on raising your blood sugar. 
  • Cook, cool, and reheat potatoes and other root veggies.
  • Cook, cool, and reheat rice.
  • Cook, cool, and reheat black beans, red lentils and other beans- let cool and then reheat.
  • Unripe bananas
• Eat polyphenol rich foods – THINK COLOR!
  • • • • Dark cocoa powder
        • Green tea
        • Fruits – blueberries, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, pomegranates, and kiwi (particularly high in fiber!)
        • Vegetables – Purple/red/orange carrots, purple/red potatoes, red cabbage, spinach, red onions, red lettuce, broccoli, beets
        • Grains: rice (brown, red, black), red quinoa, sourdough rye bread
        • Black olives & olive oil
• Eat foods to increase short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs are by-products produced by bacteria in your gut that affect how we digest food, improved blood sugar control, and reduce inflammation. To increase SCFAs, eat the following:
  • Fiber: whole grains, legumes (black beans, adzuki beans, lentils, chick peas/hummus)
  • Prebiotics: resistant starch, psyllium husk fiber

For patients with a lot of digestive symptoms, we often run a comprehensive stool panel (to get a thorough picture of what kind of bacteria are living in the gut) and/or a breath test (to rule out SIBO). Everyone’s balance of gut bacteria is different and thus tolerance to the above foods will vary. Not everyone has SIBO, parasites, and/or candida. But when you do, it sucks!! Testing helps tailor the diet recommendations specific to the individual person. Consider seeing a naturopathic doctor to help you with this aspect.

Editor’s Note: The information in this article is intended for your educational use only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health practitioners with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and before undertaking any diet, supplement, fitness, or other health program.