Best Foods for Your Gut Health
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the best ways to improve gut health is to improve our diets. Whether you’re suffering from digestive issues or just want…
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the best ways to improve gut health is to improve our diets. Whether you’re suffering from digestive issues or just want to continue to clean up your diet, here’s a brief guide of what to eat — and what to avoid — to keep your gut nourished and healthy.
What to Eat
- Cruciferous veggies: Veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and bok choy are rich in antioxidants, phytochemicals, and fibre. Along with helping your gut health, they’ve been linked to lowered cancer risk and decreased inflammation throughout your body.
- Leafy greens: How many times have we written about our love of kale? We can’t keep track, for good reason — we could spend days talking about the benefits of greens like kale, which, along with other leafy greens like collards and chard, contains an abundance of necessary vitamins and minerals, like folate. These veggies can support heart health, help maintain a healthy weight, and boast anti-ageing properties.
- Happy carbs: We call carbs like sweet potatoes and butternut squash “happy” because they provide necessary carbohydrates without spiking your blood sugar or containing high levels of lectins, which can harm your gut lining and are found in foods like corn, beans, and other potatoes, which should be eaten in moderation. Instead, these happy alternatives release the carbs slowly, which is easier on your body
- Fermented foods: Foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, and kombucha are rich with probiotics, which help boost your levels of good bacteria.
- Prebiotic foods: Some foods contain prebiotics, or what good bacteria need to eat in order to stay healthy and plentiful. Asparagus, bananas, onions, dandelion greens, and chickpeas are all good sources of prebiotics.
What to Keep in Mind
Remember that what works for one body might not work for another: you might find certain foods more irritating, even if they’re commonly considered to be fine for you, or certain foods in moderation might not bother you at all. One of the best things to do is to listen to your gut, and make sure that no matter what you’re eating, your plate is a diverse mix of proteins, healthy fats, vitamins, and lots and lots of veggies.
What to Avoid
- Gluten: Gluten’s gotten a bad rap over the past few years, but it may be one that it deserves. It can very irritating on your gut even if you don’t have celiac disease, allowing food particles and bacteria to pass through the intestinal lining and into your bloodstream, causing inflammation throughout your body.
- Alcohol: We love a drink at the end of the week as much as the next person, but alcohol can overstimulate your intestines, cause inflammation, and harm your gut health. If you’re going to drink, enjoy it in moderation, and try to stick with clear liquors that aren’t derived from gluten or dry red wines.
- Sugar: This is the big one. We’re talking all sweeteners, from cane sugar to “healthy” alternatives like coconut sugar to xylitol. Sugar-free sweeteners can cause gas, bloating, and other digestive issues, while sugar is one of the biggest culprits behind inflammation and can contribute to the growth of yeast within your gut, causing a Candida overgrowth.
At Soulara, we believe healthy eating should be nutritious, delicious, and easy. That’s why we’ve developed pre-packaged meals designed to keep your gut happy and you feeling your best.
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