Prebiotics & A Healthy Gut

Your Micro-biome

Scientists and health professionals have done a lot of research on the connection between your guts, brain, and overall health in the past decade. They have found that your gut and its micro-biome (the bacteria that live in there) have a big effect on your emotions, and your overall well-being.

The ecosystem that resides in your guts influences how your food is broken down, what chemicals are available for your body to uptake, and what proportion/quantity of both enter your system.

Think of your gut as a long tube that starts at your mouth and ends at your rectum. The inside of this tube (the hollow part) is not technically a part of you, it is a long space that goes right through you. All around this tube are bacteria and microorganisms that make up your gut biome. Think of it as a farm with plants and animals growing and interacting. If you have a farm that is 100% pigs, it’s gonna be a stinky farm.

The same thing goes for any farm with very little diversity. If a farm is entirely all corn then the farmer is going to be very focused on just corn. If a corn disease comes along, he will suffer greatly because all he has is corn and could be impacted greatly versus if he could offset his losses with other crops.

Is Your Gut Diverse?

Our guts are not different. A healthy gut has a healthy mix of organisms which all specialize in breaking down different things. People who primarily eat meat have a microbiome that is composed of mostly “meat eating” bacteria, people who are vegan have almost the opposite gut biome. If a vegan eats meat after not having any for a long period of time, they can get pretty ill from digestive issues, because they lack the bacteria that would make breaking it down easier.

Having a diverse biome in your gut also helps fend off sickness or invasion of bad bacteria. If a nasty bacteria tries to move into the neighborhood but there isn’t much room to frolic around it will have a harder time getting established and causing problems.

What Are You Feeding Your Gut?

With all of this in mind it is important to feed your gut good foods that help promote a healthy balance of bacteria. That is where prebiotics come in! Prebiotics are essentially foods that you eat which promote a healthy composition of gut bacteria. Some examples are whole grains, fruits, vegetables, or mushrooms. Think of prebiotics as the fertilizer or hay that you would use to grow crops or livestock on a farm. The better the quality of food you feed your farm the healthier and more resilient it will be… and the better you will feel.

Keep in mind that prebiotics are considered foods and dietary supplements that help to feed our gut bacteria and promote a happy gut ecosystem where probiotics are foods and supplements that have microorganisms and bacteria in them and are supposed to help change our gut biome. I promote prebiotics over probiotics because it is difficult for probiotic bacteria to survive the environment of the stomach during digestion and any bacteria that do survive and decide to set up camp in your guts have the potential to disrupt your health and cause digestion issues and discomfort. Due to these factors, I am a bigger fan of prebiotic foods.

People who only eat processed food end up having a gut biome that is made up of not very great bacteria which can digest the not so great food. Imagine watering your crops with soda and expecting to get healthy robust returns, it is unlikely to happen. If you feed your gut biome a variety of healthy foods with healthy fiber they will thrive. Your energy levels will improve and your immune system will strengthen.

Here are some top prebiotic foods that I recommend:

Fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut
Garlic and onions
Kombucha
Nuts
Kefir and yogurt
Seaweed
Asparagus
Wheat Bran
Jicama Root or Yacon Root
Flaxseeds
Miso
Cocoa
Sweet Potatoes or Konjac Root
Apples and Bananas
Oats
Barley
Greens, kale, chard or dandelion greens

As you can see, eating healthy fruits and vegetables that contain some dietary fiber promotes a healthy gut and can really improve your overall health and brain health. Look for my blog on the gut-brain axis because our guts can influence our brains in many cool ways.

Prebiotics And A Healthy Gut