Gut Health Facts

Gut health goes beyond managing calories because it addresses the things that control our metabolic health and our metabolism. If you’ve been stuck in a rut with nutrition of all kinds and consistent exercise that seems to do nothing for your weight loss, gut health just might be exactly what is holding you back.

After filtering years of ultra processed food, sugar highs and probably dehydration, our guts become something like a clogged vessel. They become so inundated with foods and chemicals that they do not know how to process that they become inflamed. Starting a fire is a natural reaction to combat these consistent invaders if you think about it. It’s our bodies way of telling us to make a change! We are so out of tune with our bodies these days, however, that we let this low grade inflammation grow and grow until it’s an undeniable forest fire, most likely in the form of severe leaky gut or an autoimmune disorder. So, managing our gut health and caring for the ecosystem that trives in a healthy body is essential to weight loss as well as feeling good.

The microbiome is the foundation of our metabolism.

Our gut health is the first check in for food that we consume. A large majority of our microbial community lives in the gut and this is the first frontier that decides how you will process the calories you take in.* We want to make beneficial bacteria a main stay in our gut, and we want the less than supportive bacteria to reside in low, low concentrations. They are helpful in some ways, but not when they become an overgrown mess.

Diverse, whole foods offer a diverse and healthy microbiome. Ultra- processed foods create a playground for unhelpful microbes to grow and reproduce. Ultra processed refers to foods that have been created from ingredients that no longer really represent food. Creating olive oil from olives is processing, and that is a great processed food. Creating a candy like starburst from some foods, chemicals, and other stabilizers and fake flavors is ultra processed. The cheese you eat on a dorito, that is ultra processed.

Nutrition that is repetitive and basic also offers less opportunity for a diverse microbiome, so incorporating different whole foods on a weekly basis is smart and important.

For a healthy gut, we need plenty of prebiotics and we also need probiotics.

The gut health system that helped me overcome sugar cravings includes a drink with a prebiotic that helps specific beneficial microbes in the gut grow exponentially. The probiotic helps eliminate unhelpful microbes, and it also includes a magnesium based product to help get the body’s digestive system moving. This beautiful blend is an easy beginning when you have difficulty letting go of sugary and genearlly unealthy foods. Once you get started, it makes better food choices easier.

Making better food choices is key in the healing of the gut as well.

Adding more vegetables that offer fiber is essential. Adding in fruits like berries and apples, and especially blueberries is highly effective for recucing the growth of pathogenic bacteria populations in the gut. Per Shawn Stevenson in Eat Smarter, “A diverse array of nuts like walnuts, almonds, pistachios, brazil nuts and others also support microbiome diversity. (Side note: roasted nuts are a negative. Sorry. The high levels of heat and the oils they are prepared in will not support healthy microbes in your gut. Go for raw though you can deyhdrate them on your own, or roast them in your own oven! It’s the preparation of what you see in stores that creates the issue with how they are digested. This is true for many foods that we take in regularly!)

Stanford University also did a study revealing that healthy hunter gatherer tribes have been found to have microbiome shifts that are in sync with seasonal changes made to their diet. So it’s a great idea to eat foods that are in season for extra support in your gut health.

Fiber Is Key for Gut Health

I’ve been told in various settings before that fiber is a myth. It isn’t necessary for digestion. That is simply untrue if you understand the microbiome. Fiber is important, and here are the basics around why.

Soluble fiber combines easily with water in the gut. Some of the highest sources of soluble fiber include avocados, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, pears, nectarines, black beans, broccoli, apples, flaxseeds and carrots. When fiber meets water, it forms a gel-like substance that supports the integrity of your gut lining, supports gut bacteria, and can have major impacts on your metabolism. Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that every 10 gram increase in daily soluble fiber intake leads to an additional 37 % reduction oin visceral fat accumulation.*

Insoluble fiber does not readily combine with water. Insoluble fibers sweep through the gastrointestinal tract mostly intact while acting as a ‘bulking agent’.* Per the Journal of Nutrition, this insoluble fiber takes on the bulk of the load when it comes to modulating healthy blood glucose levels. This type of fiber also supports weight loss by influencing the mechanoreceptors in your gut that deactivate hunger hormones AND trigger satisfaction - or a full feeling.*

Last but not least, fiber helps remove metabolic waste from the body. Without that removal, the body is open to metabolic diseases.

What is most important about fiber with regards to our gut health, however, is that it will not matter one bit how many probiotics you take or how amazing they are if there is no food in your gut for them to ingest and grow. Fiber provides just this - a feasting ground for healthy probiotics that feed the helpful microbes in our bodies that create health. They create health by empowering the immune system and making you FEEL GOOD.

Chronic Inflammation

Now, if there’s a fire in your body due to inflammation, your microbiome is on the frontlines fighting the fire. Remember, the gut is the first interaction the food we eat has in our system. The journal of Translational Immunology affirms that over 70% of our entire immune system is located in the gut, so that puts our immune system front and center to fight any type of bacteria, protozoa, fungi, virus or other toxic substances.*

An inflammatory response in the gut is predicated by the immune system, so what you eat can inherently trigger inflammation. Too much inflammation will damage the gut and the entire balance of your microbiome. Some of our inflamed gut issues come directly from foods we are, or are not eating, and others come from living a chronically stressed out life.

Make a change

We’ve covered how whole foods vs processed foods affect the gut, how inflammation creeps in, and how and why fiber helps create a healthy gut. For more details on foods to ADD to your diet for a healthy gut, click here to read an article based on Dr. Amy Shah’s book, Why Am I So Effing Hungry? It’s an incredible resource for how to make effective changes to our gut health!

Making changes to the gut with food begins almost immediately, but it takes time for the results to translate into what you see in the mirror. Over time, you will see incredible differences from whole, fiber rich foods in the diet.

If you are someone who has a diminishing food list, however, you most likely have an overgrowth of inefficient microbes in your gut. The gut health system I share is invaluable when it comes to finding a solution to this issue. I’ve seen firsthand clients who have returned diversity to the gut with the right attitude, products and consistency. A balanced gut is a game changer when it comes to weight loss, energy levels, brain function and optimal digestion.

*Notes facts and studies shared from Eat Smarter by Shawn Stevenson, Nutritionist & Fitness Expert.