Heal Your Body Through Food: Expert Advice on Gut Health and More
Last Updated on July 4, 2024 by Brenda
Are you feeling sluggish or bloated? These could be signs that the foods you are eating are not providing you the fuel or nutrients you need. During an informative discussion with Dr. Tina Guerrero on the Health IQ Podcast our discussion on Foods that Heal our body quickly turned to how to heal your gut. If your gut is working well, then the nutrients you are eating can be better utilized by our body.
Start by making sure you are eating quality lean protein including fish, chicken, beans, and whole grains. Avoid as much processed food as you can. Choose foods that you can eat in their most whole and natural state. Avoid sugary drinks and refined carbohydrates like white bread and pastries.
Focus your diet on fresh fruits and vegetables, wild-caught game and fish, pasture-raised meats, and a variety of whole grains. Fruits and vegetables provide enzymes which is important for digestion. Make sure to get a variety, consider eating all of the colors of the rainbow in order to get all of the different enzymes. Fermented foods are especially important, but some yogurts or pickles are considered more processed, read the label.
You gut also need probiotics and prebiotics. Probiotics are live bacteria that can help replenish the good bacteria in your gut. This bacteria along with enzymes digest the food you eat, so the nutrients can be used by your body. You can find probiotics in fermented foods that have not been canned This bacteria like buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut, or you can take them in supplement form. Cottage cheese with live cultures also contain probiotics.
Prebiotics are foods that have nutrients that help heal our gut. Remember the old adage an Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. It is probably not the vitamin C, but the soluble fiber and pectin that are doing the work. Other common foods with prebiotics include garlic, onions, bananas, oats, barley, asparagus, Jicama, and avocado.
Beans and legumes are great sources of protein and have the added benefits of having fiber to help our gut work better. Some are not considered complete proteins, so be sure to add a grain to your meal to include all the amino acids that make a complete protein.
Be sure to hydrate your body with plenty of water each day and limit exposure to environmental toxins and chemicals like pesticides and cleaning products. Don’t forget to chew your food well as chewing starts the digestive process.
Remember, a healthy gut is a happy gut, and a happy gut is a key to a healthier you!
