Every morning as part of my breakfast routine I eat a big spoon of sauerkraut straight out of the jar.
I hate sauerkruat..
So why in the world do I do it? Like most things in life you don’t want to do; because it is so good for you! Sauerkraut is an easy source of a fermented foods which are amazingly good for your gut health!
So why is gut health so important?
There has been a lot of talk about gut biome, probiotics, antibiotics and gut health lately. Here is what you need to know.
The gut microbiome’ is all of the microbes in your intestines, and they play a crucial role in your health (the more we learn, the more important they become). There is a range of different bacteria and microbes in your gut, that maintain a healthy balance and contribute to important functions all around your body. When there is an imbalance of healthy and unhealthy microbes this can cause health problems.
The gut biome can influence:
- the immune system and how it responds to infection
- brain health and the central nervous system. The stomach has so many nerve endings it is referred to as the ‘second brain’
- it helps control blood sugar and reduce the risk of diabetes
- helps affect heart health
Based on the list above you can see the wide impact it has, implying the far reaching benefit of gut health.
Twins and weight gain?!
Studies have shown that there is a big difference in gut biome health between identical twins, thus pointing to the fact that this is not controlled genetically, but environmentally through a multitude of difference factors.
Amazingly in one study, when the microbiome from an obese twin was transferred to mice, they gained more weight those that had the microbiome of the lean twin, despite eating the same diet. This shows you the power of having a healthy gut biome and how it may play a role in helping some people to lose weight.
Healthy Gut, Healthier you: Here’s how in 5 steps
- Eat a wide range of foods, especially high fibre ones: This helps promote a diverse microbiome, which is an indicator of good gut health. In particular, legumes, beans and fruit contain lots of fiber can promote the growth of healthy bacteria.
- Eat fermented foods: Fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut and kefir all contain healthy bacteria.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible: Some studies have shown that aspartame canincrease blood sugar by promoting the growth of bad bacteria like Enterobacteriaceae in the gut microbiome
- Eat prebiotic foods: Prebiotics are a type of fiber that are essential to the growth of healthy bacteria. Prebiotic rich foods include artichokes, bananas, asparagus, oats and apples.
- Take a probiotic supplement: choose a high quality probiotic with as many Strains as possible (the more strains the better)
Action Step:
Eating a wide variety of healthy, high fibre and fermented foods promote essential gut health. Supplementing this with a high quality, high strain probiotic can have wide spread and important health benefits!!
Fulfilling our mission of improving lives through health and fitness means more than just typical chiropractic care. We want to encourage an active and healthy lifestyle to make you feel better and live better!
Ask us a non-chiropractic related question at your next appointment!!!