Taking care of your intestinal bacteria (the microbiota) means taking care of your overall health. To pamper your intestinal bacteria and optimize your microbiota, the easiest way is, by far, through your diet.
Here are nine dietary measures that will help keep your gut healthy by feeding good bacteria and discouraging the growth of harmful microbes:
– Diversify!
- A very varied diet, especially when it comes to foods of plant origin, guarantees maximum diversification of intestinal bacteria. Increase your consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits to optimize your fiber intake, and favor variety, in order to ensure the diversification of bacteria.
- Leafy green vegetables contain a certain type of sugar that feeds the good gut bacteria, which helps ward off more harmful microbes. This sugar, sulfoquinovose (SQ) is produced in plants by photosynthesis. Some of the microbes in your gut specialize in fermenting soluble fiber from fruits and vegetables, and the byproducts of this fermentation help nourish the cells lining your colon, preventing the health problems associated with IBS. permeable intestine. The main by-products of fermentation are short chain fatty acids such as butyrate, propionate and acetate. These short-chain fatty acids help nourish and recalibrate your immune system, helping to prevent inflammatory disorders such as asthma and Crohn’s disease. They also increase the number of specialized immune cells called regulatory T cells, which help prevent autoimmune responses.
- Consume traditionally fermented foods such as fermented vegetables, yogurts, kefir, kimchi, and kombucha. The fermentation process results in foods that are naturally high in live, beneficial bacteria, and are simple and inexpensive to prepare at home.
- Consume foods rich in prebiotics such as resistant starches found in green bananas, papayas and mangoes, as well as seeds and products such as potato starch, tapioca starch, brown rice flour and Shirataki noodles.
- Consider taking a fiber supplement. An intake of 25 to 50 grams of fiber per 1000 calories consumed is a healthy goal. If you’re struggling to get enough fiber through your diet, consider taking a supplement of organic psyllium seed, flaxseed, hemp, or chia seed husks.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners. Research shows that aspartame causes the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in your intestines, such as Clostridium and Enterobacteriaceae.
- Eat foods rich in polyphenols. Like prebiotics, polyphenols help nourish the good bacteria in your gut. Raw cocoa (dark chocolate), grape skin, Matcha green tea, onions, blueberries and broccoli are good sources.
- Take a good quality probiotic supplement. Look for a supplement that meets the following conditions to ensure its quality and effectiveness: The strains of bacteria in the product must be able to survive the acid in your stomach and bile, so that enough bacteria reaches your intestines alive. The strains of bacteria must have a beneficial effect on health. The activity of the probiotics must be guaranteed throughout the manufacturing process, the storage period and the shelf life of the product.
- Breastfeed your baby for at least six months to optimize his microbiota. Breast milk contains oligosaccharides (complex chains of simple sugars), whose main function is to nourish your child’s intestinal flora. Commercial infant milks do not contain it.
* Presse Santé strives to transmit health knowledge in a language accessible to all. In NO CASE, the information given can not replace the advice of a health professional.
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