The road to health is paved with good intestines!

Every planted a garden to grow beautiful flowers and as you excitedly wait for them to grow the first thing that appears are weeds, well as every gardener knows, the same soil that can grow beautiful flowers can also grow toxic weeds. Did you know it is the same with your gut...

HOW TO GROW A HEALTHY GUT GARDEN

Create A Healthy Soil Environment

The quality of the soil in your gut garden will hugely influence the quality and species of bugs (microbes) that will grow in your garden. First, we need to prepare an inner environment that will promote flourishing gut flora.

1. Eat whole, unprocessed, unrefined foods. One of the best ways to maintain gut health involves cutting out the sugar and refined carbs and jacking up the gut-supporting fiber.

2. Make 75 percent of your plate be vegetables and plant-based foods. Your gut bugs really love these high-fiber plant foods.

3. Eat good fats and get an oil change. Good fats will help with decreasing inflammation, giving healthy gut bugs a chance to flourish. (Coconut oil, avocado's, grass-fed butter, etc)

4. Remove inflammatory fats. Cut out bad, inflammatory omega 6 rich fats like vegetable oils. Replace these with healthier oils like extra-virgin olive oil and coconut oil.

5. Add more coconut. Studies have demonstrated anti-inflammatory and weight loss benefits from adding Medium Chain Triglyceride or MCT oils to your diet. One of my favorite fats, coconut oil, and coconut butter, contains these fabulous fat-burning MCTs.

6. Add fermented foods. Sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, and miso contain good amounts of probiotics so your healthy gut bugs can be fruitful and multiply.

Plant Good Seeds Probiotics are the good seeds you plant in your gut garden. Probiotics are beneficial live microbes (bacteria and fungi) which your gut needs in order to thrive. Stress, poor diet, and some medications can deplete your good bacteria populations. We need to ensure we supplement smartly and we take a good probiotic supplement not only containing probiotics but also prebiotics and enzymatic action for a thriving gut garden. Other sources of probiotics can be found in sauerkraut, kombucha, unpasteurized honey, and coconut yogurt as well as foods like organic fruit and vegetables that provide beneficial microbes via the tiny particles of unsterilized soil they carry. Remember the goal to grow a garden is having a variety, so make sure you are planting more than one type of seed!!

Time to Fertilize.

Prebiotics are the fertilizer and what feeds the probiotics. They are particular types of foods containing resistant fibers that feed the live beneficial bacteria and fungi in the large intestine. They pass through the small intestine undigested. This means that when they reach the large intestine they can feed the beneficial microbe populations. Add fiber-rich foods. Nuts, seeds, and a special fiber called glucomannan can provide prebiotics and feed our healthy bacteria. When taking a good probiotic supplement ensure it also contains prebiotics. Other sources of prebiotics from food sources are sweet potato, onion, garlic, leek, banana, and apples.

Starve the Weeds Your diet is an essential dimension of gut health. As well as nurturing good seeds, you need to starve the weeds in your gut garden. The bad bugs in your gut can easily overtake the populations of good bacteria if you don’t keep them in check. Avoid sugar, processed food, and alcohol altogether while you are healing your gut in order to give your gut flora a chance to thrive without being choked out by weeds.

The above recommendations are not miracle cures. They are the actions that can lead to normalized gut function and flora through an improved diet, which will make you feel better and start you on the road to a healthier lifestyle.