As unique as your own fingerprint, your gut microbiome is something you can’t ignore as you strive for a healthier, happier existence. But could you be inadvertently harming your gut health with everyday foods?
As Dr. Federica Amati, chief nutritionist at Zoe, a company specializing in science and nutrition, explains, “It’s made up of trillions of microbes that respond to what we feed them.” She adds, “Gut health depends on what we ingest every day.”
While genes play a small role, the real key to optimal gut health lies in your diet. While it’s impossible to change your genetics, you have the power to transform your microbiome by eating foods that are connected to “good” microbes.
The benefits are often noticeable within a few days. However, there is a catch.
“You have to maintain it. I use the analogy of a garden. If you have a beautiful garden, but you never water it and you never weed it, it’s going to suffer,” Dr. Amati advises.
In the same way, you should also take care of your microbial garden.
Poor food choices could be putting your gut health at risk. Nutritionist, health coach and clinical lead of the Goodwood wellbeing and health programmes, Stephanie Moore reveals the six biggest culprits:.
1. Ultra-processed foods
More than half of the daily calorie intake of people in the UK currently comes from ultra-processed foods (UPFs). These are foods that are packed with a multitude of ingredients that you rarely see in your kitchen cupboard, including preservatives, sweeteners and artificial colours and flavours.
“Avoid anything with a long list of ingredients with complicated, chemical-sounding names, such as soft drinks, Pot Noodles, savoury snacks like Wotsits and processed cheese,” Moore advises.
High intake of UPFs can alter gut flora and lead to inflammation. Some of the worst offenders include sausages, chicken nuggets, mass-produced bread, sugar-added breakfast cereals, cookies, sugar-added yogurt, instant soups, ice cream, and chips.
“The biggest problem with ultra-processed foods is that they are poor in nutrients, so people overeat them because the body is looking for nutrition and it’s not getting it from them, so we don’t get the signal to stop eating. They also contain emulsifiers, which disrupt the gut microbiome,” Moore explains.
Eating large amounts of UPFs has been linked to a number of health problems, from heart disease and type 2 diabetes to irritable bowel syndrome, depression, asthma and cancer.
2. Fried foods
Those crispy golden fries and breaded chicken may be delicious, but they can actually do some serious damage to your gut. “The types of oils that are used in frying refined seed oils like sunflower or canola, corn oil or soybean oil are very damaged by the nature of the refining process and are high in omega-6, which can be very disruptive to the gut,” Moore says.
“When you heat and reheat the oil, it creates AGEs, which stands for Advanced Glycation End-products, which are harmful to our gut lining.” But it’s not just the usual culprits you need to watch out for. “Krispy Kreme donuts are some of the worst offenders: high in sugar, refined carbs, and then fried,” Moore warns.
Moore advises eating less fried foods and balancing them with healthy, gut-friendly meals.
3. Sugar
“Sugar feeds the unwanted microbes in your gut that then crowd out the good stuff,” Moore explains. “It also has no nutritional benefit; we tend to be in a deficiency by the time we digest sugar because we’re using nutrients to break it down.”
All sugars are harmful to gut health, including highly processed high fructose corn syrup, which has been shown to “severely disrupt the composition of the gut flora.”
Even healthier alternatives like raw honey and maple syrup still contain a lot of sugar, so Moore advises consuming them in moderation.
4. Artificial sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners may seem like a healthier alternative to sugar, but they can undermine your gut. “They encourage the proliferation of pathogenic or ‘bad’ bacteria in the gut. The gut microbiome tries to break them down, but these sweeteners are made up of man-made chemicals that they don’t know what to do with,” Moore explains.
“And as the microbes break down the artificial sweeteners, they release a number of nasty byproducts that kill the good microbes.” While sugar alcohols like xylitol are generally less harmful, Moore advises avoiding all artificial sweeteners, including sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K).
5. Protein bars and shakes
Protein supplements have become commonplace, but nutritionists agree that most are not good for gut health. “Most protein bars are junk,” Moore explains. “They’re highly processed and loaded with additives and artificial sweeteners. If they have more than five ingredients and any form of sugar (including honey) is in the top five, it’s best to avoid them.”
Moore does recommend certain types of protein powder, though, “just because we realize how important it is to get protein into our diet.” Her top choices include high-quality dehydrated, unflavored bone broth powder or single-ingredient plant-based options like Pulsin Hemp Protein.
6. Alcohol
Despite our love of a drink, alcohol wreaks havoc on gut health. “Although I enjoy red wine,” Moore admits, “alcohol is toxic to the liver, neurotoxic, and certainly damaging to the gut. We know it kills off good microbes and disrupts your gut microbiome.”
“It also weakens the intestinal wall and causes inflammation. Unfortunately, it is quite detrimental to intestinal health.”
What should you eat then?
The secret to a healthy gut flora is to focus on whole, nutrient-dense foods that feed your microbiome. “Eat a variety of plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes,” Dr. Amati suggests, emphasizing the importance of fiber and polyphenols that feed the beneficial gut bacteria.
She also endorses incorporating fermented foods like kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and miso into our diets for their abundance of probiotics that support gut health. “And stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water,” Dr. Amati adds, noting that dehydration can negatively impact the gut microbiome.
By making simple changes and focusing on foods that promote gut health, we can create a thriving internal ecosystem, which can lead to improved digestion, immunity, mood, and mental well-being. As Dr. Amati puts it, “You have to stick with it.” The effort is certainly justified by the many health benefits.
