Best Foods for Gut Health – You grew up advised to eat carrots for good vision, drink milk to grow strong bones, and to fill your diet with whole grains for a healthy heart. But when it comes to eating for a healthier gut, many aren’t clear on where to start.
Source: Source Naturals
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There are plenty of foods to limit your intake of for gut health (hello, red meat and alcohol). However, here we discuss five gut-healing foods you could add into your diet to help aid your digestive system.
Best Foods for Gut Health – Avocados are packed with potassium
Avocado is a superfood—and there’s truly nothing it can’t help heal. Avocados are packed with essential nutrients like potassium that help your digestive tract function regularly. A recent study published in The Journal of Nutrition found that eating an avocado a day can help balance and diversify your gut’s microbes, or bacteria that you want to keep healthy.
Diverse microbes are important—when there is richness and diversity to the microbes in your gut, your immune system is stronger and more stable.
Low-sugar fruits like oranges and lemons
Best Foods for Gut Health – When it comes to good foods for gut health, some fruits are better than others. High-fructose fruits like apples and pears are common culprits in this regard.
Berries and citrus fruits like lemon and oranges are lower in fructose and easier for your stomach to tolerate. A simple glass of lemon water can help improve gut health. Bananas are another fruit worth incorporating into your daily meals—they’re loaded with potassium and fiber and contain inulin, which helps diversify and grow gut microbes.
Onions & garlic are rich in prebiotics
Both onions and garlic are rich in inulin and fructooligosaccharides—also known as FOS. FOS is a prebiotic, or plant fiber that helps promote healthy gut bacteria. Onions are also known to contain antioxidants like quercetin and sulfur compounds, which help support cardiovascular and circulatory health. Plus, onions can help relieve occasional constipation to support digestive health. Garlic also contains sulfur compounds that help support the heart and circulatory system, as well as the body’s healthy inflammatory response.^
Fatty fish & healthy nuts support a healthy inflammatory response
Foods that support a healthy inflammatory response are some of the most important foods for gut health.
The body can sometimes disperse compounds like cytokines when they aren’t necessary, which can affect the delicate balance of the gut. That’s where fatty fish like salmon and healthy nuts like walnuts and cashews come into play. These foods are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, as well as other vitamins and compounds that support a healthy inflammatory response, which can benefit the health of your gut.^*
Make sure you’re getting the most out of the foods you eat!
The term bioavailability refers to the proportion or fraction of a nutrient, consumed in the diet, that is absorbed and utilized by the body. Research suggests bioavailability is influenced by several factors, including diet, nutrient concentration, nutritional status, health, and life-stage. Adding a supplement like Essential Enzymes® to your routine can not only help with digestion, but will also enable you to get the most nutrients out of the food you’re eating.*
For more information on healthy living and wellness tips from Source Naturals, click here.
Resources – Best Foods for Gut Health
Stephanie Ostrenga. “Are you absorbing the nutrients you eat?” Michigan State University Extension, 30 January 2018, https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/are_you_absorbing_the_nutrients_you_eat
^Not all inflammation is associated with disease states. Inflammation is also the body’s healthy immune response to life’s normal stressors such as strenuous exercise or an occasional high-fat/high-calorie meal. The body’s inflammation response to life’s occasional, normal stressors is important for optimal health.
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