Registered Nutritional Therapist & Author
BA Hons, mBANT, AFMCP
There can be many different ways in which our gut health can take a bit of a hit. Whether it is a course of antibiotics or other medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, after a bout of gastritis or food poisoning, or even following a prolonged period of stress. These can all compromise our gut and leave it feeling depleted. If this is something you have experienced here are a few ways in which you can help to restore and replenish your gut…
When it comes to restoring our gut, fibre is king. Fibre provides essential fuel to help replenish our gut microbes that may have been depleted. More than that, diversity of fibre sources are super important so we can feed and enrich a more diverse microbiota (the trillions of microbes that live in our gut). Therefore we need to consider both the amount and variety of plants in our diet as not only does it help us to hit our fibre quota but also means we take in a broad range of polyphenols which we also know support a more diverse gut microbiota.
Plant foods include all types of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and nuts & seeds as well as herbs and spices and research shows that we want to really be aiming for around 30 per week across these categories. That might seem a lot but there are some hacks on how you can hit this target. This could include having one meat-free day per week. Try my Beet kebab recipe here https://evekalinik.com/beet-kebab-couscous-bowl-with-beet-borani/ or this ‘meaty’ Cauliflower steak one here https://evekalinik.com/dukkah-cauliflower-steak-with-green-tahini-spinach-curd/ if you need some inspiration to get you started. Making up nut & seed mixes with 5-6 types can also be a really easy habit to get into and increase diversity of plants. In addition, soups blending 3-4 veggies can be a really simple and delicious way to up our plant quota. Batch cooking and freezing can help make this super convenient too. And think about adding in herbs and spices to every meal (the dried ones count too) as this brings in extra flavour as well as more plants.
Prebiotics, unlike probiotics, have a potent feeding effect on our gut microbiota which is crucial if we are looking to restore our gut. Prebiotics can be found in myriad plant-based foods however there are some foods that are higher in their prebiotic potential such as garlic, onions, leeks, oats, asparagus, apples, under-ripe bananas and chicory. Stewed apples can be a nice way to incorporate prebiotics and are great for batch cooking and serving alongside overnight oats or porridge to include two prebiotics in one dish!
Adding in fermented foods to a few meals per week can also help to provide a source of live beneficial microbes that can help to repopulate our gut. Think of them as a food source of ‘probiotics’. Rather than eating an entire jar of sauerkraut in one sitting (your gut definitely won’t thank you for that!) it is much better to have little and often when it comes to ferments as the bacteria in them seem to have more of a transient effect. Using them as regular side condiments to a simple meal can elevate the flavours in our food as well as a little extra helping of microbes for our gut too. So something like a couple of spoonfuls of kimchi with scrambled eggs could be one idea, or mixing sauerkraut through salads as another easy add in.
Nourishing the gut barrier is a really important part of restoring our overall gut health as it is very vulnerable and can be susceptible to being compromised and damaged after certain medications and from chronic stress. Glutamine is an amino acid that helps to support all connective tissue in the body including the gut barrier and it provides an important energy source for intestinal cells. Glutamine can be found in most protein sources including organic meats, wild fish, eggs and tempeh as a few examples. Beyond this we also need to enable optimal communication between intestinal cells that line our gut and our microbiota as this forms the basis of a strong and healthy barrier and this is where ION* can have an invaluable impact on helping to restore and replenish our gut.
Research demonstrates that allowing a 12 hour fast every day can have a positive impact on inflammatory markers and general repair processes in our gut. If we consider that anything other than water, black tea and coffee counts as ‘food’ we might well be eating for up to 16 hours per day. This doesn’t give adequate time for our gut to rest, repair, regenerate and allow it to manage processes such as inflammation. Therefore by shortening our window to 12 hours on and 12 hours off we can gain the benefits of this without anything too extreme. Furthermore, allowing around 4-5 hours between meals will also give some breaks for our gut throughout the course of the day. Implementing a fasting of 12/12 and 4-5 hours between meals is also something that is much more sustainable longer term than more extreme longer fasting protocols and allows us to enjoy the sociability of eating together which is an integral part of how we restore and replenish mentally which leads nicely onto the next point…
We might assume that we need to be meditating for hours for it to have any real effect when actually 5 minutes every day can be a great place to get started and crucially form a habit that will have more longstanding cumulative benefits. Meditation helps us to reset the gut-brain connection which is extremely powerful and important when we are trying to restore our gut health, even more so if stress is one of the factors that may have compromised our gut health in the first place. Breathing exercises can be a useful way to implement this, in particular the ‘box breathing’ technique which simply requires breathing in for a count of 4-5 or more, holding the breath on full for the same time, breathing out for the same time and holding on empty for the same time. This can work really well to steady the mind and provide some focus. Tacking this onto an already formed habit like brushing our teeth is a good way to ingrain it so you might want to include this as part of your morning or evening routine. Moreover with consistency it might lead to an increase in the time spent practising.
Create a dedicated sleep ritual that gives your body ample time to wind down is also super important for our gut health to allow for overnight reparative and regenerative processes to take place. With this in mind spend the hour before bed (without devices) to journal, read or engage in some mindful breathing or meditation. Create a soothing cocoon by taking a bath or a foot bath and applying some nourishing oils. Set the tone with creating the right ambiance conducive to sleep with curtains or blinds that completely shut out the light and not having the room too warm. You might also want to use an eye mask and perhaps some ear plugs if you have a snoring partner or noisy neighbours to really detach from the buzzing of the outside world. And allow your gut and its many microbes to also have some well needed respite.
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