Best and Worst Foods for your Gut Bacteria...

[DRH-sangli]

Your body contains trillions of bacteria.

The majority of these bacteria are located in your intestines.

Gut bacteria play several important roles in your health, such as communicating with your immune system and producing certain vitamins.

Your gut bacteria can also affect how different foods are digested and produce chemicals that help make you feel full. As a result, they can affect your weight.

This article explains how your gut bacteria affect your weight and what foods promote healthy gut bacteria growth.

A number of different foods are good for gut bacteria, including:

•Whole grains: Whole grains are grains that haven’t been refined. They're high in fiber, which is digested by healthy gut bacteria like Bifidobacteria and may aid weight loss (32).

•Fruits and vegetables: Fruits and vegetables contain many different fibers that are good for gut bacteria. Eating an assortment of plant-based foods can improve gut bacteria diversity, which is linked to a healthy weight (33).

•Nuts and seeds: Nuts and seeds also contain lots of fiber and healthy fats, which help support the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut (34).

•Polyphenol-rich foods: These include dark chocolate, green tea and red wine. The polyphenols in these foods can’t be digested alone but are broken down by beneficial gut bacteria, promoting the growth of good bacteria (35).

•Fermented foods: Fermented foods include yogurt, kombucha, kefir and sauerkraut. They contain beneficial bacteria like lactobacilli and can minimize other disease-causing bacteria in the intestines (36).

•Probiotics: Probiotics aren’t necessary all of the time, but they can help restore healthy gut bacteria after an illness or course of antibiotics and may even aid weight loss (37).

On the other hand, eating some foods in excess may harm gut your bacteria, including:

•Sugary foods: A diet high in sugar can stimulate the growth of certain unhealthy bacteria in the gut, which may contribute to weight gain and other chronic health disorders (38).

•Artificial sweeteners: Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharin reduce beneficial bacteria in the intestines, which may contribute to high blood sugar (39).

•Foods containing unhealthy fats: Healthy fats such as omega-3s support beneficial bacteria in the intestines, whereas too many saturated fats may contribute to the growth of disease-causing bacteria (40, 41).

SUMMARY

Whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fermented foods all support healthy gut bacteria, while too many sugary foods, artificial sweeteners and unhealthy fats can be bad for your gut bacteria.

See the links...

healthline.com/nutrition/gu...

[ramana42 Volunteer]

Very informative.I read somewhere that gut bacteria has a role to play in brain function and epilepsy patients are sometimes treated by bringing about changes in their gut bacteria.Is it true?I also read that high fat diet brings about some changes in gut bacteria.If so,what are the implications for diabetic patients who depend on high fat diet for managing their diabetes?

[HOBIEONE]

Porridge for breakfast & sensible eating through the day.

[suramo Star]

DRH-sangli

Quite informative. But i have a different view on saturated fats / fats. Fats usually get absorbed in small intestine and the helpful bacteria reside in large intestine. These bacteria usually thrive on undigeastible foods like resistant starch. They convert such starch into butyric acis - a sct very useful to the brain.