Your gut gurgls when you're hungry, turns when you're sick, and offers wisdom when you trust it. But it also harbors trillions of microorganisms that play an important role in your health. What you eat and do every day affects your gut, for better or worse.
Your “gut microbiome” refers to the diverse microorganisms that live in your gastrointestinal tract (mainly your intestines). These include more than 1,000 species of bacteria. We often think of bacteria as a bad thing, but there are good bacteria in your gut that help your body digest what you eat, make vitamins, absorb nutrients like calcium, and eliminate harmful microorganisms that can cause disease.
The composition of your gut microbiome also affects your health in larger ways, affecting your immunity, disease risk, and even your weight and mental health. For example, people with conditions such as diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease may have less microbial diversity in their guts than people without diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. An imbalance in the balance of bacteria (called gut flora imbalance) may put you at higher risk for heart disease.
The key to a healthy microbiome is maintaining a good balance between good and bad microbes. Good news: While your gut microbiome is established at birth and influenced by your genetics, it is not a static system. It's constantly changing, and there's a lot you can do to influence it.
Microbiome transformation
We’ll explore these topics in more depth in future articles, but here’s a quick primer on how to maximize your microbiome health:
Good for fiber: Your body can't digest fiber, but the good bacteria in your gut can. These bacteria break down fiber to use as fuel, which helps them thrive. But most Americans only get about half of the fiber they need each day. Try eating high-fiber foods like oatmeal and beans, and swap bread and pasta made with white flour for whole-grain versions.
Eat more plants: Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and polyphenols, natural plant compounds that healthy bacteria use as food. Berries, grapes, artichokes and olives are rich in polyphenols. (Coffee, tea, and dark chocolate too!)
Include fermented foods: Fermented foods are good for your gut because they are naturally preserved by bacteria, filling your microbiome with more beneficial bacteria. Fermented foods include yogurt, miso, tempeh and sauerkraut.
Use antibiotics wisely: Antibiotics may be necessary to fight infection, but they can also be overused. While antibiotics destroy harmful bacteria that cause disease, they also destroy good bacteria in the process, disrupting the composition of the microbiome.
Take probiotics: Supplements can provide strains of beneficial bacteria and help increase healthy numbers in your gut. They are particularly valuable to take during a course of antibiotics, or if taken regularly if your diet does not include probiotic-rich fermented foods.
Limit ultra-processed foods: These foods are often high in fat, sugar, sodium, additives, and packaged (unfortunately, they make up about 60% of the average American diet). Diets high in ultra-processed foods are associated with unhealthy changes in the microbiome and may increase the risk of disease. Some ultra-processed foods are a fact of life, but for most meals and snacks, try to choose fully processed, minimally processed foods.
