How to heal your gut

But when there is an imbalance in your gut bacteria, it may trigger unwanted gastrointestinal symptoms, like diarrhea, as well as mental health issues. Here are the basics of gut health – and what you can do to improve yours. 

Your gut health impacts your immune system, your mental health and your overall well-being.  When you have a healthy gut, your gastrointestinal tract has a good balance of gut bacteria and is able to properly digest and absorb nutrients.

Understanding your gut

To understand how to keep your intestinal environment healthy, it’s important to understand how your microbiota evolves. Everyone has a unique mix of microorganisms living inside them. Some of these come from your mother, conferred during pregnancy, delivery, and, potentially, breastfeeding. Others are introduced by the foods you eat, and your environment.

Probiotics found in fermented foods and drinks — such as yogurt, cheese, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut — can add desirable organisms to your gut. But not all varieties of these foods have probiotics; it depends on how they are processed. Sometimes foods that naturally contain probiotics are then cooked or heated, killing the microorganisms and any potential health benefits along with them, says Fung.

Slipping an occasional food with probiotics into your diet won’t do much to help you improve your microbiota, says Fung.

“Eating probiotics needs to be a regular thing,” she says. (Research hasn’t yet determined the ideal frequency.)

Try adding them into one or more daily meals for the biggest benefit. Sip a yogurt smoothie for breakfast, or put a forkful or two of sauerkraut alongside your sandwich at lunch.

What is gut health and gut microbiome?

Your gut is your gastrointestinal system and includes your stomach, intestines and colon. It digests and absorbs nutrients from food and excretes waste.

There is no clear definition of gut health, and it can mean something different for researchers, medical professionals and the community. Throughout this page, we refer to gut health as having a healthy gut microbiome and limited digestive symptoms.

About 200 different species of bacteria, viruses and fungi live in your large intestine. The bacteria and other microorganisms in your gut are known as your gut microbiome. The bacteria help to break down food, turning it into nutrients your body can use.

Certain types of bacteria in your gut may contribute to some diseases. Some microorganisms are harmful to our health, but many are beneficial and necessary for a healthy body.

We are learning that the variety of bacteria in your gut is an important indicator of the health of your microbiome.

The health of your gut can impact both your physical and mental health.

Many factors, including the foods you eat, can impact the type of bacteria found in your digestive tract. What we eat can have short-term and long-term effects on our gut microbiome environment.

Gut health and diet

Your gut bacteria are influenced by what you eat. It is important to give them the right fuel to have a balanced gut microbiome.

The best way to maintain a healthy microbiome is to eat a range of fresh, wholefoods, mainly from plant sources like fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, nuts and wholegrains.

Eat a high fibre diet

Fibre is important for our gut health for many reasons. Fibre can affect the function of our gut, for example, the digestion and absorption of nutrients, how quickly or slowly things move through and the quality of our stools.

The breakdown of fibre by our gut bacteria can also create important products which can influence the development of gastrointestinal conditions such as bowel cancer.

Fibre has other benefits to our health apart from the gut, for example, reducing our risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Fibre is only found in foods that come from a plant. Australian adult women should be aiming to eat at least 25g of fibre a day, and men 30g.

Prebiotic fibres, which are not found in all high fibre foods, may be especially helpful for our gut microbiome, as they can act as a fertiliser for the healthy bacteria in our gut.

They are found in some types of:

• vegetables – for example leek, onion and garlic
• legumes – for example chickpeas, beans and lentils
• wholegrains – for example rye bread, barley and oats
• nuts – for example pistachios, cashews and almonds.

Eat a diverse range of food

Eating a wide range of fruits and vegetables ensures you’re including a whole range of vitamins, minerals and nutrients in your diet.

The diversity of food on your plate can help lead to a more diverse microbiome, which is an indicator of a healthy gut microbiome.

Aim to eat at least 30 different types of plant-based foods a week.

Gut health and probiotic supplements

It is best to improve your gut health through food and other lifestyle factors rather than supplements.

There are many nutrients in wholefoods that cannot be packaged into a single supplement. Nutrients in foods also interact with each other in a helpful way and this cannot be replicated in a pill.

Many people are interested in taking probiotic supplements. If you’re in good health, it is generally not necessary to take a probiotic for your gut health.

In some cases, there is research to support taking a probiotic, however just like medications, you need to take a specific probiotic for the health condition you are trying to manage.

Before taking probiotics or any other supplement, it’s a good idea to speak to an accredited practising dietitian and your general practitioner to see if it’s safe and which one might work.

Gut health and antibiotics

While antibiotics can be very important and useful, they can also have a negative impact on your gut microbiome.

Antibiotics aim to kill the harmful bacteria when you have an infection or illness, but in doing so they can remove some of the beneficial bacteria in your gut.

Myths about gut health

There are no miracle cures for good gut health.

There’s no scientific evidence that individual foods or any other product will rapidly heal an unbalanced gut microbiome.

There’s also no scientific evidence that colon cleansing improves health or is beneficial at all.

Research into gut health is relatively new and understanding of this complex topic is developing. Be careful of non-evidence-based information about gut health. Focusing on eating healthily with the tips suggested on this page is the best evidence we have so far.

Whole Grains

White or brown rice? Whole-wheat or white bread? Doctors say that if you want your gut to work better, choose whole grains, since optimal colon function requires at least 25 grams of fiber daily.

Compared to refined carbohydrates, like white bread and pasta, whole grains provide lots of fiber, as well as added nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids. When gut bacteria ferment fiber, they produce short-chain fatty acids. These molecules encourage proper function in the cells lining the colon, where 70 percent of our immune cells live.

Despite the popularity of low-carb diets for weight loss, avoiding grains altogether may not be so great for the good gut bacteria that thrive on fiber.

Leafy Greens

Leafy greens, such as spinach or kale, are excellent sources of fiber, as well as nutrients like folate, vitamin C, vitamin K and vitamin A. Research shows that leafy greens also contain a specific type of sugar that helps fuel growth of healthy gut bacteria.

Eating a lot of fiber and leafy greens allows you to develop an ideal gut microbiome — those trillions of organisms that live in the colon.

Low-Fructose Fruits

If you’re somebody who’s prone to gas and bloating, you may want to try reducing your consumption of fructose, or fruit sugar. Some fruits such as apples, pears and mango are all high in fructose.

On the other hand, berries and citrus fruits, such as oranges and grapefruit, contain less fructose, making them easier to tolerate and less likely to cause gas. Bananas are another low-fructose fruit that are fiber-rich and contain inulin, a substance that stimulates the growth of good bacteria in the gut.