Nourish Your Gut

In my last blog, I talked about the one single food you need to eat in order to feed your brain. Today's topic is the best food to feed your gut. (When I say "gut," I don't mean "beer belly." If you want to feed your beer belly, you are on your own! And just the name "beer belly" pretty much sums it up when it comes to choosing what to consume.) No, I am talking about your gut biome.

Have you ever had a "gut" feeling? Scientists now believe our gut functions sort of like a brain. Not exactly like our mind, but like a different kind of mind which gives us important information about our most primal feelings and intuitions. Our gut might tell us whether a stranger is a good person or one who means us harm. Our gut might tell us that a particular home is the right one to purchase. Our gut might inform us when a partner is the one we should marry. A person, a job, or a house might look great on paper, but our gut goes beyond logic and discovers our deep, inner feelings.

So if the gut is really this important, shouldn't we take better care of it? Instead of turning the gut into a bloated, unhappy, unhealthy beer belly, we should be nurturing and nourishing our gut.

The gut is composed of billions of bacteria. Yup, our bodies are not really our own. The gut is filled with foreigners! And without them, we would die. We need these foreign "intruders" in order to digest everything we swallow. We derive nutrition from our food based on the health of our bacteria. Healthy biome=healthy person. Not only that, but the gut is also responsible for about 70% of our immune system.

How do we positively influence the health of the gut?

We need to consume probiotics. This doesn't mean pills or supplements. The word "probiotic" literally means positive for the biome. And probiotics are fermented foods which contain live bacteria. The right kind of bacteria which populate a healthy gut biome. There are many delicious foods to choose from: yogurt, kefir, kombucha, kimchi, miso, pickles, and my favorite: sauerkraut.

With all of the above choices, you must search out products that are still alive! Any foods that have been cooked or heated, canned or processed, no longer have living bacteria in them. It will say on the label whether or not living organisms or cultures are in your yogurt or kefir. Most pickles and sauerkraut sold commercially have been heated and are not longer beneficial for the gut. Check out natural food stores, Trader Joe's, Costco, Whole Foods, and farmers' markets for products that are raw and still fermenting!

Or make your own! Sauerkraut is extremely easy to make. The only ingredients are cabbage and salt. We use an airlock which prevents air from entering the jar while the kraut is fermenting. Air can escape as the kraut starts to ferment and bubble, but bad bacteria are kept out. You can also use a simple mason jar with a loose lid or a ceramic crock. Google a recipe to get started or check out this link:

https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/the-food-that-changes-your-life