How to Improve your Gut Flora or Microbiota
How to Improve your Gut Flora or Microbiota
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Encourage
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Discourage |
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Eat plenty of fermented foods: Healthy choices include lassi, fermented grass-fed organic milk such as kefir, natto (fermented soy), kombucha, yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh and fermented vegetables. |
Antibiotics, unless absolutely necessary, and when you do, make sure to reseed your gut with fermented foods and/or a high-quality probiotic supplement. |
| Take a probiotic supplement: When you don’t eat fermented foods on a regular basis take probiotics. | Conventionally-raised meats and other animal products are routinely fed low-dose antibiotics, plus genetically engineered grains loaded with glyphosate, which is widely known to kill many bacteria. |
| Eat prebiotic foods: Boost your soluble and insoluble fibre intake, focusing on vegetables, nuts and seeds, including sprouted seeds, whole grains (beta-glucan), beans and legumes. A plant-based diet will support gut microbiota. | Chlorinated and/or fluoridated water. Especially in your bath or shower – best to have filter on your showerhead. |
| Get your hands dirty in the garden. Exposure to bacteria and viruses can serve as “natural vaccines” that strengthen your immune system and provide long-lasting immunity against disease. | Processed foods. Sugar and white flour feed pathogenic bacteria.
Food emulsifiers such as polysorbate 80, lecithin, carrageenan, polyglycerols, and xanthan gum can have an adverse effect on your gut flora. |
| Open your windows: Opening a window and increasing natural airflow can improve the diversity and health of the microbes in your home, which in turn benefit you. |
Agricultural chemicals:
Glyphosate (Roundup) will actively kill many of your beneficial gut microbes if you eat and foods that were contaminated with Roundup. |
| Wash your dishes by hand instead of in the dishwasher:
Research has shown that washing your dishes by hand leaves more bacteria on the dishes than dishwashers do and that is beneficial to your immune system.
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Antibacterial soap:
It can kill off both good and bad bacteria, and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. |
| Eat Foods Rich in Polyphenols:
Polyphenols are plant compounds that have many health benefits, including reductions in blood pressure, inflammation, cholesterol levels and oxidative stress. polyphenols are not absorbed efficiently and make their way to the colon, where they can be digested by gut bacteria. Sources of polyphenols include:
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Exclude artificial sweeteners:
Aspartame can increase Clostridium and Enterobacteriaceae of which are associated with disease when present in very high numbers. A study found similar results in mice and humans. It showed changes in the microbiota and artificial sweeteners have negative effects on blood sugar levels. |
| Breastfeed for at Least Six Months
A baby’s microbiota begins to properly develop at birth. However, some recent studies suggest that babies may be exposed to some bacteria before birth
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Other
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References
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/improve-gut-bacteria#section10
www.mercola.com
