7 Small Changes You Can Make To Improve Your Gut Health

The good news is that things you do every day can help your gut. The opposite is also true – and daily habits can negatively affect gut health. Luckily, a few simple add-ons are usually all it takes to bump up the resiliency of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract – which in turn could help with overall health.

How might your health be helped? For one thing, gut health and brain health are closely linked. The central nervous system and the intestinal tract are connected in a communication network known as the gut-brain axis. Reduced gut inflammation has been tied to a stronger memory, and even improved mental health in some population studies.

The gut is also a major contributor to the health of the immune system. A healthy gut is made up of a balance of “good” and “bad” bacteria – this system of bacteria is known as a microbiome. A healthy, balanced microbiome within the gut help body systems including the immune system function well. Some researchers believe that imbalances in the microbiome can lead to immune problems from asthma and allergies to autoimmune diseases.

Improving gut health usually leads to decreased inflammation throughout the body. And decreasing inflammation is key to help preventing chronic disease along with just feeling better on a daily basis.

Try some of the following strategies – and while you may not be able to totally overhaul your whole lifestyle, baby steps help. Tack on a few good gut practices where you can.

Put Plants on Every Plate

Plants are packed with gut-friendly nutrients – including antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, fats and proteins. Antioxidants can help decrease inflammation throughout the gut. Specific antioxidants like vitamin C can increase the diversity of good bacteria to help promote a balanced microbiome.

All vegetables and fruits contain fiber. Eating a variety of fiber is essential for the contents of the gut to move through it smoothly. Different fibers are also key to growing diverse and valuable intestinal good bacteria, so mix up your sources: eat legumes, and canned, frozen and fresh fruits and vegetables. In fact, try to eat 30 different plants a week.

Eat Half Whole Grains

Because fiber is so beneficial for the gut, try to eat almost all grains as whole grains. But when you’re just starting to shift to more whole grains, it’s helpful to think in terms of half-and-half: make a pot of half brown rice and half white rice. Cook up half whole wheat pasta and half regular pasta. You can even make a sandwich with one slice of whole wheat bread and one slice of white – or a quesadilla with one flour tortilla and one whole wheat tortilla.

Then explore the long list of deliciously belly-filling whole grains that serve as interesting side dishes, or as the base for bowl dinners with toppings. Serve up a pot of whole grain cornmeal polenta, quinoa, bulgur, wild rice or any type of oatmeal. Make a pilaf by adding spices, nuts and herbs to some of the potentially lesser-known, but just as hearty grains like farro, spelt, amaranth, millet, spelt, freekeh, hulled barley or wheat berries. And don’t forget, popcorn is a whole grain, too!

Spoon up Yogurt Daily

Eating yogurt might be one of the easiest ways to get your daily dose of probiotics. Probiotics are live cultures that help support the good bacteria that’s already in your gut.

The type of yogurt you should buy is the type that you like, but do make certain that “live and active cultures” appears on the label. Plain regular or Greek yogurt may be more practical (and affordable) as plain yogurts can be used in savory and sweet preparations. Whether it’s sprinkled with granola for breakfast, or a dolloped over soup at dinner, get in the habit of including yogurt every day.

Add Other Fermented Foods

Yogurt is a fermented food; but there are also other fermented foods that contain probiotics. These include some aged cheeses, kefir and non-dairy cultured yogurts, all found in the dairy aisle. Look for other fermented foods in the refrigerated sections of the supermarket; they must be refrigerated in order for the probiotics to be viable and more beneficial.

Probiotic foods include kimchi, sauerkraut, fermented vegetable pickles, miso, tempeh and kombucha.

And don’t forget to feed those good gut bacteria with prebiotics. This type of fiber is in foods that often taste delicious when paired with foods containing probiotics. These prebiotic foods include onions, garlic, artichokes, leeks, asparagus, apples, bananas, barley and whole-wheat foods.

If You Eat Ultra-Processed Foods, Eat Whole Foods With Them

It’s not all or nothing. Ultra-processed does not necessarily mean unhealthy. But use these foods as meal-builders. Grab time-saving ingredients instead of the whole meal from a box or package. We love to use canned beans (an ultra-processed food!) to mix into any type of meat to extend it and add fiber. Other winning meal combinations of an ultra-processed food with a whole food are: fish sticks with a green salad, whole-grain crackers plus cheese or boxed granola with yogurt.

Sleep Better

This is sometimes easier said than done. But ongoing lack of sleep can be a major cause of inflammation throughout the body, including in the gut. Sleep is an important time for the body to rest and repair cells that were damaged during normal processes of the previous day. Aim for seven to eight hours of sleep nightly. And if possible try to rest the gut for 10 to 12 hours between the last meal of the day and the first meal of the morning for sufficient restoration time. At the very least, try to finish eating dinner or bedtime snacks two to three hours before lying down so food has a good amount of time to digest.

Avoid Unnecessary Antibiotics

Antibiotics are absolutely necessary for bacterial infections. But more than once we’ve been at the urgent care office and experienced a negative test for strep throat, and then still been offered antibiotics. Avoid those antibiotics. The problem is that while antibiotics thankfully kill harmful bacteria, they also kill the good bacteria in the gut. So after a round of antibiotics, the gut must be repopulated with good bacteria.

If an antibiotic must be taken, see all the tips above! Repopulate with a variety of strains of bacteria and with many different fiber-containing fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Also eat the probiotics found in yogurt along with prebiotics to feed those probiotics.