- Research shows that gut health is central to overall health.
- A prominent study found that eating 30 plants a week makes your gut microbiome more diverse.
- Nutritionist Gabriel Morse makes sure to eat at least 10 types of plants for breakfast, including fruits, nuts, and oats.
From kombucha and kimchi to the countless products on grocery store shelves that claim to be good for your gut, knowing how to maintain digestive health can be a minefield.
Gut health has become a buzzword in the health industry, with a diverse gut microbiome (a term used to describe the trillions of bacteria and other bugs that live in our digestive systems) and overall health. Research is increasingly linking it to physical health conditions.
“Taking care of your gut health can really reduce your risk of things like colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, and can also benefit your mental health,” says gut health expert and registered dietitian Gabriel Morse. says. intestinal health cliniche told Business Insider.
“We have a gut-liver axis, so our gut health takes care of our liver. We have a gut-brain axis, so our gut and brain take care of each other. Gut and skin. “Our gut and skin take care of each other because we have an axis,” she said.
But there's still a lot experts don't know, and the field is fairly unregulated, so food manufacturers can make claims that may not be supported by science.
So Morse has a simple goal of eating 30 plant-based foods a week to maintain a healthy gut. This approach is american gut project, a large-scale 2018 study that compared the diets and analyzed the stools of nearly 10,000 volunteers. The researchers found that people who ate more types of plants had more diverse gut microbiota, meaning they had more “good” bugs in their guts. .
Also, the definition of plants is not limited to fruits and vegetables. This includes whole grains, legumes, herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, and even dark chocolate.
“It's not about being restrictive. It's about stuffing extra items on your plate. It's about trying to find new foods,” Morse said. “I like the message of looking for color and variety rather than counting calories.”
Morse told Business Insider what she eats every day to keep her gut healthy.
breakfast
Morse almost always eats oats for breakfast, and often eats overnight oats to prepare a week's worth of meals. This is partly because oats contain beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that has been shown to lower cholesterol.
She mixes her oats with Greek yogurt or kefir, which contains live cultures to help support the microbiome.
Morse aims to have at least 10 plant foods, such as nuts, seeds, and fruit, in her first meal of the day to reach her weekly goal of 30.
To make overnight oats, she combines:
For toppings:
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Plenty of mixed nuts including pistachios, walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, and pecans.
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peanut butter
Place the mixture in the refrigerator and portion out the next day.
lunch
For lunch, Morse either eats leftovers from the night before or does what she calls “lunch without making lunch” and rustles together.
To make it, she says she buys ready-made packs of mixed whole grains, which usually include quinoa, buckwheat, and rice. She will also pick up a bag of mixed salad leaves and canned mackerel in olive oil.
She mixes half the grains, fish, olive oil, and leaves, seasoning with black pepper and lemon juice. “And that's two lunches, so you eat the other half the next day,” she said.
Morse also carries a small Tupperware with mixed seeds so she can sprinkle some seeds on top.
She said the dish is rich in fiber from the whole grains and seeds, which are great for the gut, and protein and healthy fats from the fish and olive oil.
dinner
When Morse approaches dinner, he first thinks about what food he has in the fridge. “I can't say I have spaghetti bolognese or anything common,” she said.
But she's always thinking about how she can incorporate as many plants into her diet as possible. “If possible, add beans to almost every dish for protein and fiber. We know it helps with bowel movements,” she said.
An example dinner would be chopped onions, grated carrots, and mushrooms stir-fried with two types of beans and stock, then topped with cheese.
Morse combines this with quinoa, buckwheat, and rice.
