I’m sure you’ve heard that all disease begins in the gut, and there is a lot of truth to that statement. It’s also true that all gut healing begins in the gut! I want to help you to understand the basics of gut health and how you can use the power of foods to create and support a truly healthy gut and body.
Let’s start at the beginning, because your history is what created your current condition. You come into the world with a balance of microbes in your gut and throughout your body. This is called your microbiome, and when we talk about gut health, we’re talking about the strength and balance of the microbiome in your intestinal tract. You inherit your microbiome balance from your birth mother.
When you pass through the birth canal and then begin breastfeeding, you add to this microbiome to make it more robust. When I do a health history on someone, the first thing I pay attention to is whether the person was born vaginally or through a C-section. If it was by C-section, I know that this person’s gut took a double hit right away – first by missing out on the billions of microbes in the birth canal and second from the exposure to antibiotics, which are given to the mother via IV to prevent infection. Antibiotics kill both friendly and unfriendly bacteria, so this is a strong hit to the gut microbiome.
Now, don’t get me wrong! A C-section can be necessary to ensure the baby arrives safely and/or the mother is not put at risk when there is some kind of unusual stress to either during labor. The C-section baby arrives safely, which is the most important thing, but we start with an uphill battle for gut health in that child.
Now we have an opportunity to add to the health of the baby’s gut through breastfeeding. Breast milk contains a multitude of beneficial bacteria to support the baby’s gut and immune development. Regardless of how the person was born, breastfeeding will help to develop a better microbiome.
Even breastfeeding for a few days is helpful, and the longer a baby gets breast milk, the more beneficial bacteria are added to the gut microbiome. This is in a perfect world, and we all know that sometimes the world is NOT perfect. There can be multiple reasons that a mother is not able to breastfeed.
The good news is that even if you were born by C-section and bottle-fed, you can absolutely heal your gut! It just might take more effort to do so. And lest you think, “I’m an adult and that was a long time ago, so it can’t affect me now,” think again. Just like a swimming pool or aquarium overgrown with algae won’t be restored to health by time alone, neither will your gut.
Where Do You Start To Heal Your Gut?
You start with diet, but it takes more than just eating specific foods. The first question to ask is, “Has this food been sprayed with Glyphosate or pesticides?”
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup and some other herbicides, and it disrupts your gut health in multiple ways. It is sprayed copiously on our crops here in the US. In fact, it might shock you to know that 280 million pounds of Glyphosate are sprayed on US food crops annually. Much of this is on genetically modified crops like corn, soy and cotton, but it’s also sprayed on crops that are not genetically modified.
One of the most egregious uses of glyphosate is on wheat and oat crops. In this case, fields of wheat and oats are doused with glyphosate just a few days before harvest to weaken the plants and allow for an easier harvest. This means you get a tremendous dose of glyphosate when you eat wheat or oat products that are not organic. No wonder we have so many gut problems!
It’s important to understand that non-GMO doesn’t mean there was no glyphosate used. It just means that the foods were not modified to withstand heavier doses of glyphosate. Marketing can be misleading and is used to take advantage of trends to influence buying decisions. As people began to be aware of GMO crops, these labels came out, and people commonly jumped to the conclusion that non-GMO meant no glyphosate. The most ridiculous example I’ve seen of this kind of marketing was when the low fat craze was happening. At my grocery store, the bananas actually sported stickers that said low fat!
Pesticides on food also disrupt your gut microbiome by killing friendly microbes in your gut. This is why it’s important to use organic foods as much as possible. Often you can save money on organic foods from local farmers and co-ops by cutting out the middle men between the farmer and the grocery store.
Two resources to help you find local organic farms are Real Organic Project and Local Harvest. I can testify that it’s fun and relaxing to visit these farms and reconnect with nature! When I visit the farm pictured below, I can actually feel my whole body relax and I get an automatic smile on my face.
What Are The Best Food to Heal Your Gut
Now that you know what to avoid, let’s talk about the best foods to heal your gut.
High sulfur foods
Not only heal the gut but also help to mitigate the harmful effects of exposures to glyphosate you have had through sprayed foods and lawn treatments. High sulfur foods include allium-rich foods like garlic, onions, leeks & shallots and cruciferous veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussel sprouts.
Berries
Help to heal the gut due to their high fiber content and prebiotics, which support your friendly bacteria.
Root veggies
Like beets, carrots and sweet potatoes contain nutrients that specifically support two of the most important families of friendly bacteria in your gut: lactobacillus and bifidobacteria.
Because I’ve been working in the field of Naturopathy since 1990, I’ve been blessed to study with many of the original movers and shakers in the field. One of those is Dr. Michael Ash, Osteopath, Naturopath, and Nutritionist from the UK. His specialty is the gut microbiome, and I’m going to share the simple gut healing recipe I learned from him in 1994.
Simple Gut Healing Recipe (Dr. Michael Ash, 1994)
My main takeaway from Dr. Ash’s training was that although you can take probiotics to increase healthy bacteria in the gut, you get the biggest improvement in your gut microbiome by fermenting healthy bacteria in your own gut by ingesting the right kinds of fiber. This little recipe gives you exactly what you need to do that:
Ingredients:
- 6 Granny Smith Apples
- ½ cup water
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Directions:
Cut apples into bite sized pieces and add to pot with the water and cinnamon. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
Eat ½ to ¾ cup daily.
Delicious warm or cold!
Final Thoughts
Sometimes the simplest cures are the most powerful. These gut-healing foods are just that. Enjoy!
