Amanda Pittas - Clinical Nutritionist

Balancing lifestyle with nutrition for a happier, healthier life!

Balancing That Gut Feeling.

Our gut is one of the most important organs in our body. It governs our mood, immunity and our general health and wellbeing. Housing trillions of live bacteria and keeping them happy is the key to living a balanced life. I’ve created a plan to get you started, with foods to eat for gut health and a time saving meal plan, so read on.

Eating for the Gut

The gut microbiome is a complex system that resides in your large intestines. Everybody’s microbiome is different. It’s determined partly by your mother’s microbiome and your first exposure to life at birth. As we grow our diet and lifestyle also contribute to sustaining our personal gut bacteria. So to help your microbiome flourish we do need to support it with gut friendly foods. 

Need some nutritional gut balancing recipes to get you started? Then purchase Nutritional Balance’s Gut Healing Meal Plan.

Probiotics:

These little living microorganism are found in fermented foods such yoghurt, sauekraut and kefir. Our gut is thriving with good and bad bacteria and generally we would like the goodies to outweigh the baddies. So probiotics helps balance our good gut bacteria. Taking certain medications, poor food choices and illness can throw our good bacteria off balance so to help the fight against good and evil we need to eat our way to good health. Improving our digestion is first and foremost so that we can absorb all those nourishing nutrients our food provides.

Probiotic benefits: 

·      Tummy upsets: 

Probiotics help ease and can even sometimes prevent diarrhea. Studies show that probiotics help with diarrhea symptoms faster and on the flip side they even may help with constipation too. 

·      Boost Immunity: 

Sometimes we need an immunity boost and eating probiotic foods can help strengthen our immune system. Studies show that eating probiotic rich food regularly may make us less susceptible to colds and other infections. A small study performed in athletes from New Zealand who had probiotics for four months had about 40% fewer colds and stomach bugs than those who were placed on a placebo. 

·       Skin Health: 

Evidence suggests that probiotics may improve symptoms to do with conditions such as eczema, acne rosacea and sun damage. They do this by reducing inflammation, hydrating the skin and fighting infections. 

·       Heart Health: 

Regularly eating probiotic foods may reduce blood pressure and certain strains of probiotics can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol reducing our risk of heart disease. 

So the research is suggesting that probiotics are good for our gut, skin, heart and immunity. To help all that good gut bacteria thrive eat a healthy fibre-rich (prebiotics) and varied diet each day. Limit food that doesn’t help your gut such as red meat and processed foods.

Have a try at these probiotic rich foods to improve your gut. 

Fermented Foods: 

They are all the rage now and for good reason. They provide the good bacteria in our gut that offers us all those health benefits I have already mentioned above. 

•  Miso; This famous Asian fermented paste is easily accessible. Miso has a umami flavour (meaning taste sensation). We don’t need a lot of it because it’s high in sodium but it’s great in a little soup and makes tasty salad dressings and marinades.

• Tempeh; made from fermented soybeans it has a firm texture and is slightly nutty in flavour. It’s an excellent source of probiotics and even better as it contains all the essential amino acids making it a complete source of vegetarian protein. 

• Kefir; a fermented drink it’s something of a cross between yogurt and a milk drink. It not only has probiotic power but is rich in calcium as well. If your worried about your tummy and lactose intolerance you might find you may be able to tolerate this drink a little better than regular milk. That’s because the probiotics help break down lactose, so it may be easier to digest for some people (not all) who are lactose intolerant. It’s great on your morning cereal and even better in your smoothie. 

• Yoghurt; It’s actually fermented milk. Like Kefir the probiotics help digest some of the lactose (milk sugar) so it’s more easily tolerated by dairy intolerant people. 

• Sauerkraut; made from just using cabbage and salt, you can easily make your own or you can now purchase them at most food stalls. A little tip, purchase the jar that has been sold in the refrigerated section as they will have more probiotics than the shelf stable or canned varieties.

• Kimchi; Another fermented cabbage dish but this time it’s spicy. Not only does it include the gut bacteria your tummy loves to thrive on but a little bit of heat to warm up your metabolism. It’s usually served as a condiment but is now growing popularity and being served on your burgers! 

• Kombucha; I love it and my kids love this tangy drink. It includes yeast and bacteria and is often flavoured with herbs or fruit. My favourite is flavoured with real ginger and helps the tummy even more. You can now buy kombucha in most stores. It does contain a tiny amount of alcohol due to the fermentation process, but it is usually less than 0.5%, check the bottle if your concerned. 

A word of warning though, if you have chronic gut issues, food sensitives, SIBO, Dysbiosis you may want to hold back on the fermented foods until your gut is feeling better. Otherwise you may do more harm than good. Talk to your health care provider about any concerns you may have. 

Supporting optimal health is the key to achieving a balanced lifestyle and continued wellbeing. Need a little more guidance on balancing your gut? Contact Nutritional Balance and see how we can help you!

Don’t forget, if you’re really serious about gut health you can purchase Nutritional Balance’s Gut Healing Meal Plan.

The information provided in this blog is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. None of Nutritional services shall be used to diagnose or treat any health problem or disease. We cannot and do not provide medical advice. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician before altering your diet. The information provided in this blog should not be used in place of a consultation with your physician or other health care provider. We do not recommend the self-management of health problems. Should you have any healthcare-related questions, please consult your physician or other health care provider promptly. You should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of the information provided in this plan.