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Eat This to Fertilize Your Gut

Did you know that your body contains around 40 trillion bacteria? It’s true- and most of them are located in your gut. These bacteria, which are collectively known as gut microbiota or intestinal flora, help promote your overall well-being. For example, many studies point out that keeping your digestive system healthy can:

  • Maintain a strong immune system
  • Improve weight management
  • Boost your energy and mood

Your daily diet has an effect on your gut health. Unfortunately, our Western diet (processed food, sugar) and lifestyle are actually attacking our microbes and have a detrimental effect on our overall health. This is why it’s necessary to eat a balanced diet that includes gut-friendly foods.

Let’s take a look at the various food types that can fertilize your gut and make a huge difference in the way you look and feel.

Prebiotics

Eat This to Fertilize Your Gut - PrebioticsPrebiotics are natural soluble fibers used as fuel by our gut’s good bacteria. In fact, the only purpose of prebiotics is to feed our intestinal bacteria and maintain high amounts of friendly flora like Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. When you fertilize your gut by eating prebiotic food, it does a better job of absorbing nutrients and supporting health-sustaining products like vitamins and supplements.

Researchers have also shown that prebiotic intake is linked to positive effects on the heart and brain, as well as blood sugar, stress levels, hormones, and cholesterol levels. Examples of prebiotic-rich foods include bananas, pumpkin seeds, and oats, so add them to your diet whenever possible.

Probiotics

Several different classes and types of probiotics exist, but some of the most common include Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Saccharomyces boulardii, which is a yeast. You can consume them through fermented foods or supplements to enjoy health benefits such as:

  • A healthy balance of gut bacteria
  • Better immune function
  • Weight loss

A lot of prebiotic foods are the result of fermentation, a natural process that converts milk into yogurt and cheese and cabbage into sauerkraut or kimchi. Bacteria or yeast is added to beverages or foods to help kick-start the fermentation process.

Certain dairy products, such as aged cheeses, kefir, uncultured buttermilk, and yogurt, are excellent sources of probiotics.

Eat This to Fertilize Your Gut - Probiotics

Other foods include:

Related: How To Make Your Own Probiotics

If you don’t eat fermented foods on a regular basis, here are some tips for incorporating them into your diet:

  • Drink a smoothie made with kefir or probiotic yogurt for a healthy start to the day.
  • Try adding fresh sauerkraut or kimchi to your meals.
  • Enjoy a slice of aged Cheddar cheese for dessert.

Even though these foods are beneficial, moderation is important since many of them are also high in sodium. Enjoy- but not too much!

Related: What Happens if You Take the Wrong Probiotics (Video)

Probiotic Supplements

Eat This to Fertilize Your Gut - Supplements

If you don’t consume fermented foods regularly, you can take a probiotic supplement to encourage the growth of friendly bacteria in your gut.

Taking a supplement that protects the microbes is a good way to ensure you deliver a consistent supply of live good bacteria to your digestive tract, especially since stomach acids make it difficult for organisms to survive.

Fiber-Rich Foods

Eat This to Fertilize Your Gut - FiberOnly around 3% of people consume the recommended amount of fiber every day, yet it’s essential for a healthy gut.  While both soluble and insoluble fiber are essential for your health, insoluble fiber may provide the most benefit for your gut. It assists in moving things through your digestive system and has a cleansing effect on your intestinal tract. Other benefits include:

  • Reducing inflammation in the body
  • Boosting your immune system
  • Fighting obesity

You can add more fiber to your diet by substituting avocado for mayo in your sandwiches, snacking on air-popped popcorn, and enjoying more bean-based foods like chili, hummus, and bean salad.

Green Vegetables

Eat This to Fertilize Your Gut - VegeteblesVegetables, especially leafy green ones, are loaded with vital nutrients your body needs. Additionally, they contain fibers that lead to the formation of butyrate, which can improve your gut immunity, reduce inflammation, and help prevent colon cancer.

Butyrate is the main fuel source for the cells lining your intestinal tract. It is common to see butyrate deficiency in patients with the compromised intestinal mucosa. Inflammatory bowel diseases are also associated with a deficiency in the metabolism of butyrate. To reduce the likelihood of developing a deficiency, make sure your diet includes plenty of kale, microgreens, collard greens, and spinach.

Fruit

Not only is fruit an important source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, but certain varieties do a great job of fertilizing your gut. They include but are not limited to:Eat This to Fertilize Your Gut - Fruits

  • All types of apples
  • Bananas
  • Berries
  • Citrus fruits
  • Mangos

The avocado is also considered a fruit and is a source of fiber, healthy fats, and many other vitamins and minerals, so add it to salads, make guacamole, or use it as a healthy alternative to mayonnaise.

Although no fruit is technically off-limits if you’re prone to bloating, limit your consumption of fruit that is higher in fructose, such as apples, grapes, and mangos.

Garlic

Garlic is naturally high in inulin, a type of non-digestible carbohydrate that helps keep your digestive tract healthy. In essence, it acts as fuel for these bacteria, which makes your gut function more effectively, and actually promotes the growth of bifidobacteria specifically.

It is important to note that when you cook garlic, its prebiotic benefits will begin to diminish, so instead of cooking it all the time, try rubbing it on toast or adding it to salad dressing and guacamole.

Herbal Support for Leaky Gut

Herbal remedies are also important for healing a leaky gut. The following botanicals are outstanding for this purpose:

  • Reishi: Used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine for thousands of years, Reishi is known as the “mushroom of immortality”. It exerts anti-inflammatory action that’s helpful for calming intestinal inflammation.Eat This to Fertilize Your Gut - Herbal Support
  • Plantain: An all-around tonic for the digestive system, Plantain is anti-inflammatory and soothes mucous membranes—an ideal combination for relieving the symptoms of a leaky gut.
  • Slippery Elm: Forming a protective layer in the digestive tract, Slippery Elm assists in helping the gut to heal.
  • Lion’s Mane Mushroom: A known antioxidant, Lion’s Mane helps to cool the inflammatory response.4
  • Turkey Tail Mushroom: Containing important prebiotics that balance the microbiome and control Candida overgrowth, Turkey Tail is another remarkable remedy for healing the gut.
  • Marshmallow: A soothing herbal remedy for the digestive system, Marshmallow is an excellent herb for a leaky gut because it creates a protective layer over intestinal perforations.

All are found in our Leaky/Balanced Gut Tincture. This formulation is an easy way to help assist in the repair of the intestinal tract in order to restore the healthy function of the gut.

Conclusion

Modern society is filled with constant stress, lack of sleep, different types of contaminants, and a high prevalence of junk food, so it’s important to eat gut-healthy, fresh food and herbs. Your gut condition affects practically every aspect of your mind and body, from digestion and blood sugar levels to your immune system, mental health, and how much energy you use on a daily basis. For optimum strength and vitality, fertilizing your gut with fermented, healthy, and unprocessed foods is a must.

You may also like:

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10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Gut Health

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I did not discover “the one condiment”.
Which was very disappointing. I have read al ot about the gut and the article did not surprise me.

I agree – was looking for that one condiment too. I do not like this kind of tactic.
And it does the opposite effect on me as they probably intend: I will most likely sign out of this newsletter. Customers need to be nurtured, not fooled!!

Come on, they told you many things to eat, not just one. You must be a damn liberal idiot.

I think these types of newsletters are supposed to get a base knowledge going for those who have no clue on the topics or are fairly new and need direction. This was a nice resource and doesn’t seem to be fooling anyone

Agree!

Leonora, I’m not sure if you agree with Nelson or with me and Christine, but here is my point:
The text in the email that leads to this page says: “This is the one condiment that helps your gut flora (…) Can you guess what it is?”
Sadly, they did not answer the question, instead they want to sell us a tincture…

The one thing was prebiotics.

JOE POSTED NOVEMBER 16, 2021 8:04 PM
“Come on, they told you many things to eat, not just one. You must be a damn liberal idiot.”
Honestly! Does this content get moderated? I have never been insulted so quickly and so stupidly!! LOL! It’s so offensive I can not help but giggle! Oh Joe!! Take good care of yourself and put some flowers in your heart!

@Nelson:
The text in the email that leads to this page says: “This is the one condiment that helps your gut flora (…) Can you guess what it is?”
Sadly, they did not answer the question, instead they want to sell us a tincture…

And all you should do is try the tincture and see how good it is for YOU. I take one mixed up for ME and it’s working beautifully. Just try it and see for yourself. They usually have several ingredients in it, if it doesn’t work try the Healthy Gut Community.

Thank you for the information. I see many food items categorized by healing area that I can use for my particular gut problem/s.

I assumed that avocado was the “condiment” that was being alluded to, since it shows up twice, and I appreciate the whole article. Thank you for posting it!

Found the condiment and was definitely surprised. The condiment is identified as a condiment within the text and it starts with the letter “A”.

I take a teaspoon of unpasteurised Cider Vinegar with the mother in, to a medium glass of water per day, there is the one item that works, trust me.

There really is a lot of good information here to help our gut flora but the hook they used to get us in here, specifically; the one magic “condiment” that promises to make our gut invincible could almost be considered an oxymoron. Maybe Nicole’s sense of humour coming out. By definition a “condiment” is something we typically add to food, after cooking, to impart a specific flavour, to enhance the flavour, or to complement the dish. Things like salt, pepper, sugar, ketchup, mayo, horseradish, relish, tartar sauce, Wooster sauce, steak sauce, etc. They really wouldn’t have much of an effect on our gut flora. They’re used to improve the flavour of our foods. Used many times after the food has been cooked just before we eat it. So all this discussion about some kind of a magic “condiment” is really an exercise in futility. Maybe Nicole having a joke at our expense.

Actually the article did say to use avocado’s in place of mayonnaise . . .

By definition avocado is NOT a “condiment”.

Give her a break. Love Nicole’s herbal emails and shared love of plants (plants are not political) . I love her books, too.

I thought the using avocado as your mayonnaise was the one condiment they were talking about

As I read this I find it very informative. Yes, a lot of it just confirms what I already know but I still learn from it. As far as “they just want to sell you a teniture ” they tell you everything in it so go make your own and don’t buy theirs. I am going to look at the price and decide if it’s worth doing myself or just as cheap to buy theirs. I will probably try one bottle to make sure it works for me and then continue if it does. I for one appreciate these newsletters and if you don’t then quit getting them but you don’t have to be rude about. And before you go calling me a liberal just know that I am as conservative as they come. I just believe in walking away instead of looking for a fight and being rude

Just to be clear Saralee – I did not call you a Liberal, this comment is from Joe (to me I think!! Ahah!) I see this comment section is not very well programmed and it is not always clear who is responding to who, sometimes you can’t even reply to another comment (not sure why).

Too funny. I saw it to be very informative but when I saw a few complaining about one condiment I couldn’t resist and I struck a nerve. Hahahhahahaha

Ang- Thats what I understood from it, I think people just missed it with all the other information in there.

I would like more info on leaky gut. I’ve ordered the tincture and have been taking it twice a day. I’m wondering if this is a (cure) for this problem, or will I have to continue taking this, and for how long? I’m not even sure I have leaky gut, is their a test for this? I know my digestion is poor. ILL order another bottle if it’s necessary, but at $24.99 a bottle I wonder how long before I’m (healed)….please comment if you have any insight, and thank you in advance! Good health to you.

We really live in a spoiled society, if the article is not to your learning ability or standards then get your information somewhere else. This need for readers to slap the wrists of writers is so arrogant and rude. We all come to these sites for information, there is always something to take away and use, if not then good on you!

Saralee, I really appreciated your comment. I couldn’t agree more. Thank you for reminding us how important it is to keep comments positive.
Dianne V.

Looking through the comments here, I have NOTHING to add. Someone might bite my head off. Good day to all. Over and out.

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