What to eat during our gut health program

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Your diet during our Gut Health program should focus on the following:

  • Copious fresh vegetables

  • Fish and seafood

  • Red meat and chicken but avoiding pork products and all processed meats

  • Eggs

  • Beans and legumes - but being aware of these if one of your issues is excess gas.  Chickpeas should be completely avoided by anyone with gut problems.

  • Nuts and seeds - avoiding excessive levels of peanuts

  • Extra virgin oils such as olive and coconut

  • Whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, and oats in moderate quantities

  • Some fresh fruit - maximum of 3 servings per day

Core Elements of the Diet

Create an inclusion diet not an exclusion diet

Rather than focusing on what you shouldn’t eat, focusing on having as many foods as possible that promote cellular repair and enhance gut integrity.

Eat a varied diet

As this will give you the best possible chance to absorb the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that are the very ingredients that will heal your gut.  Diversity is everything.  Aim for a minimum of 10 different types of vegetables every week, particularly those that are currently in season.

Go mad with vegetables!

If you want to improve your gut function you have to significantly increase the volume of vegetables you are eating.  I’m talking vegetables at every meal and as a significant part of the plate.  For those with problem digestive systems, this often does not mean lots of salad, instead steamed or cooked vegetables are often more appropriate, at times in casserole or soup form.

Root vegetables - kumara (different varieties), pumpkin, squash, potato (in small quantities), beetroot, carrot, parsnip - steamed, roasted or oven baked are a fantastic food group to have on a daily basis.

Leafy greens - are the key to having cells that dance.  A significant portion of these on a daily basis is one of the cornerstones to good health.  Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, rocket, sorrel, parsley, Italian parsley, mint, coriander, watercress, bok choy.  Have one raw salad with as many different greens as possible every day.

Non-starchy veges - of all different colours which contain amazing phytonutrients - celery, capsicum, cucumber, tomato, fennel, eggplant, zucchini, radish, carrots, beetroot.

Onions, leeks and garlic - are often given a bad rep when it comes to digestibility.  These foods can definitely irritate your digestion, but are a fantastic source of nutrients to heal it as well.  So once we’ve reduced the inflammation, aim to include them on a regular basis.

Eat “clean”

Avoiding foods that have been processed in any way and contain chemicals which turn up on ingredients lists as “E” numbers. Any foods that keep for longer than one year should be questioned as to their levels of preservative.  Processed meats such as salami and luncheon sausage contain nitrates, and almost all processed foods contain colours and flavourings to give them a specific taste.

Minimal alcohol

Alcohol has a very detrimental effect on the tight junctions involved in the gut, making it generally inflammatory for people with gut problems.  Drink in moderation, no more than 2 glasses per week if possible. Beware of the mixers you drink as they are often very high in sugar, and the type of wine you drink, as it often contains a lot of the chemical sulphites. Beer and cider are not the friends of an upset tummy. 

Sugar is the greatest enemy to good gut function

So if you’re going to restrict one food group this is the one to focus on.  Sugar feeds all of the microbes that you don’t want populating your digestive system.  The key is to starve them out and feed your good bacteria.  Avoid all sugary cakes, biscuits, ice-cream and soft drink.  Also limit your fruit intake to no more than three serves per day, focusing on low sugar fruits such as berries and melon.

Drink water predominantly

Warmed or room temperature where possible.  Or a good quality herb tea.  The quality of your water can have a huge impact on the microbial balance in your gut.  Consider getting a very good water filter, or buying alkaline pure spring water.  This has a surprisingly powerful effect on balancing gut bacteria.  Avoid coffee, black tea, juice, kombucha and all soft drink.  Drink a minimum of 2L of water or herbal tea per day - preferably 2.5L.  This is very important to start detoxifying your gut.

Fermented foods are amazing

The most beneficial being sauerkraut and kimchi - which I recommend you eat daily.  Also coconut water kefir.  I’m not fond of any forms of fermented dairy for problem tummies.  The inflammatory effect of the dairy tends to cancel out the benefit of the ferment.

Cut down or cut out gluten - which means bread, pasta, cakes and biscuits

Gluten is the most inflammatory food group to your gut behind sugar, and has been shown in numerous studies to create intestinal permeability (or leaky gut). Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye, but it is wheat that most commonly irritates an inflammed gut. Normal bread contains wheat, but it also contains yeasts, which help your nasty microbes to proliferate.  When healing the gut, cut out normal bread completely.  Instead opt for the Life Changing Loaf (which contains no wheat or yeast), or a good quality gluten free bread.  Sourdough should also be avoided when you are trying to heal your gut.

Focus on protein and fat as food sources rather than sugar and carbohydrates

Protein and fat are much easier to digest for upset tummies than carbohydrates, which often feed the very bacteria in your gut that we are trying to reduce.  So if contemplating how to make up the balance in your plate, opt for protein sources - Fish, Meat, Eggs and Nuts and Seeds and fat sources - avocado, meat, coconut, oil.

Warmed and cooked foods help soothe an inflamed gut

When your gut is inflamed it is as though you have a baby’s gut.  We don’t feed a baby a heap of salad and raw foods that are difficult to digest.  Instead we give them foods that are warm and very well cooked, because they are easy to digest.  A raw food diet is unhelpful if you have digestive problems, as your digestive enzymes will not be strong enough to unlock the amazing components to be found in raw food. 

Nuts and seeds

Are a fantastic source of vegetarian protein as well as many vitamins and minerals.  Consume a wide variety of nuts and seeds, being aware to avoid peanuts where possible as they are very inflammatory, instead focusing on all the other nuts.

Seeds - sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, hemp

Nuts - almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, macadamias, pine nuts, pistachios, cashews

What’s the deal with beans and legumes?

So what does that look like practically?

Check out our recipes which are all balanced to help heal your gut, and get an idea of the types of foods to eat on a daily basis.