Gut Health : Nutrition and Recipes
Many of us want to have better gut health, and even see all of the other health benefits to restoring and maintaining our gut. However, very few people know where to start and feel extremely overwhelmed by the information bombarding social media and other news outlets. The goal is to break down two major contributors to gut health over the next two journals. Today we are going to dive into nutrition and give some grocery store swaps/homemade recipes for rebuilding gut health. In the next journal, the focus is all on supplements! Nutrition and supplements go hand in hand , but many do not realize the lack of regulations and testing that the U.S. requires for anything that falls under the category of supplement. Therefore, it is really important to know not only what is in your supplements but to be able to see 3rd party testing results for yourself.
Let’s talk nutrition! This section is going to combine personal experiences for what has worked for us over the years of trial and error as well as peer reviewed research on foods that impact your gut both positively and negatively. First, there is a large misconception within health spaces that bread wrecks the gut and I do not find that to be true. What is true is that most store bought bread based products are HEAVILY processed and contain a laundry list of preservatives that do wreck gut health. Going back to the basics, it isn’t the bread but instead all of the additives that mess with the gut. In contrast, sourdough is over 2000 years old and is a process of fermentation to bake bread and has been linked to positive gut benefits (sourdough is a great options for those who struggle to regulate blood sugar as well)! According to a study published by the NIH, “Consumption of sourdough bread allows better food digestion, promotes better nutritional uptake of minerals and vitamins and also improves gut health with the presence of LAB in the form of prebiotic food”. When I personally make sourdough bread at home there are less than 6 ingredients involved and paired with locally made butter and sea salt its a perfect snack for gut health! Now, not everybody has a desire to maintain a sourdough starter (hopefully we can change this) and bake bread at home once a week, but there are better options available. One of my favorites is Rudi’s Organic Sourdough which has recently become available at Ingles, and while it does contain a small amount of sunflower oil it is a great alternative to other store bought breads.
Another staple in our house for gut health is raw milk. This is controversial, but for us lower levels of pasteurization tends to have the best benefits for our gut. Research published in 2020 explains, “while concerns in relation to safety need to be considered, intake of unpasteurised milk and dairy products appear to be associated with the growth of the probiotic bacterial genus, Lactobacillus, in the human gut”. Now once again, not everybody has a milk cow in the back yard and that is certainly not a requirement to make this possible. One of our favorite farms is Milky Way Farms in Iva, SC they have a range of products including raw milk for sale, keep in mind this has met minimum requirements required for safe sale and consumption but is as close as you can purchase. However, sometimes this isn’t possible either and a great option in the grocery store is Organic Valley Grassmilk Whole Milk and you can find this almost anywhere.
Below I am going to link some of the recipes that I use consistently to make gut friendly meals.
Instant Pot Yogurt- https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/instant-pot-yogurt/
Sourdough Bread - https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2020/04/sourdough-bread-recipe.html
Sourdough Discard Pancakes - https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/quick-sourdough-discard-pancakes/
Slow Cooker Bone Broth - https://absolutelyflavorful.com/slow-cooker-bone-broth/
Now for Grocery Store Swaps:
Organic Valley Grassmilk - https://www.organicvalley.coop/products/milk/
Siggis Whole Milk Yogurt - https://siggis.com/categories/whole-milk-yogurt
Rudi’s Organic Sourdough - https://rudisbakery.com/products/rocky-mountain-sourdough/
Kettle and Fire Bone Broth - https://www.kettleandfire.com
Research References:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7285075/