If You Don’t Feed Your Gut Bacteria, They Will Eat You(r Intestinal Lining.)

Your gut bacteria, aka microbiome, needs to eat everyday. Preferably three times a day.

But the typical American Diet- high in bread, saturated fat, meat and sugar - dosen’t contain the nutrients that our poor little microbiome needs in order to survive and reproduce. This leaves the gut bacteria no option but to feed on the mucus lining that cover your intestines- this leads to many different issues including leaky gut syndrome.

According to The Gut Bacteria, our gut bacteria need “MACS” to survive and flourish. MACS are short for - microbiota accessible carbohydrates. We consume MACS when we eat a diet that contains rich complex carbohydrates from fruit, vegetable, legumes, and unrefined whole grains.

There’s another step to having a healthy microbiome. It’s eating diverse foods. Why? Well diversity is key for any biological ecosystem, not just your gut bacteria.

For example, if you only ate your favorite fruits and veggies; sweet potatoes, apples, spinach and strawberries. That’s great! But you’re only feeding the 4 types of bacteria that eat the MACS that are contained in those foods. The more we eat a varied diet, the more varied the bacteria is in our gut.

One way I try to do this, is when I enter the produce section at the grocery store, I grab my favorite fruits and veggies that I know and love, and then I look around me and think, “Okay what are some fruits and vegetables that I don’t usually buy and integrate in my diet?”

I did this strategy yesterday while grocery shopping and walked away with some yellow zucchini, parsley and green onions. Now, how am I going to eat these??

This subject is very complicated and I look forward to learning more and sharing more with you!