The food you consume plays a significant role in gut health and the type of bacteria the gut contains. It is essential to know how different foods affect your gut to ensure that you have good gut health.

Why Is Gut Health Important?

When you have good gut health, there is a good balance between helpful and harmful bacteria in your digestive system. The gut digests and absorbs the food you eat to prevent infection and inflammation. Good gut health can help with heart disease, cancer, weight, blood sugar and mental health.

Best Foods for Gut Health

The food you eat directly impacts the bacteria makeup in your gut. Fortunately, there are many beneficial nutrients and foods that can help keep the balance of your digestive system.

Probiotics

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that are great for balancing gut health. You can find probiotics in yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and other fermented foods. Probiotics can also be taken as a supplement, but it’s best to talk to your doctor before starting a supplement regime.

Fiber

Fiber helps your digestive system by making it easier for food to move through it — it can provide a host of other health benefits, too. Foods like bananas, beans and whole grains are all rich in fiber.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids can help increase the diversity of the good bacteria in your digestive system, which can also help prevent inflammation, heart disease and other health conditions. Fish such as salmon, trout, tuna and even sardines are high in omega-3s, making them a superfood for gut health.

Worst Foods for Gut Health

Just like there are foods that are beneficial for your gut, there are also foods that can upset the balance of your digestive system. These are some of the worst foods for gut health.

Red Meat

When red meat interacts with the gut, it produces a compound known as trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). One of the many negative effects of this compound is that it can create a build-up of plaque in the arteries — leading to a higher risk of heart disease.

Artificial Sweeteners

Sucralose and aspartame are artificial sweeteners found in heavily processed foods. Consuming large amounts of these sweeteners can cause inflammation throughout the gut and body. They can also eventually lead to glucose intolerance.

Fried Foods

Fried foods soak up a significant amount of heated oil that can promote the growth of bad bacteria and negatively affect your existing gut bacteria. Eating fried foods often cause stomach pain and diarrhea, signaling an unbalanced gut microbiome.

Ready to Improve Your Gut Health?

To improve gut health, you should first examine the foods you consume since they significantly impact your gut. Seasons offers high-quality, omega-3-rich canned sardines that provide a tasty way to take in essential nutrients that are good for your gut health. Start by ordering our sardines online and trying our amazing recipes.