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10 food swaps for a healthy gut
Instead of changing your whole diet it is easier to swap food items for similar ones that are better for you. In this article you will find 10 food swaps for a healthy gut. Foods for a healthy gut Although there is still a lot more to discover about the gut microbiome, in general higher richness and diversity are correlated with positive health outcomes. As seen in previous articles, a healthy gut microbiome can be achieved by limiting ultra-processed foods and eat a variety of dietary fibre and resistant starch. 10 food swaps for a healthy gut #1: Swap highly highly processed crackers for wholegrain crackers Highly processed crackers contain…
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An introduction to resistant starch
Resistant starch is one of the most recently "discovered" types of dietary fibre. It continues gaining scientific attention due to the fact that certain species of gut bacteria feed on resistant starch to produce short-chain fatty acids, which are beneficial to health.
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Book review: Gutfull by Dr Joanna McMillan
Gutfull by Dr Joanna McMillan is an audiobook with a wealth of information about how to keep a healthy gut in an easy to understand format. The author Dr Joanna McMillan is a nutritionist and dietitian born in Scotland. She is very well known in the Australian dietetics community and the general population as she is very busy with professional webinars, TV shows, etc. She is an author, nutrition consultant and ambassador for many food, nutrition and health organisations and food businesses. Gutfull by Dr Joanna McMillan This audiobook is structured in podcast format, i.e. divided in episodes rather than chapters. The episodes are short and, as mentioned before, in…
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Exercise, gut health and gastrointestinal issues
Exercise is generally regarded as beneficial for health. Gut health is not an exception, athletes tend to have microbiomes with increased composition and/or function. However, too much exercise can be detrimental. This is an overview on exercise, gut health and gastrointestinal issues. Exercise and gut health Most people will agree that exercising is beneficial for health. When comparing the microbiomes of exercising individuals (including athletes) with those of sedentary individuals, scientists have found: More bacterial diversity and/or richness, generally regarded as beneficial to health More short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolic pathways, important for intestinal integrity and other aspects of health Increased metabolic pathways of amino acids (including branched-chain amino acid,…
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What are postbiotics?
In a previous article What are synbiotics? we spoke about some of the players in gut health. This week we will introduce a new term as we discuss: What are postbiotics? What are postbiotics? Postbiotics are metabolites (i.e. byproducts of metabolic processes) secreted by live bacteria or released by dead bacteria which provide health benefits to the host (1, 2). Other names given to postbiotics are metabiotics, biogenics or metabolite/cell-free supernatants (1). Types of postbiotics Postbiotics include, but are not limited to: Short-chain fatty acids (SFCAs) produced by fermentation of non-digestible dietary fibre by gut bacteria. The most abundant SCFAs are acetate, propionate and butyrate (1, 2, 3, 4) Secondary…
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What are synbiotics?
If the word “synbiotics” rings a bell is probably because it sounds like prebiotics and probiotics. All these terms relate to the gut microbiome in ways we will explore to answer the question: what are synbiotics? The microorganisms that populate our gastrointestinal system, or gut microbiome, has been the focus of much research in the past several decades. It is now known that the gut microbiome is involved in immune function, digestion, gut integrity and production of vitamins, among other important functions (1, 2). Probiotics Probiotics are live non-pathogenic microorganisms that can confer health benefits when taken in appropriate doses (1, 3, 4). Probiotics can act on the gut microbiome…
