How To Heal Your Gut (5 Easy Steps) - Academy Of Healing Nutrition

5 Steps to Take to Heal Your Gut

At Academy of Healing Nutrition, we stress the importance of the microbiome, the healthy bacteria that live in our intestines and make digestion, absorption and immunity possible.

We know that a healthy gut underlies brain health, organ health, skin and hair health and immunity to illness because the nutrition that is digested and absorbed in the gut passes into our blood. The gut is a passageway into the body. At the Academy, we learn which foods and herbs are beneficial and how to correctly prepare foods that challenge gut health.

Below are a few of the most important steps one can take if they are looking to heal their gut naturally.

1. Avoid sugars (especially processed)

The first step to gut health is to begin rebuilding the microbiome. The best way to do this is to limit harmful foods and substances, such as: sugar, sweets, sweeteners, and inflammatory foods that quickly turn to simple sugars, such as sweet fruits and juices, white flour, grains, even rice, whole wheat, oats and pseudo-grains like buckwheat.

Instead, consider rebuilding the gut

Millet, which is a seed, is not harmful. When inflammatory foods are eliminated the good bacteria have a chance to be replenished with pre- and pro-biotics.

2. Add in probiotics and prebiotics

What are probiotics?

Probiotic foods have traditionally been a source of helpful digestive bacteria. Fermenting foods was the way families could preserve summer produce for year round use. Popular methods include: fermented pickles and sauerkraut without additives, miso, yogurt and kefir, kimchi, naturally fermented soy sauce and Japanese natto made from non-GMO soybeans, traditional (raw milk) buttermilk and raw cheeses.

What are prebiotics?

Prebiotic foods feed our probiotics. They are either not digested, or only partially digestible. They leave behind fiber that passes without breaking down in the stomach and go to the gut where they ferment and feed our probiotic bacteria. They include Jerusalem artichoke (sun chokes), leeks (long white onions) yellow and white onion, asparagus, chicory root, walnuts, and pistachio, to name a few.

Some nutritionists also recommend “resistant starches,” which are high fiber foods that ferment in the gut, such as green banana or white rice boiled with coconut oil and left in the refrigerator overnight. You might have pre-and probiotic foods together or eat the prebiotic foods first and allow them to begin fermentation.

Side-effects of prebiotics

Adding prebiotic foods can bring changes to digestion. Since they are fibrous, they may temporarily increase bloating and gas. They may feel satisfying (like whole grains sometimes do) but increase metabolism and lead to ketones, which happens when we start to burn body fat. Everyone has ketones. We produce them when we don’t have enough insulin in the body to turn sugar (or glucose) into energy. The liver burns fat into ketones, a type of acid, and sends them into our bloodstream. Fasting, extended periods of not-eating, can increase ketones and make us feel nervous or have bad breath. Staying hydrated is important and can often help reduce discomforts.

3. Combine pre- and probiotics

There are many ways we can successfully combine prebiotics and probiotics.

For example, a recipe:

Sauté in olive oil bitter greens such as spinach, dandelion, kale or other, add some onion or leeks, walnuts. And make a salad dressing with yogurt, lemon juice and some fresh or dried herbs that support gut health such as basil, oregano, sage, thyme or a dressing of mashed avocado, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

4. Rebuilding the gut wall

When you start to protect the gut wall you need to add foods that help to prevent tears.

Here is a short list:

Non-Irritating Foods

Non-irritating foods include tubers such as sweet potato, jicama, and taro. Yucca, a South American starchy vegetable contains saponins which are naturally occurring chemicals that have a soapy texture. They soothe the gut wall and help to make joints movement easier for chronic arthritis.

A recipe:

Peel and cook yucca like potato––add in olive oil or coconut oil, sauté onion and garlic. It is difficult to peel. For convenience, you can buy it frozen and boil it covered with water until tender. Yucca, also called cassava, must always be cooked.

Cooling and Moistening Foods

Other foods that help to thicken the gut wall include blueberries, blackberries, figs, cranberries, lemon, dark unsweetened chocolate, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Avocado is a healthy fruit because of its oils.

Seaweeds provide minerals necessary for building healthy blood and tissue. Green vegetables include Brussels sprouts, Belgian endive, arugula, radicchio, broccoli, and broccoli slaw, cabbage, and okra. If you don’t like the slimy texture of okra, you can eat it raw. Nuts include walnut and macadamia. Mushrooms, especially shiitake and enoki, are complex foods and protein sources that improve immunity. They are cooling, nourishing and have anti-cancer effects. Goat and sheep cheese are recommended. Cow dairy is harder to digest and contains a protein that causes allergies in many people. For that reason ghee, clarified butter, is easier to digest and can be used instead of butter.

5. Healing your micro- and holo-biome

As the gut is our inner lining, our skin is the outer surface of our microbiome. That means that our skin quality, texture, moisture and skin aging are greatly influenced by what is absorbed in our gut. Our emotions also influence micro- and holobiome. The holobiome is the sum total of the component genomes in an organism. In this case, together they make up the large intestine, lungs and skin.