The Ideal Balance
When you think of bacteria, what are your first thoughts? Do you always think of sickness and disease? Did you know that you have both good and bad bacteria living inside you?
The ideal balance of the good to bad bacteria inside you is roughly 85% make up the good ones while the remaining 15% make up the bad ones. It is important for this balance to be maintained for optimal health. Your diet can quickly alter this balance.
Did you know that you can get good bacteria in food that you eat? Did you know that there are foods that feed the good bacteria in food that you eat that ends up in your gut? Let’s take a look….
Four Ways to Get Good Bacteria in Food That You Eat
1) Fermented food
Fermented food is one of the best ways to get good bacteria in food.
Fermented food has been a regular part of the human diet. Every traditional culture fermented their food to prevent it from getting rotten long before the introduction of refrigeration and other means of food preservation.
Each mouthful of fermented food provides high levels of good bacteria and plays a vital role in keeping your digestive system and entire body healthy.
You can ferment almost any food. Some common fermented foods include sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), pickles (fermented cucumber), fermented olives, kimchi, Kamboucha (fermented tea) and many more.
To get the full benefits of the good bacteria in fermented foods, you need to eat them regularly. You can make your own fermented vegetables at home, they are very easy to prepare.
2) Organic Sugar-Free Yogurt
Live cultured sugar-free yogurt especially the homemade one is one of the ways to get good bacteria in food.
Not all yogurts are the same. Most commercial yogurts sold in the stores are loaded with sugar, artificial sweeteners and other additives so make sure you read the label.
The yogurts made from goat’s milk are particularly filled with more good bacteria like lactobacillus or acidophilus.
3) Miso soup
Miso soup is a fermented Japanese soup and is one of the ways to get good bacteria in food. It contains elevated levels of isoflavones which helps to promote good health.
Miso soup is also rich in zinc which supports immune, digestive and reproductive function.
4) Kefir
Kefir is fermented diary like yogurt. It is also a great way to get good bacteria in food. It is rich in the lactobacilli and bifidus good bacteria. It is made from a combination of goat’s milk and fermented kefir grains. It is better to buy the organic version from the health shop.
These are three of the foods that feed the good bacteria in food that you eat that ends up in your gut (also called prebiotic foods):
1) Dark chocolate
For centuries, there has been many health benefits linked to dark chocolate. One of the benefits is that it feeds the good bacteria in food that you eat that ends up in your gut.
A recent research study revealed by the American Chemical Society reported that when you eat dark chocolate, the good bacteria in your gut feasts on the dark chocolate, they grow, multiply, ferment it and produce compounds that reduce inflammation. In order for dark chocolate to benefit your gut health, choose the dark chocolate made with 85% or 90% cocoa.
2) Resistant starch
Resistant starch is a special kind of starch that humans cannot digest. It feeds the good bacteria in food that you eat that ends up in your gut.
When you consume it, it travels through your digestive tract into your colon where the good bacteria in your colon feeds on it and multiplies. This leads to an increase in good bacteria and a reduction in the bad ones.
Some foods rich in resistant starch include green banana, green plantain, cook-and-cooled-potato, cook-and-cooled-rice. Resistant starch is essentially important for your gut and overall health.
3) Vegetables
A number of vegetables feed the good bacteria in food that you eat that ends up in your gut. Vegetables especially the non-starchy ones are nutrient dense, low in energy and rich in fibre providing so many health benefits so you can eat lots of them without feeling guilty.
Some of these vegetables include Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, leeks, onions, chicory root, asparagus, unripe green banana and mushroom
In conclusion
It is important for you to consider these foods that are rich in good bacteria as necessary foods that you need to eat regularly in order to maintain the population of the good bacteria in your gut.
It is also important to consider the prebiotic foods as necessary foods that you need to eat regularly so that the good bacteria in food that you eat that ends up in your gut is getting the food they need to sustain and grow their population.
This will help to crowd out the bad bacteria and maintain the healthy balance of good to bad bacteria in your gut.
References
ScienceDaily (2014) Precise reason for health benefits of dark chocolate: Thank hungry gut microbes. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140318154725.htm
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