People, Plants and Probiotics; Must-Have Foods to Support Gut and Immune Health
What does feeling good in 2022 mean to you? Improving gut health or immune health? Perhaps becoming stronger or leaner? Whatever the case may be, the foods you eat will certainly impact the outcome!
Here is a nutritionist’s perspective on using foods and eating habits to benefit your health right now.
I will share a TLDR summary of the must-have foods and eating habits at the end. But first, for the person who likes to deeply understand “why”, let me explain the relationship between food, your gut and overall health.
Imagine three friends with three different goals for 2022.
They want robust immunity, excellent gut health, and a lean body composition, respectively.
Should they eat different foods for each goal? If we take the microbiota or microbiome into consideration, probably not.
Gut microbes are intrinsic to human health
We tend to use functional foods prescriptively: “I need elderberry for immune health, fibre for the gut, and non-starchy veggies for weight loss.” But what about the interplay between your food, your gut bacteria, and your goals? It turns out that because of this dynamic, we should probably all make gut health our priority! It is so important to both immune health and body composition; it is an important means to an end.
We each have trillions of human cells in our bodies; red blood cells, skin cells, and about 200 other kinds of human cells. We also have other small things inside of us, which do not have human DNA. These are microbes with whom we have a mutually beneficial relationship. Despite them not being fully human, we couldn’t be fully human without them. If they confer a health benefit to humans, we may call them probiotics.
Probiotics do jobs that help us survive and flourish. From making vitamins or immune compounds for us to regulating cholesterol metabolism, we are accustomed to the aid our bacteria provide. And it goes deep. It is believed that our own mitochondria, which generate energy for active muscle cells, are descended from specialized bacteria incorporated into human cell plasma long ago.
Bacteria affect our health, and we affect the microorganisms living in us, too. A healthy human gut might host trillions of microbes from thousands of species. The pH, temperature and metabolites present in the human gut help them thrive. So does eating a wide variety of colourful whole foods. This feeds beneficial probiotic species by providing lots of different metabolites, which they like.
How and what you eat changes your gut microbes and your health
Food alters not only the direct inputs the body receives, like more or fewer sugars or vitamins, but changes your microbiota and everything that comes with that too. Eating junky refined foods or raising stress chemicals or sugars in your blood can encourage yeasts or infective bacteria to grow, negatively affecting the makeup of your microbiota, while natural whole foods feed helpful bacteria and alter your microbiota for the better.
Changing your lifestyle or eating differently will give you different bacteria. When you change your eating habits, you change how you handle food, in less than a day! However, it can take a year or longer to profoundly shift the bacterial makeup of your gut. If you’re tired of inconsistent vitality or weight, stick with it. Eating well for at least a year will help maintain any changes.
The first must-have is polyphenols, found in all plant-origin foods.
Generations of humans have gravitated to foods that contain polyphenols: gentle yet powerful bioactive compounds. Polyphenols give colour to plant foods such as berries, fruits, and herbs, and many of them can impact both our microbiota and our methylation of DNA. Polyphenols, which are abundant in plants, come in many sub-categories, such as flavonoids, or phenolics.
Humans have adapted to different global climates, and lifestyles, diets, and microbe types vary among the different groups of humans around the world. We know kimchi can benefit the gut flora, and that artichokes and pistachios increase Bifidobacteria in humans. Polyphenols, including subtypes like flavonoids and methylation adaptogen compounds, are found in popular foods spanning the globe and a range of cuisines. Including them is easy if you eat varied and colourful plant foods.
Polyphenol superstars: Flavonoids and Methylation Adaptogens A.K.A. “lifespan essentials”
To go back to our example of three friends with health goals, all three should ingest special flavonoids, as they can feed bacteria in ways that produce improvements to immune function and metabolism. Since bacteria regulate immune responses by fine-tuning the activity of human dendritic cells, toll-like receptors, macrophages, and lymphocytes, the immune health effects have the potential to be especially profound.
Tea, fruit (especially berries, apples, citrus fruits, and cherries), leafy vegetables and onions, soybeans and other legumes, nuts, grains, and wine are excellent sources of flavonoids. The flavonoids in foods like berries have many health benefits. They can inhibit strains of bacteria linked to illness, but interestingly, not your good bacteria. They can even increase Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus bacteria, which provide health benefits.
What we eat also affects methylation, a constant and foundational process in each of our cells whereby we make or unmake biologically active proteins. These proteins, including DNA bases and neurotransmitters, are important for our health, and over or under-active methylating is associated with fertility problems, autism, depression, thyroid disease and aging very badly. Berries balance DNA methylation activity, so we call them methylation adaptogens.
Sulforaphane in cruciferous veggies (arugula, asparagus, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, radish, romaine lettuce, rutabaga, and watercress), anthocyanins, ellagic acid chlorogenic acid, and quercetin (in berries and in Flora’s Grapeseed Extract Plus or Elderberry Crystals), naringenin in oranges, betanin in beets (or Flora’s Red Beet Crystals), curcumin in turmeric (in many Flora products), lycopene in tomatoes, and compounds in green tea, shiitake mushrooms, soy, coffee, and rosemary all help our cells methylate just the right amount.
Flavonoids that change the way your gut bacteria handle calories
Alright, flavonoids and other polyphenols, found in all plant-origin foods, can give health benefits by modulating our gut microbiota, cell and immune functions, so our first two friends can start planning their menus. But are there specific foods for friend number three, to encourage a lean body composition, or is food quantity the only factor?
This is not about shaming any bodies nor needing to look a certain way. Leanness combined with healthy lifestyle factors is a protective combination against early death. And leanness and healthy lifestyle factors are linked to a healthy gut microbiota. Unless you find it terribly hard to keep weight on your frame, to set yourself up for a long and healthy life, grow a leaner microbiome that enables you to get nutrients but not as many calories.
People with more ‘lean bacteria’ in their guts can eat more food without gaining weight, allowing them to get adequate micronutrients yet be slim, unlike folks who gain weight long before they are well-nourished. And the lean bacteria may come from eating certain foods considered ‘healthy’. This may be a reason why leanness and healthiness are often found together in people.
Some bacteria extract more calories from food. Others extract fewer calories from the same food. What food can help to build up the lean bacteria? There seems to be association with lean bacteria and consumption of certain specific flavonoid polyphenols called naringenin and apigenin. Naringenin and apigenin-rich foods are must-haves for those who want to build a lean body.
Folks stuck in a ‘yo-yo’ cycle of weight rebounding might be able to use these foods to reset their guts. Intake of these compounds is positively associated with colon health and negatively associated with regaining weight. Luckily, they are found in yummy and aromatic foods like citrus fruits and herbs.
Some foods that contain both these unique flavonoids include citrus such as grapefruit and oranges, and red wine. Mediterranean diet staples like parsley, tomato, celery, almond, pistachio, and many fruits, contain one or the other. So do herbs like horsetail, yarrow, chamomile, and lemon balm, which can be found in Florasil and many Flora teas and Essences like Flor∙Essence, Sleep∙Essence and Cran∙Essence.
Whole foods eaten in season are a must.
Eating seasonally is another ‘must’. Switch recipes each season. In Ayurveda, seasonal eating is important enough that the concept has its own word; Ritucharya. What is seasonal will vary by the climate you’re in but will include produce items that would have been available without the assistance of modern ripening and preservative chemicals. Choose fresh items that follow natural growing, ripening and harvesting rhythms.
People who truly eat locally and seasonally, such as the Hadza in Tanzania, have entirely different bacterial compositions in different seasons, and this seems to be beneficial. Modern North Americans eat out of area and out of season, and this is not working well for us. We have more weight problems than the Hadza, who stay lean, muscular, and healthy much better than we do.
Winter starches feed bacteria that help maintain an ideal weight. Eating summer food year-round may starve these beneficial bacteria! Like naringenin and apigenin, root veggies change your gut and metabolism. Eating heavier starchy plants when it is cold out is seasonally appropriate and may help maintain bacterial populations that keep inflammation down in winter and keep body fat down entering spring.
Perhaps surprisingly, we have indications that comforting winter carbs may promote lean tendencies. Because plant compounds affect the calorie-efficiency of bacteria, tubers and starchy root vegetables plant the metaphorical seeds for lean spring bacteria. Intuitively, we know that winter carbohydrate choices should be denser than summer fare but sometimes we fight this. Let’s stop the madness and eat what grows in season.
Eat more hearty, starchy, roasted and stewed fibrous whole food carbohydrates in cold winter months. Favour lots of root vegetables and tubers like potatoes and carrots, and eat beans, squash, and hardy crucifers. Salads, sweet fruits, and lettuce greens are fine in summer, but not if there is frost outside.
A diverse and appropriate diet is another must-have for immune and overall health.
Flora loves plant-based eating for reasons such as sustainability that go beyond the benefits of phytonutrients for individual health. But some people feel bad eating plants or avoid some plant compounds. If you have trouble digesting plants or are afraid of their defences, such as lectins in legumes or oxalates in chard, it is ok to limit those foods. Just remember that improving your gut health will often make it possible to break these foods down and enjoy them one day.
Although fibre, and a class of starches called resistant starches, are considered non-digestible by humans, these exclusively plant-origin carbohydrates fuel the growth of probiotic bacteria. Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria can ferment them into metabolites like acetate, propionate, and butyrate. You get huge positive health effects from these metabolites, called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs are linked to improved energy, blood-brain barrier integrity and brain function, and regulation of intestinal and immune system functions.
However, you need adequate health to benefit. If you have insulin resistance, starches may be an issue. For those with chronic or autoimmune illnesses, it is foremost urgent to heal with digestible, nutrient-dense foods loaded with not only phytonutrients, but minerals, vitamins and protein. Fibre is filling without providing any nutrients, and is hard to digest, so such people might limit fibre at first. Because of the wonders of fibre, however, I suggest using digestive aids and adding more fibrous plants as you heal your gut.
Fibres support the growth of lactic acid bacteria, including strains in the Ruminococcus genus, E. rectale, and Roseburia genus strains that aren’t available as supplements. As for grains as a source of fibre, eat them if they suit you. Organic whole grains can promote the growth of helpful Bifidobacteria, Lactobacilli, and Bacteroidetes, but research shows that gluten-containing grains (wheat, barley, rye etc.) can increase intestinal permeability and inflammation in some people.
After considering your personal needs, support development of more diverse microbial system with as many types of foods as you can healthfully include. Do not worry about perfection. 12 plants and 5 animals make up 75% of most people’s diet, so attempting to eat a rainbow of colours and including new foods will make you better than most! Whether you are following an omnivorous or vegetarian or another diet the main point here is inclusion and diversity.
TLDR Summary
There we have it. No matter what diet you follow, the must-haves are polyphenol-rich plants. You want to especially favour those richest in flavonoids. Special flavonoids like apigenin and naringenin may help maintain a lean body, and others known to help modulate methylation are important to help you stay healthy and youthful. However, change up your choices from time to time, to ensure a diversity of foods including plants with an amount of fiber and starch that is seasonally and personally appropriate.
Remember, it is not only you making a change, it’s your microbiota too! The good news is, eating badly doesn’t hurt you too bad if it is not sustained or constant. Because shifting the bacteria in our gut can take more than a year, long term gradual changes are what are called for.
Must-Have Foods include Plants that Contain:
Flavonoids
All plant foods have polyphenols, but tea, fruit (especially berries, apples, citrus fruits, and cherries), leafy vegetables and onions, soybeans and other legumes, nuts, grains, and wine are excellent sources of special polyphenols called flavonoids.
Methylation Adaptogens
Sulforaphane in cruciferous veggies (arugula, asparagus, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, radish, romaine lettuce, rutabaga, and watercress), anthocyanins, ellagic acid chlorogenic acid, and quercetin (in berries and in Flora’s Grapeseed Extract Plus or Elderberry Crystals), naringenin in oranges, betanin in beets (or Flora’s Red Beet Crystals), curcumin in turmeric (in many Flora products), lycopene in tomatoes, and compounds in green tea, shiitake mushrooms, soy, coffee, and rosemary all help our cells methylate just the right amount.
Naringenin and Apigenin
Some foods that contain both these unique flavonoids include citrus such as grapefruit and oranges, and red wine. Mediterranean diet staples like parsley, tomato, celery, almond, pistachio, and many fruits, contain one or the other. So do herbs like horsetail, yarrow, chamomile, and lemon balm, which can be found in Florasil and many Flora teas and Essences like Flor∙Essence, Sleep∙Essence and Cran∙Essence.
Starch, in Season
Eat more hearty, starchy, roasted and stewed fibrous whole food carbohydrates in cold winter months. Favour root vegetables and tubers like potatoes and carrots, and eat beans, squash, and hardy crucifers. Salads, sweet fruits, and lettuce greens are fine in summer, but not if there is frost outside.
Fibre
Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli can make Short Chain Fatty Acids from fiber. Most people with high levels of SCFAs habitually consume large quantities of legumes and unprocessed fruit and vegetables. Hydrolysed guar gum (such as Flora Canada’s IBS Relief powder) very effectively raises SCFAs too.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: DANA REMEDIOS
HOLISTIC NUTRITIONIST DANA GREEN REMEDIOS, RHN, RNCP HAS A PASSION FOR HELPING OTHERS BREAK THROUGH THEIR BLOCKS TO GREATER HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS, WORKING WITH TRANSFORMATIONAL MIND-BODY TOOLS. THE VANCOUVER-BASED EDUCATOR AND COACH ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND SPANISH AS A SPECIALIST WORKING IN THE PRODUCT INFORMATION DEPARTMENT AT FLORA, AND IS A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE FLORAHEALTHY BLOG.
