Foods to Eat for a Healthy Gut

A healthy gut is an important component of a strong immune system and good health overall. Our "gut biome" includes trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that aid digestion. These microorganisms constantly reproduce and interact with each other. Excessive fat, sugar, and animal products may create a toxic gut environment that harms healthy microbes, which lets unhealthy ones thrive and expand.

We need to eat foods containing probiotics and prebiotics to maintain a healthy gut biome. Probiotics provide beneficial microbes, while foods containing prebiotics help those microbes thrive and grow.

1. Beans and Legumes

Prebiotics are actually fibers and starches that aren't broken down by human digestive enzymes. These digestive-resistant compounds become food for beneficial microbes in the gut. Microbes break down prebiotics for energy and produce short-chain fatty acids, or SCFAs, that contribute to a strong immune system.

Most plant-based foods contain indigestible fibers and starches, but legumes, such as beans, lentils, split peas, and chickpeas, are exceptionally rich sources of prebiotics.