Five easy food swaps to improve your gut health

Scroll through social media or glance at supermarket shelves and you’ll see endless products claiming to improve your gut health.

It seems like everyone is talking about taking care of our microbiome – the billions of tiny organisms living in our digestive system – which influence everything from digestion and immunity to mood and sleep.

Gut health is about having the right mix of bacteria and enough fiber-rich foods to keep everything moving and your body feeling its best.

The key to keeping microbes happy is giving them the right food, and it’s easier than you think to maintain a healthy gut.

Instead of opting for expensive probiotic shots or snacks, I recommend making these five easy food swaps to give your gut a boost.

• Replace chips with popcorn. Popcorn is a whole grain, so it’s full of fiber that feeds the good bacteria in your gut, and it’s also lighter and much less processed than a bag of chips.

• Replace candy with dried fruit. This can be a tough swap to make if you have a sweet tooth, but dried apricots, raisins, or dates can still hit that sweet spot while providing fiber, vitamins, and natural sugars that your gut and energy levels will thank you for.

• Add lentils or chickpeas to your bolognese. Legumes are full of prebiotic fiber that acts as food for your gut microbes and can help round out your meal, making it go further while adding texture and extra plant protein. So it’s a great way to eat less meat without feeling like you’re missing out.

• Replace flavored nuts with plain nuts. Flavored nuts are often loaded with salt and sugar, while plain nuts give you healthy fats and fiber without the additives your gut could do without.

• Replace ice cream with frozen berries and kefir. Ice cream may delight your taste buds, but frozen berries with kefir (a tangy fermented milk drink) give you natural sweetness, antioxidants, and live cultures that can help your microbiome thrive.

Of course, there are many other foods you can eat to improve your gut health, like drinking kombucha or eating fermented foods like kimchi or sauerkraut, but there’s no need to focus too much on that.

The most important thing for your gut and overall health is to eat a range of fiber-rich whole foods like fruits and vegetables.

And when it comes to supplements and probiotics, my advice is the same: there is no evidence that it will do you any good and products like probiotic drinks and powders promising miraculous results can cost you hundreds of dollars, which I consider a waste of money.

Additional reporting by Yasmin Rufo