Gut health is becoming a trending wellness trend, and there's a reason for this. The reason is bacteria in the gut contribute to digestion, immunity, and even mood. One of the easiest, most natural ways to help your gut bacteria is to eat fermented foods, which contain live cultures your gut can use right away. In this guide, you will learn about 15 fermented foods for gut health, the top 15 foods with the most fiber for gut health and will get tips on how to create a full healthy gut diet.
Best Fermented Foods for Gut Health: Best fermented foods for gut health are curd, buttermilk, idli and dosa batter, natural fermented pickles, kanji, kimchi and miso. The foods are packed with live probiotic bacteria that are beneficial to the digestive system, and when combined with the fiber from foods that promote gut health, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, the bacteria get fed and grow.
What Are Fermented Foods for Gut Health?
Fermented foods for gut health are foods that have been naturally fermented with the help of bacteria or yeast, which helps to break down sugars and starches, resulting in beneficial live cultures. They're also known as probiotics, which can help create balance in the bacteria that already reside within your digestive system.
Fermented foods for gut health provide probiotics in their natural food form, as well as extra nutrients from the food they're fermented from, unlike supplements. It's one of the reasons that fermented foods for gut health are usually recommended as a primary step before using probiotics as a capsule or powder.
15 Best Fermented Foods for Gut Health
15 Foods for Gut Health: These are some of the fermented foods that are already incorporated into the daily Indian diet:
The idea is to incorporate them into your diet in a rotating fashion over the course of the week, not to eat one fermented food over and over again. Eating them in rotation all week long will provide variety in the types of bacterial strains you are getting, as opposed to eating the same one over and over.
Gut Healthy Foods Beyond Fermentation
Although there's plenty of attention and focus on fermented foods for gut health, there's plenty of gut healthy foods that are important too. Even those foods that are not fermented, but can support the probiotic bacteria you are introducing into your gut are important.
- Bananas: Ripe bananas have resistant starch to promote gut bacteria
- Fruits: boosts immune system
- Oats: Soluble fiber for a healthy gut lining
- Leafy greens: fiber, micronutrients that aid digestion
These gut-friendly foods can complement your fermented foods to provide a more comprehensive gut health regimen than just fermented foods.
Best Foods for Gut Health: Complete List
There is a dynamic interplay between fermented and non-fermented foods, which is why it's important to take both types into account. When it comes to foods for gut health, there are basically three categories of the best foods to eat:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Probiotic foods | Curd, buttermilk, idli batter, kimchi |
| Prebiotic foods | Garlic, onion, bananas, oats |
| Healthy fats | Avocados, nuts, nut oils, vegetable oils (olive and canola), and whole oils (like flaxseed and hemp) |
The best foods for gut health are the ones from all three categories and not just one, and this is why they work for long-term digestive health. When it comes to gut health, many people look for the one perfect foods to eat, but there is no single super food that will provide all the nutrients required for a healthy gut.
Fiber Rich Foods for Gut Health
Fiber rich foods for gut health are important because fiber is used as food for the probiotic bacteria added via fermented foods. If you don't eat enough fiber rich foods for a healthy gut, the probiotics have limited food to thrive on and don't get as much as they would if they had plenty of fiber.
Whole wheat roti, oats, legumes (rajma and chickpeas) and vegetables (sweet potato and spinach) are good foods for gut health that are rich in fiber. Including fermented foods (curd, any yoghurt, buttermilk or kefir) in combination with fibre rich foods (gumum, pomegranate, dal, dosa etc.) makes the environment better for healthy gut bacteria.
Healthy Gut Diet: How to Build Your Daily Plate
A healthy gut diet involves consuming a regular amount of fermented foods, prebiotic foods and fiber at all times, not just occasionally. This is a simple template for a gut-healthy diet:
| Meal | Example |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Idli or dosa with sambar |
| Mid-Morning | Buttermilk or a banana |
| Lunch | Dal, roti, sabzi, and a side of curd |
| Evening | Roasted chana or fruit |
| Dinner | Vegetable khichdi with pickle |
After implementing this healthy gut diet plan daily, probiotics and prebiotics foods will regularly feature in the diet, instead of using the fermented food once per week.
Diet for Healthy Gut Bacteria: Tips Beyond Food
While a healthy gut bacteria diet is important, there are a couple of lifestyle factors that are important too. To have a balanced diet to support healthy gut bacteria, you need to choose the right foods and incorporate the right habits:
- Don't overuse antibiotics, as they can affect beneficial bacteria as well as bad bacteria.
- Drink plenty of water for digestion and to propel fibre through the gut,
- Take steps to manage stress because prolonged stress can negatively impact diversity of gut bacteria,
- Get regular sleep (as sleep is associated with changes in gut bacteria composition)
These habits, in combination with healthy gut bacteria diet, offer your digestive system the best possible support, not just diet changes. An isolated plan for a healthy gut bacteria without a thought to sleep and stress will never be as effective as a diet that takes both into consideration.
Conclusion
There is no need for costly supplements to support digestion, a regular diet of fermented foods to promote gut health, fiber rich foods to promote gut health and a few supporting healthy lifestyle habits will provide most of what the gut bacteria need. You can always use the list of 15 gut health foods in this guide as a starting point and create a gut health diet with ingredients that you already use in your Indian kitchen. If you're building out a fuller eating plan around this, our guides on easy-to-digest foods and gut-soothing foods for digestive upset cover related ground.
Looking to get healthier with the gut? For the next two weeks, incorporate 3 fermented foods and 2 fiber-rich foods from this list into your diet, day by day, without having to change anything else.
FAQs
1. How often should I eat fermented foods for gut health?
Taking fermented foods for gut health on a daily basis, even in small quantities such as a 100ml bowl of curd or a glass of buttermilk, is more beneficial than consuming large quantities of fermented foods infrequently.
2. What are the best gut healthy foods for beginners?
The first foods to try are curd, buttermilk and bananas, as they are widely available and mild tasting, and can easily be incorporated into an existing diet without a lot of changes. They are also often included in lists of the top foods that are beneficial to the gut for those who are beginning to focus on the health of their gut.
3. Can I get enough probiotics from a healthy gut diet without supplements?
Yes, for the majority of people. A diet that keeps the gut healthy, with regular consumption of fermented foods such as curd, idli batter, pickles, etc., can be sufficient to maintain the gut's health without the need for a dedicated probiotic supplement.
4. What is the difference between fiber rich foods for gut health and probiotic foods?
Gut health foods rich in fiber help to nourish the bacteria that already exists in your gut, while probiotics, such as curd and kimchi, provide additional good bacteria. They are both essential to a healthy gut.
5. How long does it take to see results from a diet for healthy gut bacteria?
The results of eating a healthy gut bacteria diet are noticeable in just 1 week, but it will take a few weeks to see a substantial change in gut bacteria diversity.
