There are many ways that you can support your digestive health with your diet. Certain foods can help stimulate your digestion, support your friendly flora, and maintain the integrity of the barrier function of your gut.
Supporting your gut health will keep your immune system strong, and ensure you get the most out of the
food you eat.
Here are five food tips for a healthy gut:
- Eat fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, kimchi and sauerkraut. Drink kombucha. There are great options to dairy like cultured coconut milk, and soy yogurt. These foods will keep the healthy flora going strong.
- Eat plenty of fiber in whole grains and veggies. They provide the “fertilizer” for your healthy flora.
- Avoid raw or uncooked meats and fish, as they carry many viruses and tiny parasites, that while they might not infect humans, they put a strain on the immune system in your gut. Avoid having sushi more than once a week.
- Do not drink too much liquid with your meals as it dilutes your enzymes and therefore your digestive power.
- Use coconut oil and ghee (clarified butter) in your cooking. Ghee has butyrate, and coconut oil has medium chain triglycerides, both are the best food for your intestinal cells and keep the barrier strong. Coconut oil also has anti-yeast and anti-viral properties.
Published November 8, 2011 at 5:45 AM
About Dr. Susan Blum
A pioneer in Functional Medicine, Dr. Susan Blum has been treating, healing and preventing chronic diseases for the last decade. Her passion and dedication for identifying and addressing the root causes of chronic illness through the groundbreaking whole body approach known as Functional Medicine, is helping to transform our healthcare system.
Dr. Blum completed her Internal Medicine training at St-Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, her residency in Preventive Medicine at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and is Board Certified in Preventive Medicine. She received her Masters in Public Health at Columbia University, and her training in Functional Medicine from The Institute for Functional Medicine, in Gig Harbor, Washington.
In addition to her role as Founder of The Blum Center for Health, Dr. Blum is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and is on staff at Greenwich Hospital as an Integrative Medicine Specialist in the Medicine Department. She is also a member of the Senior Teaching Faculty at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. and teaches throughout the country in their training programs.
Website: BlumCenterforHealth.com
Facebook: Blum Center for Health
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