Top 12 Foods That Promote Healthy Gut Bacteria

A healthy gut bacteria equals a healthy life. You can add more fruits and vegetables to your diet to promote gut health.
Shruti Jain
28 Apr, 2023
14 min read

Indians are fond of eating food, and if you ask someone, their day will start with thinking about food and end with thinking about food. We love experimenting with our food, trying out new dishes, or inventing something unique by mixing different ingredients. In our home kitchens, our mothers are superheroes ready to learn and make any possible dish.

But our stomach has to bear our experiments and the different mix-ups. Such things can also lead to unrest in your gut, making you feel bad. Therefore, knowing about food products that can offer a healthy gut while helping you enjoy your food in new forms is good.

Here in this article today, we will be talking about 12 such food products that are nutritious and promote healthy gut bacteria.

Although nobody likes being around bacteria or having them in their bodies, you need gut bacteria for digestion, supplying essential nutrients, and many other reasons.

Interesting Fact

Your body has more bacteria than cells, most of which are good for you.The gut bacteria are great for your overall body and especially for physical and mental health, along with making your tummy happy tummy.

Do You Want Healthy Gut Bacteria? Keep Reading…

Digestion is the key to healthy living, and your gut relies on good bacteria that can help with it. Your gut health will further impact other things, such as weight, among many others. Therefore, you must eat a diet rich in promoting gut bacteria.

It doesn’t mean you only have to limit yourself by eating these food products. Instead, you should include these as much as possible in your diet, especially if you are more prone to gut issues.

Let’s look at 12 food products that are easy to get and consume:

Foods That Promote Healthy Gut Bacteria

#1 Beans For Healthy Gut Bacteria

Beans are a high-fiber food, a particularly soluble fiber that soaks water and forms a gel later consumed by the gut bacteria.

High fiber-rich foods help in easy digestion and prevent constipation. You can include dry beans, chickpeas, lentils, and dry peas, which are considered rich in fiber [1].

Beans are also prebiotics, positively impacting digestive health and improving the immune system.

Eating beans in different forms has always been a weekend lunch ritual in our family. You can make amazing dishes using beans such as chole masala, rajma masala, and many kinds of dal varieties and include them in your family’s diet plan.

When cooking beans such as rajma or channe, serve them with rotis made from Aashirvaad multigrain atta. The atta comprises six grains promoting healthy gut bacteria by regulating your digestive system.

#2 Oats For Healthy Gut Bacteria

If you want to include a fiber-rich diet, do not miss out on oats [2]. They are power-packed with fibers and make one of the best breakfast options. Additionally, oats contain prebiotic elements that help feed good bacteria in your stomach.

Oats are filled with a unique fiber that nourishes and helps to restore the healthy gut bacteria in the body.

You can use oats to make smoothies, porridges, and cheela, or even soak them in milk or water overnight for eating the following day.

#3 Nuts And Dried Fruits For Healthy Gut Bacteria

Indian culture has high importance in consuming nuts and dried fruits. You may remember your mothers soaking almonds and walnuts, especially at night, and giving you to eat the following day. Although they used to make us eat by saying they are good for the mind, they are also great for your gut [3].

Along with nuts, dried fruits such as prunes are very effective in promoting healthy gut bacteria. Prunes are rich in fiber, vitamins K and A, and potassium, and even have laxative (a function that helps to regulate bowel movement) properties aiding in proper digestion.

It is summertime, and you can use nuts in kheer, smoothies, milkshakes, and more and add health and nutrition to your family’s diet. Your kids will enjoy drinking these, and you will be happy with their long-term benefits.

#4 Broccoli

Broccoli or as many people call “hari phool gobhi,” has very underrated properties. In fact, it is among those vegetables that are great for promoting stomach (gut) bacteria [4].

Broccoli’s organic chemical compound maintains gut bacteria’s growth and helps build immunity. Moreover, this vegetable is perfect for lowering inflammation across the body.

Amongst all the vegetables, broccoli is one of the easy to use. You can use it for making salad or soups. If you want to use it for making a salad, steam, sauté, and mix it with mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes.

Or you can boil and puree it for a healthy soup. Whichever way you choose, you are definitely choosing health and taste.

#5 Bananas

Who doesn’t love bananas? They are the kid’s favorite fruit, at least for my daughter. Come summer; she will talk about making banana smoothies and milkshakes and gulp on them. These drinks are so fulfilling that she doesn’t miss eating roti in the summer months.

Bananas are fibrous fruit and help in regulating bowel movements and digestion. Additionally, bananas have an excellent substance promoting healthy gut bacteria. So, eating bananas is like eating a nutritious meal and giving your body a gift of good health.

You can also mix bananas and oats, make a fiber-rich milkshake or smoothie, and let your child enjoy it during hot summer days.

#6 Apples

Apple a day keeps the doctor away.It is true. Apples are delicious, power-packed, full of nutrients, and all seasonal fruit. There are close to 15 varieties of apples that alone grow in India.

There are a lot of options to choose from. And after eating this tasty and juicy, it will make you feel full for a long time.

They are rich in fiber and contain pectin, which makes them prebiotic. Moreover, apples are good for increasing your healthy gut bacteria.    

You can make a fruit salad, apple pie, apple juice, or even khatti meethi apple chutney for your family members.

Do you know there are more than 7,500 types of apples in this world? How many have you eaten?

#7 Yoghurt For Healthy Gut Bacteria

When it comes to the stomach, there is no better product than yogurt. Yogurt is a fermented food and is probiotic in nature. It contains properties and elements that help strengthen digestion and promote healthy gut bacteria.

You will find these properties in some types of Greek yogurts, and they can be included in your meal plan. You can eat yogurt as such or make lassi, chaach, or any curry and serve it along with rice or roti.

#8 Dark Chocolate For Healthy Gut Bacteria

Tell your family, especially your kids that dark chocolate is good for health, and they will happily run in the entire house. Yes, chocolates are everyone’s favorite, but people often don’t prefer eating dark chocolate.

But the fact, it is made of cocoa, which is prebiotic and acts like a fuel for your gut bacteria [5]. To your surprise, eating chocolates is also associated with a better immune and healthy system.

There are various ways of incorporating dark chocolates into your diet. You can try milkshakes, pies, cakes, and smoothies or eat them alone.

#9 Onions For Healthy Gut Bacteria

This staple vegetable, readily available in our kitchens, is an excellent prebiotic source for gut bacteria. Onions also contain the high fiber needed to maintain good gut health. Onions are also a rich source of antioxidants that helps strengthen the gut and build on the immune system.

You can include onions in a lot of ways in your diet. For example, you can make onion paratha, sabzi, gravies, soups, sandwiches, stir fry, and more.

#10 Garlic

Not everyone loves this vegetable, but its flavors are to die for. Garlic is pungent and strong and makes any dish taste different. Moreover, garlic is a rich source of a functional fiber known as inulin that helps feed the good bacteria in our guts [6]. In simple words, eating garlic is like giving fuel to your good bacteria to work and manage your body.

You can try using garlic when cooking different Indian sabzis, curries, stocks, soups, stir-fry, and even in rice dishes.

#11 Green Leafy Vegetables For Healthy Gut Bacteria

We have all heard of the benefits of green leafy vegetables since childhood. Besides improving the eyes, it also does wonders in promoting healthy gut bacteria in the body. Most green leafy vegetables contain a kind of sugar that aids in the growth of this good bacteria. If you include leafy greens in your diet, they will build on healthy digestion.

You will find most of these vegetables during winter, so make the most of them. You can make palak paneer, sarso ka saag, methi aloo, stuffed parathas, raita, and so much more with them.

#12 Pears

Pears and guts are known to be a perfect match. Like the ones mentioned above, Pears are fibrous and full of pectin, which is excellent for intestinal health [7]. Pears are juicy and are good to eat in any season.

They even have soluble fiber that is useful in regulating bowel movements. Plus, eating a pear will ensure your cholesterol is always under control.

You can give pears in your kid’s tiffin box, serve them as a fruit salad, or be innovative and make a tangy chutney or sauce.

You can choose any of these 12 items; these are easily available in the kitchen.

To Make the Long Story Short….

You can choose any of the 12 items as these are easily available in the kitchen. You can add more fruits and vegetables to your diet to promote gut health. When there are simple ways available to promote it, there must be no looking back. After all, health is wealth and taking care of health must be your priority!

FAQs

1. What food items can you eat to increase your healthy gut bacteria?

You should eat food products like yogurt, Miso paste, Kimchi, Almonds, Olive Oil, Sourdough Bread, and more that can help promote healthy gut bacteria.

2. How can you increase the healthy gut bacteria fast?

If you want to quicken up the method of increasing your gut bacteria, add more fibrous food products to your diet. Also, choose products rich in prebiotic and probiotic elements and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

3. Which fruits are good for promoting healthy gut bacteria?

You can eat fruits such as blueberries, kiwis, peaches, pomegranate, grapefruit, etc., that will help you increase the healthy gut bacteria.

4. How exactly do healthy gut bacteria get killed in our bodies?

When we don’t eat a diverse range of food products, are on a lot of antibiotics, do not indulge in physical activities, do not sleep enough, etc. can lead to less healthy gut bacteria in our body.

5. Can you increase healthy gut bacteria using Ayurveda?

Yes, freshly prepared food mixed with certain digestive spices can help promote healthy gut bacteria in the body.

6. Is papaya good for promoting healthy gut bacteria?

Yes, papaya is an excellent source of prebiotics and one of the most beneficial fruit for increasing the healthy gut bacteria in the body. It has the right amount of properties that help properly digest fats and proteins.

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