Starts from the gut believe it or not. So many patients I see suffer in silence with issues with the gut. They can be suffering from everything from loose stools to bloating to the embarrassing ailment of a bad breath. As kids no-one talked about gut health but nowadays gut health is all the rage. A number of books have been published talking about gut health; Sjarmen med tarmen by Giulia Enders is one book I highly recommend to anyone who can stomach reading the intricacies and incredibleness of their very own digestive system. But if reading books isn't your thing and you want some simple easy to follow advice, look no further. My advice won't overwhelm you, cause the plan here is to keep it short and concise.
The foods to avoid
Yes lets start with the bad news first! First on my list is sugar. Yes we all eat too much sugar. It has absolutely no nutritional value, rots our teeth and makes us fat and bloated: good enough reasons to avoid it.
Avoid Junk food: burgers, chips, pizza, chocolate all play havoc with out guts microbe. Also avoid aspartame's products. They effect your microbe ( the good bacteria in your gut) makeup and so best to steer far away from all products with artificial sugar.
But now for what I recommend you include in your diet!
For good gut health one needs to eat the right kind of foods
Some well documented and recommended foods for the gut are :
OLIVE OIL: who doesn't love a drizzle of olive oil? It has antioxidant properties ( meaning simply its good for your cells) and reduces inflammation. Its a good kind of fat.
Next on the list is FISH. Omega 3 are fighters against heart disease.
Raw COCOA is also seen to be good for your gut.
FRUIT AND VEGGIES
EGGS
OATS
FLAXSEEDS
BARLEY
APPLES
YOGHURT
CHEESE (the smellier the better for your gut health).
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
Fermented food like surkål and kefir are brilliant additions to your diet and easily accessible at your local Norwegian supermarket.
For patients suffering from tiredness and loose bowls I often recommend warming Bone broth soup. And for the patient suffering from constipation, increasing fibre and water intake is essential. This is just a starter for you guys. So challenge yourself to a sugar free weekend !
Have a good one !
The kind of food to avoid.