Nourish Your Microbiome!

The 100 trillion microbes that live upon and (mostly) inside your body are collectively known as your microbiome. These tiny, single-cell organisms outnumber your human cells 10 to 1! They live on your skin, in your mouth, in your nose, but mostly inside your intestinal tract.

Taking good care of your microbiome is critical to your overall health. A balanced microbiome flourishing with friendly flora contributes to optimal functioning of your digestive, immune & nervous systems, and has also been shown to help you maintain a healthy weight.

A number of factors, including environment, exercise, sleep, and stress affect the population & health of your microbiome, but the most important factor is diet. How you eat determines which microbes live happily within your gut and which die off and disappear.

WHAT TO EAT

Fermented (probiotic) foods:

• Fermented dairy
• yogurt
• kefir
• some cottage cheese (check the ingredients and look for probiotics such as "live and active L acidophilus and B Bifidus cultures". We recommend Trader Joe's organic cottage cheese.)

• Fermented dairy substitutes such as coconut yogurt and almond yogurt also work.
• Fermented vegetables. (For all fermented vegetables, the sodium content can be high so watch your portion sizes. A couple of tablespoons per day is enough.)
• Raw sauerkraut (look for it in the refrigerated section. We like Wildbrine brand.)
• Kimchi (Wildbrine also makes a good Korean Kimchi.)
• Pickled vegetables (Japanese tsukemono are excellent. If you get typical American pickled cucumbers, be sure they are refrigerated & made without sugar.)

• Fermented soy such as tempeh, miso and natto.

"Prebiotics:" the foods our microbes feed on

• Unprocessed foods that are low in sugar
• Whole, fibrous plant foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes & whole grains). The following foods have the exact kind of fiber that our friendly bacteria love: asparagus, carrots, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, jicama, leeks, onions, radishes, and tomatoes.

WHAT TO AVOID

• Too much of any of the following: refined flour, sugar, unhealthy fats, additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, processed foods, meat (some meat is fine, but not more that 55% of daily calories)