Food Rx: Best Foods to Support Gut Health

Emerging research shows keeping your gut healthy with prebiotics and probiotics is critical to overall health, including mental wellness and digestion.

Best Foods to Support Gut Health

Probiotics are the "good" bacteria found naturally in some fermented foods and a healthy digestive tract. Prebiotics are a type of fiber, such as beta-glucan and inulin, linked with promoting growth of the "good" bacteria in the gut. Basically, prebiotics are food for probiotics.

While daily recommended intakes don't yet exist for pre- or probiotics, the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics recommends 3 grams per day of prebiotics. Fortunately, these occur naturally in many foods, including late summer and early fall produce. Stock up on pears, apples, and Jerusalem artichokes. Slice up the latter to add to a fresh salad or roast them like potatoes. Bananas, whole grains, and garlic are great prebiotic sources, too. Add ½ cup chopped apples or banana slices to 1 cup oats to start your day with 6 grams of prebiotic fiber.

When it comes to probiotics, you'll find them in supplements and in some fermented foods. Research shows that people with irritable bowel syndrome who took multiple-strain probiotics for eight weeks had less stomach pain. However, most probiotic supplements' benefits are unknown, so talk to your doctor before taking any supplement.

For probiotic foods, opt at least daily for low-added-sugar yogurt or kefir that contains live and active cultures such as lactobacillus and/or bifidobacterium. While tempeh, pickles, and sourdough bread are fermented, their probiotic bacteria typically are destroyed during processing. Other fermented foods like kimchi and kombucha contain live cultures. But, according to the National Institutes of Health, the microorganisms in them haven't been widely studied for probiotic benefits.

Research is still coming on how much and what kinds of pre- and probiotics we need, but eating five servings of fruits and vegetables and a cup of yogurt with live and active cultures per day is a pretty safe bet for most people.

This article originally appeared in the August/September 2021 issue of Allrecipes Magazine.

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• Prebiotic and Probiotic Recipes