You rely on your gut for digestion, but your gut actually impacts almost every aspect of health, including immune support and even emotional health. Certain foods support the gut, but sometimes cravings get in the way with making healthy choices.
To arm you with the information you need to make the best possible food choices, we’ve put together a list of the worst foods for your gut, along with healthier options.
10 Common Foods to Skip—and 10 Alternatives to Try Instead
1. Gluten
Gluten is a type of protein that’s found in many grains, including wheat, rye, and barley. It adds texture to foods but can have a negative impact on your gut. And while some people are more sensitive to gluten than others, research has shown that even if you’re not gluten-sensitive, eating gluten can have significant, long-term effects on your gut bacteria, which in turn can affect pretty much any other part of your body.1
Try this instead: There are lots of grain-free alternatives to pretty much anything you can think of, from chips and spaghetti to rice and beyond. Experiment, and you might be surprised at what you can find!
2. Sugar
No surprises here—you’ve long heard that sugar isn’t the best for your body. (This includes sugar and sweeteners in all of forms: white sugar, brown sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, etc.) In fact, the new USDA dietary guidelines recommend that not more than 5% of total calories in your diet come from added sugar, with overall sugar as a percent of total daily calories between 15 to 20%. Look at the Nutrition Facts panel to see sugar amounts per serving.
But why is it so bad for your gut bacteria?
Most of the bacteria in your gut help support your body, but about 15% of the bacteria in there can have some negative impacts on your overall health. Most of the time this isn’t a problem, because as long as the good bacteria outweigh the bad by about six times, things tend to work pretty well. But if the balance of bacteria shifts, then the undesirable bacteria can start to have more of an effect, leaving you feeling less than your best.
What does this have to do with sugar? Your bacteria get their food from the food that you consume. While some foods are prebiotic, meaning that they break down into substances that feed the good bacteria in your body, others, including sugar, feed the bad guys. The more sugar or sweeteners you eat, the more they can grow and eventually start crowding out the good bacteria, which has all kinds of effects on your body.2,3
Try this instead: There are lots of natural sweeteners that you can use to replace sugar; honey is one of the easiest to find and use and is a potent prebiotic to boot. And remember, dark chocolate is still in: It contains fibers and flavanols that the gut can use to support your health.
3. Fried and Processed Foods
These tasty treats are out for the same reason as sugar: They break down into components that feed the less hospitable bacteria in your gut (not to mention that they have a host of other unsavory health effects). In one memorable experiment, professor of genetic epidemiology Tim Spector found that when his adult son ate strictly fried foods and junk foods for a week, he lost about a third of the species of bacteria in his microbiome, including many beneficial ones. And among the species that stuck around, one linked to problems with weight really flourished. Similar results have been found in other studies.4
Besides the obvious issue with the inhospitable bacteria, the reduction in species of bacteria in the gut––AKA gut diversity—is a really big deal. You see, the more diverse your gut microbiome is, the better your health is likely to be.
Try this instead: If you’re really craving junk food, try opting for healthier versions. For instance, if you’re just dying for some fries, try having some oven-roasted potatoes or even prebiotic-rich jicama fries instead. Alternatively, you can also make fried foods somewhat healthier by air-frying or changing the oil that you cook them in, so try using coconut oil or avocado oil instead of canola or vegetable oil. Unlike many other oils, they don’t break down into harmful components when heated and so are a better choice for anything you’re frying at home.
4. Dairy
Some people are more sensitive to dairy products than others. But research has shown that a diet rich in dairy products has significant effects on your gut microbiome, and it only takes a few days of increased dairy for those changes to take place.4
Another issue with dairy? The possibility of consuming antibiotics in it.5 While antibiotics are literally lifesavers, overusing them is a recipe for disaster. These substances have a “scorched earth” effect on the gut, getting rid of beneficial and nonbeneficial bacteria alike.
Try this instead: Make sure you get the highest quality, organic, grass-fed, rBGH-free dairy you can.
5. Soy
You might think that soy is one of the healthier foods. After all, so many of the foods we consider to be healthy are made with it, and it’s a common substitute for meat. But while soy that’s made in very traditional ways can be healthy, most of the soy we consume today is genetically modified and processed in ways that makes it less-than-ideal for our bodies. Studies have shown that a diet high in soy products can have rapid, large-scale negative effects on gut bacteria, particularly Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, two strains of bacteria that are important for microbial health.6
Try this instead: Organic soy can be healthy, especially when it’s fermented (as in the case of natto, tempeh, or miso). Just be sure to read the label carefully and avoid GMO soy.
6. Red Meat
While having the occasional organic, grass-fed, responsibly farmed steak isn’t likely to throw your whole system off, eating a diet that’s overly meat-heavy can be tough on your body, especially if it includes a lot of red meat.7 While research is ongoing, it’s been shown that eating a lot of red meat affects your gut bacteria quickly, increasing undesirable bacteria and decreasing the good guys. Another problem is that unless you’re getting very high-quality, responsibly produced meat, chances are that it has some antibiotics in it. Crazy fact: 80% of antibiotics used in the U.S. are given to livestock!8
Try this instead: Look for organic, grass-fed meat wherever you can. It’s not only much tastier, it’s much better for your health.
7. Tap Water
Staying hydrated is fundamental to good health. (No surprise, given that our bodies are 55-60% water). While your water is drinkable when it comes out of the tap, it’s also treated with a number of chemicals, including chlorine, which can have significant negative effects on your gut bacteria.9
And don’t forget about the presence of antibiotics and other chemicals. When we consume antibiotics either as medicine or through our food supply, they get processed by our body and released into our wastewater, which is then sometimes recycled for drinking water. While it is processed before it makes its way back to your tap, the water can still have the residue of antibiotics in it, which in turn affects your gut microbiome.
Try this instead: This one’s an easy fix: You can easily get a filter pitcher or select spring water instead of tap.
8. Eggs
Eggs aren’t bad in and of themselves, but how they’re produced matters. While eggs that come from chickens that are fed a healthy diet, allowed to roam, and not dosed up with antibiotics are generally fine for your health, typical farm-raised eggs carry risks. Again, it comes down to the possibility of getting those residual antibiotics through your food.
Try this instead: Eggs are one of the easiest foods to find healthy alternatives for: Just make sure your eggs are coming from happy, drug-free, free-range chickens.
9. Farmed Fish
Conventionally farmed fish are often kept in conditions and fed a diet that’s not ideal for their health. To compensate, the people raising the fish often give them antibiotics directly or in their food, which can then be passed on to you. Also, farmed fish are often fed growth hormones and genetically modified corn that can deplete your beneficial bacteria.
Another potential issue? Some types of fish have high levels of mercury in their flesh, which isn’t good for your health overall and is also associated with lowered levels of good gut bacteria. Like so many of the other things on this list, fish are fine as long as you consume them in moderation and get them from a reputable source.10,11
Try this instead: Do your best to consume only wild-caught fish.
10. GMO Foods
Genetically modified (GMO) foods are relatively new in the market, so research is still ongoing, but there are a number of potential issues with these types of foods. One of the main areas of focus is the negative effects that glyphosate (an herbicide used in growing some GMO foods) has on the gut microbiome. Other research points to changes in the genes of the microbiome: one study has shown that when humans digest GMOs, the artificially created genes transfer into the bacteria of the gut and alter their function.12 Ultimately, the potential negative effects on your gut and overall health are reason enough for to avoid GMOs whenever possible.
Try this instead: Look for foods that are grown using traditional methods with non-GMO ingredients. Depending on where you live, the government might require companies to label GMO foods; otherwise, you may have to do a little bit of research.
Indulging in some ice cream or drinking a glass of tap water every now and then won’t doom you to poor gut health. Instead, do what you can to live a gut-healthy life by taking the best possible care of your body and giving your microbiome the support it needs to thrive—like making healthy changes to your diet and taking a premium probiotic like Hyperbiotics Pro-15® Pre + Probiotic to replenish your beneficial gut bacteria.
You can do it—and your gut will thank you for it!
References:
1. Bonder MJ et al. Genome Medicine. 2016;8(1).
2. Turnbaugh PJ et al. Science Translational Medicine. 2009;1(6).
3. Suez J et al. Nature. 2014;514(7521):181-186.
4. David LA et al. Nature. 2014;505(7484).
5. Zhu Y et al. Scientific Reports. 2015;5(15220).
6. Gill IR et al. The FASEB Journal. 2016;30(1).
7. Paul B et al. Clinical Epigenetics. 2015;7(112).
8. Martin MJ et al. Am J Public Health. 2015;105(12):2409–2410.
9. Exon JH et al. Toxicology. 1987;44(3).
10. Cabello FC. Environmental Microbiology. 2006;8(7).
11. Claus SP et al. Biofilms and Microbiomes. 2016;2(16003).
12. Heritage J. Nature Biotechnology. 2004;22(2).
