Gut Health

The gut microbiome has become one of the most talked about and widely researched health and wellness topics in recent years. As well as playing a crucial role in bodily activities like digestion, nutrient absorption, immune function, and the regulation of inflammation and hormones, what happens in our gut is closely linked to heart, skin, metabolic and mental health.

In this article, we explain what the gut microbiome is, how it works, why maintaining a healthy gut is essential, and how we can look after it so that it looks after us.

What is the gut microbiome?

The gut microbiome is the complex ecosystem of diverse microorganisms (microbes) such as bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi, found in our digestive tract, mainly in the large intestine. There are more than 100 trillion microbes living inside us, ten times more than there are human cells.

Our gut microbes produce up to 90% of our body’s serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for regulating mood and feelings of happiness and wellbeing, and around 70% of our immune system resides in the gut.

Each of us has a unique mix of microbes in our gut, so the composition of a healthy gut in one person may look different to a healthy gut in someone else. But generally, when we talk about a healthy microbiome, it’s one that’s in balance, with more beneficial than harmful microbes, and one that has a rich diversity of bugs. Disruptions to this balance, known as dysbiosis, can contribute to a range of health issues, including gastrointestinal disorders, metabolic diseases like diabetes, and even mental health conditions like depression.

The composition and balance of our gut microbiome is influenced by different factors:

Diet – we’ll look at this in more detail further on, but the evidence shows that what, when and how much we eat has an impact on our microbiome. What we eat doesn’t just nourish our body, it also feeds the microbes living in our gut, so a fibre-rich, diverse diet based around whole or minimally processed foods is beneficial.

Antibiotic use – antibiotics are essential for treating bacterial infections, but we need to use them carefully. They don’t distinguish between good and bad bacteria and will kill off both, disrupting the microbiome balance and reducing its diversity.  

Stress – chronic stress can affect the gut in many ways: impairing the digestive process; causing inflammation; altering the way gut muscles move which can lead to conditions like irritable bowel syndrome; and increasing intestinal permeability, also known as ‘leaky gut’, so that bacteria, toxins or partially digested food particles pass through the gut lining and into the bloodstream.

Sleep – sleep and gut health have a bidirectional relationship, meaning that each affects the other. Our body has a circadian rhythm, a natural internal process that regulates our sleep patterns, and this influences the gut microbiome which has its own circadian rhythm. Poor, disrupted sleep upsets the microbiome’s balance, while good, regulated sleep patterns support it. At the same time, the microbiome influences the production of neurotransmitters and hormones that regulate sleep, so the healthier and more balanced our gut, the more likely it is we’ll sleep well.

Exercise - regular physical activity promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria and reduces the presence of harmful bacteria. It also has anti-inflammatory effects and helps the digestive process work effectively and efficiently, all of which are beneficial for the health of the gut microbiome.

Hygiene - overuse of antiseptics and sanitisers can reduce our exposure to beneficial microbes, which means we now have a great excuse to go outside, dig our hands into the soil and get muddy.

Eating for good gut health

As we’ve seen, each of us has a unique microbiome, so when it comes to food, there isn’t a magic, one-size-fits-all diet that works for everyone. But there are consistent food choices and ways of eating we can all adopt that will have a positive long-term impact on our gut health. Dr Tim Spector, a world-renowned scientist and leading expert on the microbiome, recommends five things that will help to keep our gut healthy and in balance.

Eat 30 different plants a week, which is easier than it sounds once we know that plants aren’t just fruits and vegetables, but also include whole grains, spices, nuts and seeds, beans, legumes and lentils, and herbs. Plants tend to be higher in fibre than other foods and a fibre-rich diet is essential for good gut health.

A particularly important type of fibre for supporting a healthy microbiome is prebiotics, plant fibres that bypass the digestive process to become a food source for good gut bacteria, helping them to grow. Good sources of prebiotics include whole grains, asparagus, garlic, leeks, onions, raspberries and apples.

Eat the rainbow, by including lots of colourful plants in our diet as these are rich in fibre and polyphenols, compounds that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Adding fermented foods to our diet is great for our microbiome because they contain living microbes called probiotics that help to increase the amount and diversity of our gut bacteria. A small amount every day can make a big difference and good sources include live yoghurt or kefir, sauerkraut or kimchi, kombucha, tempeh, miso and many different types of cheese including cottage cheese, Cheddar, Gouda or Gruyere.

Rest gut bacteria overnight so that they have time to do the essential work of cleaning up the gut lining, an important part of keeping our gut and our immune system healthy. We can do this by leaving at least 8 to10 hours between our last meal at night and our first meal the next day. Avoiding or limiting snacking between meals also give our microbiota time to rest.

Limit ultra-processed foods as eating a lot of these has been linked to many negative health outcomes including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Ultra-processed foods generally don’t have much fibre or other important nutrients that can feed our good gut bacteria; instead, their high sugar and high unhealthy fat content feed the bad gut bugs that are linked to poor health markers. Choosing tasty, nutritious, unprocessed or minimally processed whole foods and limiting or avoiding ultra-processed foods will keep our microbiome well-fed, balanced and happy.

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