5 INGREDIENTS TO SUPPORT YOUR GUT
It’s no surprise to you by now that we at MULTI put a lot of emphasis on the importance of our gut health as the key to our wellness. We don’t emphasize this importance for no reason. 100% of our DotCom community reports experiencing AT LEAST one gut concern.
Our gut is SO important because it breaks down the foods we eat and absorbs nutrients that support our body's functions. The importance of our gut to our overall health is a topic of increasing research in the medical community and research is showing us that our gut microbiome can affect every organ in our body (Better Health Channel, 2023).
5 INGREDIENTS TO LOOK FOR
When we asked DotCom what their main gut interest was, 41.6% answered that they wanted to find remedies for their gut issues and 14% wanted to learn about products that help their gut. So here are are, doing just that! Let’s highlight 5 ingredients to look for to support your gut!
Prebiotics
Prebiotics are non-digestible foods that stimulate the growth or activity of beneficial bacteria in the intestines. They essentially provide the food that the probiotics need to thrive (Beneden, 2023).
Digestive Enzymes
You can find digestive enzymes are your local vitamin store or grocery store! They are supplements that help break down food and digestion (John Hopkins Medicine, 2022).
Fiber
Fiber helps with digestion, bowel movement and gut health. It can also help feed gut bacteria, pick up compounds for excretion in the stool, and maintain enough water to make the stool more comfortable to pass. Aka, it softens your poop!
Collagen
Collagen is not only great for your skin, it may also help strengthen the gut lining (Chen Q, Chen O, Martins IM, Hou H, Zhao X, Blumberg JB, Li B, 2017). This protein is one of the main components of connective tissues, including bones, skin, tendons, blood vessels, and the lining of the digestive tract. Collagen is unique for being rich in glycine, which is an amino acid essential for rebuilding tissue lining the digestive tract.
Zinc
Zinc helps maintain a strong lining of the digestive tract. This mineral can improve the immune system’s response to pathogenic gut bacteria and even support cell recycling, a process called apoptosis (Scarpellini, E., Balsiger, L. M., Maurizi, V., Rinninella, E., Gasbarrini, A., Giostra, N., Santori, P., Abenavoli, L., & Rasetti, C., 2022).
FIND IT IN YOUR FOOD
As we always do, here is a list of FOODS that are high in probiotics, fiber, and digestive enzymes in case you don’t want to take supplements/pills!!!
Prebiotics
Artichokes, leeks, onions, garlic, asparagus, bananas, legumes, honey, oats and lentils are naturally high in prebiotics. If you don’t want to take a supplement, try adding these foods into your diet (Beneden, 2023)!
Digestive Enzymes
Significant fruits, such as pineapples, mango, papaya, ginger, kiwifruits, and oranges contain natural digestive enzymes that determine their quality (Indresh Kumar, Priya Yadav, Madhulika Gautam, et al., 2022).
Fiber
Fiber is found is so many foods we all love and enjoy! Just to name a handful: potatoes, apples, chickpeas, corn, almonds (Allen S, 2022). The list goes on!
Collagen
There are foods rich in collagen, specifically tough cuts of meat full of connective tissue like pot roast, brisket, and chuck steak. Collagen is also found in the bones and skin of fresh and saltwater fish (The Nutrition Source, 2023).
Zinc
The richest food sources of zinc include meat, fish, and seafood. Eggs, dairy, beans, and nuts all also contain zinc! To be specific, oysters, beef, pumpkin seeds, pork, and turkey breast are all high in zinc (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements).
With all this new information, there is no excuse not to support your gut! We challenge you to add each of these ingredients to your daily diet this week. Bananas in the morning, eggs or hummus at lunch, meats or fish for dinner… I mean, what’s your excuse not to? You can have fun with it and be creative too!
Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). Gut health. Better Health Channel. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/gut-health
15 foods for good gut health. Benenden Health. (2023, November 4). https://www.benenden.co.uk/be-healthy/nutrition/gut-food-15-foods-for-good-gut-health
Digestive enzymes and digestive enzyme supplements. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2022, February 10). https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/digestive-enzymes-and-digestive-enzyme-supplements
Chen Q, Chen O, Martins IM, Hou H, Zhao X, Blumberg JB, Li B. Collagen peptides ameliorate intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction in immunostimulatory Caco-2 cell monolayers via enhancing tight junctions. Food Funct. 2017 Mar 22;8(3):1144-1151. doi: 10.1039/c6fo01347c. PMID: 28174772.
Scarpellini, E., Balsiger, L. M., Maurizi, V., Rinninella, E., Gasbarrini, A., Giostra, N., Santori, P., Abenavoli, L., & Rasetti, C. (2022). Zinc and gut microbiota in health and gastrointestinal disease under the COVID‐19 suggestion. Biofactors (Oxford, England), 48(2), 294-306. https://doi.org/10.1002/biof.1829
Indresh Kumar, Priya Yadav, Madhulika Gautam, et al./Impact of Heat on Naturally Present Digestive Enzymes in Food/ Int J Food Nutr Diet. 2022;10(2):57–63.
Allan, S. (2022, November 14). Increase your fibre intake. Canadian Digestive Health Foundation. https://cdhf.ca/en/increase-your-fibre-intake/
Collagen. The Nutrition Source. (2023, February 7). https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/collagen/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Office of dietary supplements - zinc. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/
