Eating a nutritionally balanced meal that supports gut health can help maintain a healthy gut microbiome and reduce the risk of digestive issues, inflammation, and chronic diseases. Let’s explore what is a nutritionally balanced meal that promotes a healthy gut. Tanisha Bawa, Certified Nutrition Coach, Founder of TAN|365 shared with HT Lifestyle, meals that can be consumed to increase the good gut bacteria and boost your gut health.

Rainbow of plant-based food and dietary fibre

This will not only make your plate look great, but is also really important for the intake of diverse fibre sources. Consuming adequate fibre supports your cardiovascular and digestive health. It is also linked to glycaemic control for diabetes and maintaining a healthy weight. Hence, complex carbs like millet, amaranth, quinoa, and lentils; fruit like berries, apples, and citrus fruits; vegetables like zucchini, bell pepper, carrots, broccoli, etc. must be a part of your daily meals.

Probiotics

Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms which can be found naturally in fermented foods among others or in the form of supplements. Probiotic consumption has been linked to disease prevention, immunity support and helps against gastrointestinal infections. Probiotics can be found in kefir, pickles, tempeh, greek yogurt and drinks like Kombucha.

Prebiotics

If you include probiotics in your diet, they will need prebiotics to truly help your gut improve. Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that feed on probiotics in your gut. They assist in further improving the immunity system, nervous system, cardiovascular health and bone health. Foods rich in prebiotics are garlic, onion, ripe bananas, watermelon, apples, cherries, cashews, chia seeds, pistachios, etc.

Good fats

Good fats take care of your gut. They improve your mood because 80% of our happy hormone like serotonin, is produced in the gut. So when you consume sufficient good fats, you will observe a positive change in your mood. Even your skin and hair health is tied down to a good gut, therefore, you will see a difference in those aspects too.                Source: HT