Functional Foods for Gut Health

In the functional medicine world, we believe that every body system is connected, each system influences all the other systems. We believe in looking for the root cause of disease and in treating systems, not just symptoms.

As we gain more understanding about the body we are learning that the digestive system is at the center of whether a body is healthy and has all its systems functioning properly. An unhealthy gut can cause more than just stomach pain, gas, bloating or diarrhea.

Because 60-80% of our immune system is in our gut, if our gut is out of balance it can lead to many chronic health problems.

10 signs and symptoms that say you have an unhealthy gut:

Digestive issues like bloating, gas, diarrhea

Food allergies or sensitivities

Anxiety and Depression

Chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia

Mood swings, irritability

Skin problems like eczema, rosacea

Frequent illnesses

Autoimmune disease

Hormonal imbalances

Poor memory and concentration, ADD or ADHD

The gut is literally the gateway to health, and the first step to take in healing regardless of diagnosis is, to begin with, the gut.

You can begin healing the gut with functional foods. A functional food is a food that provides benefits beyond basic nutrition. Functional foods play a role in reducing the risk of certain diseases or negative health conditions and can also increase the healing ability of the body and can provide specific health benefits.

2 Functional Foods for Gut Health

Bone Broth

Bone broth is loaded with collagen, amino acids and easy to digest nutrients.

Collagen supports healthy connective tissue and joints, creates glowing skin and strong hair and nails.

Collagen can help heal and seal the protective lining of the gastrointestinal tract. This can help greatly with the symptoms and disorders of leaky gut syndrome, IBS, acid reflux, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Amino acids are needed for the body to produce collagen. Additional sources of collagen, like that found in bone broth as gelatin or in a supplemental form, can help the body when a lot of repair is needed.

Fermented Foods

Fermented foods contain enzymes to help break down the food you eat making the nutrients available to be used by the body.

Fermented foods contain probiotics to help balance the gut microbiome.

Many fermented foods also contain prebiotics to help nourish the beneficial bacteria, the probiotics of the gut.

Try these recipes to add more collagen to your diet.

Bone Broth

Cup-O-Dan

Try these recipes to add more fermented foods to your diet.

Sauerkraut

Fermented Salsa