One easy way to optimise your gut health

As I wrote in this blog post, gut dysbiosis (the imbalance of microbes that live within us) can have a widespread impact on our health. They can impact:

• Our hormones

• Therefore, our cycles

• Therefore, our fertility

But it’s not just the gut microbiome that we care about when it comes to fertility. There is now the idea of the “reproductive microbiome”. This refers to the various microbiomes (cohorts of microbes) that are present in our various organs including our mouth, our vagina, our uterus, our Fallopian tubes, our ovaries and for the men, in their semen.

These microbiomes are all connected and if there is dysbiosis in one area, then this reduces the chances of a healthy conception, healthy pregnancy and healthy full term baby.

There is much that can be done to improve the health and robustness of our microbiomes and if you were to ever work with me 121 then I would most likely recommend microbiome testing, to get a full and accurate picture of what is going on for you, the couple, so we can personalise support plans.

But today I want to share one simple way to give your gut bugs some love and help them thrive.

Happy gut bugs - happy you!

And it sounds so simple, because it is. It’s to increase your dietary fibre intake - specifically focusing on a type of fibre we refer to as prebiotics.

You’ve most likely heard of probiotics before - these are essentially the live bacteria that colonise our microbiome. They can be taken as supplements, or they can be found in certain foods such as fermented foods and live yoghurt.

Prebiotics though, is a type of fibre that the probiotics (i.e. the bacteria) feed off.

The bugs in our gut ferment this type of fibre and produce something called Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA’s), which in turn are food for the good bacteria as well as fuel for your intestinal cells. For your gut to work effectively at digesting and absorbing the lovely nutrients from your food and supplements, the intestinal cells need energy, which they get from these SCFA’s - produced by the fermentation of the prebiotic fibre.

So below I’m sharing with you my top 10 sources of prebiotic fibre, most of which are readily accessible and easy to add to your daily meals!

Jerusalem Artichoke

This vegetable is amazing! It’s not actually an artichoke - it’s a tuber and a species of sunflower. It tastes delicious and can be a great alternative to potato - you can roast it in just the same way. High in inulin, it’s a great source of food for those gut bugs.

Garlic

Rich in inulin and FOS (fructooligosaccharide), and such an easy add in to most meals, not to mention very tasty. Liberally add to stir fries, roasts, roasted/sauteed vegetables, curries, stews, soups, salads - the list is endless.

Onions

From the same family as garlic and another very easy ingredient to add to meals - onions and garlic go hand in hand!

Leeks

Another sterling vegetable from the allium family (alongside garlic and onions) and bringing a slightly different flavour. Beautiful as a side dish sautéed in butter, or in trusty leek and potato soup!

Chicory Root

One you might be less familiar with, but a brilliant prebiotic source. The interesting thing about chicory root is you can buy it as a powder and use it as a caffeine free coffee replacement. A great choice if you know you need to reduce your caffeine intake on your TTC journey.

Asparagus

One of my fave vegetables of all time. Only in season for a short period in the spring / early summer, but so tasty when it’s available. Keeping it simple is best - lightly fried in garlic and butter as a side to steak or topping a salad - yum!!

Bananas

The trusty banana, very accessible and cheap. Not just great as a single fruit snack, but can be added into breakfast porridge, overnight oats or smoothies. And a brilliant way to have a healthier dessert - baked banana or my recent favourite is using frozen banana, whizzed in the food processor to create a dairy free ice cream. Try it!

Apples

Another easily accessible food. Pectin is the magic ingredient in apples when it comes to fibre and gut health. A brilliant way to have apples is to slowly stew them in butter. You can do a big batch and freeze it to add to porridge, overnight oats or to add to yoghurt or other desserts.

Oats

Good old oats! I could literally eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A very cheap source of good quality fibre as well. Of course there’s the typical porridge and overnight oats to be had, but you can also add it to smoothies to provide a bit of extra oomph and you can also use them as a healthier crumble topping (on top of those stewed apples!).

Flaxseed

Can be bought pre-ground or in whole seed form, which you can then grind up in a coffee grinder or high quality food processor. Easy to add a tablespoon into porridge, overnight oats, smoothies and can even be added to soups and stews. Not only good for your gut bugs but also to manage cholesterol levels.

It’s important to note that some people may notice an aggravation of digestive symptoms if they have lots of these types of food. It’s normal to get a bit of flatulence with them, but if you get a lot and it’s particularly smelly as well as bloating or abdominal pain, these can be some signs of potential dysbiosis or bacterial overgrowth and would warrant some further investigation.

Feel free to get in touch with me here if this is something you’ve experienced and would like to look into with some gut testing.

Otherwise, let me know how you get on with these prebiotic foods!