Why a diverse diet is key to a healthy gut

Do you often experience bloating, indigestion, gas, inflammation, skin irritation, redness or skin sensitivity? 

Well, you are not alone!

More than 50% of Australians experience gut health issues every year, and 1 in 7 adults experience distressing gut health symptoms!

One of the most important factors of nurturing good gut health is ensuring that your diet is full of a variety of fruits and vegetables. 

In a study conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that only 6.8% of the population are meeting the recommended usual intake of vegetables! 

Just 3 quarters of the population are consuming any vegetables, with Potatoes making up one quarter of all vegetables consumed. 

Our gut microbiome is a complex eco-system comprising over 30 trillion cells and five different types of organisms including bacteria, yeasts, viruses, parasites and archaea.

All these microbes have a unique role in our health so fostering this diversity is key.

When we nurture a diverse ecosystem of gut bacteria our gut becomes incredibly resilient and strong, as does our overall health and immune system which are so intricately linked.

Think of your gut microbes as people with food preferences, not every microbe wants to eat the same thing and every dietary choice you make will either allow one group of microbes to thrive and the others to die off.

The life cycle of our gut bacteria is so quick that the food choices you make in twenty-four hours will impact the evolution of over 50 generations of gut microbes.

How to eat a diet full of variety for good gut health

My recommendation based on this is to ensure you are eating a variety of plant-based foods every day! Eating healthy foods such as broccoli, kale and seeds repetitively is great but is not nurturing all of our gut microbiome.

Think about changing up your greens and veggies every day and adding nuts, seeds, seaweed and healthy whole grains into your diet to ensure you are fuelling your gut bacteria with the best possible food to nourish and nurture them.

My challenge to you is to add 2 different fruits or vegetables to your diet each week. If you keep up this habit, you will be amazed by the variety of interesting produce you will be adding to your diet each week.