Gotta Get a Healthy Gut

The microbiome is a hot topic and the emerging research is exciting. Our Gut Health poster does a great job of explaining what we know so far – diet impacts your microbiome and your microbiome impacts your health. Whether you’re counseling a patient with an autoimmune disease or teaching a class on weight control, the microbiome is relevant. Researchers think gut health affects the immune system, mood, body weight, inflammation, food allergies, certain autoimmune diseases, and more. Here are 6 microbiome basics and lesson talking points to go along with the Gut Health poster:

1. Your gut is home to trillions of microbes – we call this your microbiome. Some of the microbes are beneficial and some are not.
2. Researchers think the microbiome influences our health, including the immune system, mood, body weight, inflammation, food allergies, and certain autoimmune diseases.
3. In a healthy microbiome or a healthy gut, the beneficial microbes keep the bad ones from taking over and causing problems.
4. What you eat impacts your microbiome, as does adequate sleep and physical activity.
5. These foods support a healthy microbiome: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein (plant and animal sources).
6. These foods support an unhealthy microbiome: added sugars, processed foods, alcohol, too much animal protein, and saturated fat.

Make sure everyone knows that a healthy gut is just one more reason to eat a plant-based, high fiber diet. For more information, check out the microbiome glossary on our sister site. You can also purchase our PowerPoint presentation and floor decal.