| To support your gut health naturally:Eat a diverse range of plant foods and make fibre a regular part of your meals.Include prebiotic foods that feed your gut microbes and add fermented foods to your diet.Cut back on highly processed foods and excess added sugar, eat slowly and pay attention to your meals.Include regular physical activity, quality sleep and stress management.Stay hydrated and use antibiotics responsibly. |
Your gut is doing a lot more than digesting your lunch. Inside your digestive tract lives a vast community of microorganisms collectively known as the gut microbiome or gut microbiota.
These microbes interact with the food you eat, produce compounds that affect your body, help maintain the intestinal environment and communicate with your immune system and, through the gut-brain axis, your nervous system.
Some of the most useful things you can do to support your gut health are surprisingly ordinary. So, if you’re wondering how to improve gut health naturally, start with the habits you can actually live with.
Everyday Habits to Improve Gut Health Naturally
There is no single food that will magically “fix” your gut. Your gut microbiome responds to your diet and lifestyle, so consistency matters more than chasing the latest gut-health trend.
Eat a More Diverse Range of Foods
Research into the human gut microbiome has found an association between the diversity of plants people eat and the diversity of their gut microbes.
In the American Gut Project, people who reported eating more than 30 different types of plants per week had different microbial patterns from those eating 10 or fewer. The researchers suggested that the variety of fibres and resistant starches found across different plants may help support a more diverse microbial community.
Give your gut more variety to work with.
Try rotating:
- Different vegetables and leafy greens
- Fruits
- Beans, lentils and other legumes
- Whole grains such as oats, millet, sorghum and whole-grain maize
- Nuts and seeds
- Tubers and other plant foods
Kenyan staples already give us plenty to work with. Beans. Maize. Millet. Sorghum. Avocado. Bananas. Sweet potatoes. Groundnuts. Pumpkin. Traditional leafy greens. Passion fruit. Mangoes.
Make Fibre a Regular Part of Your Meals
Fibre is one of the best things you can give your gut microbes. Unlike many other components of food, certain types of dietary fibre make it through the upper digestive tract largely undigested.
When they reach the colon, gut microbes can ferment them and produce compounds called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetate, propionate and butyrate. These metabolites play important roles in the gut and have effects on metabolism, immunity and inflammation.
Feed Your Gut Microbes With Prebiotic Foods
If you’ve read our guide to prebiotics vs probiotics, you already know that prebiotics provide the fuel that helps beneficial gut bacteria thrive. Many prebiotic substances are types of dietary fibre.
Good sources include:
- Beans, peas and lentils
- Oats and whole grains
- Fruits and vegetables
- Nuts and seeds
- Sweet potatoes and other fibre-rich roots and tubers
WHO recommends that adults consume at least 25 grams of naturally occurring dietary fibre per day, although individual needs can vary. One important tip: if you’re currently eating very little fibre, increase it gradually and drink enough fluids. A sudden dramatic increase can leave some people feeling bloated or gassy.
Include Fermented Foods
Fermentation is an age-old way of preserving food, but it also changes the food. Depending on the food and the fermentation process, fermented foods can contain live microorganisms and fermentation-derived compounds.
Research is increasingly interested in what these foods may mean for the gut microbiome. In a small randomized controlled trial published in Cell, researchers compared a high-fibre diet with a diet high in fermented foods.
Over the intervention period, the fermented-food group experienced an increase in gut microbial diversity and a decrease in several inflammatory markers. The study was small, so it doesn’t mean that fermented foods are a cure-all, but it adds to the evidence that they can be an interesting part of a gut-friendly diet.
At Gut Feast Kenya, we make fermented foods and drinks including kombucha, kimchi and sauerkraut, giving you easy ways to add fermented foods to your routine.
Cut Back on Highly Processed Foods and Excess Added Sugar
Not every processed food is bad. The bigger issue is a diet dominated by highly processed foods that are high in free sugars, unhealthy fats or salt while providing relatively little fibre and nutritional variety.
WHO’s current healthy-diet guidance emphasizes diversity, moderation and minimally processed or unprocessed foods, with whole grains, vegetables, fruits and pulses forming important sources of carbohydrates. It also recommends limiting added sugars.
Try these simple swaps
| Instead of… | Try… |
| Sugary cereal | Oats topped with fruit and nuts |
| Candy every time you want something sweet | Fresh fruit or a small portion of dark chocolate |
| Sugary soda | Water, sparkling water or unsweetened drinks |
| Chips as your everyday snack | Roasted chickpeas, groundnuts or nuts |
| Sweetened juice drinks | Whole fruit or water with fresh fruit |
Slow Down and Enjoy Your Food
Digestion starts before your food even reaches your stomach. Chewing breaks food into smaller pieces and mixes it with saliva, which begins the digestive process. Eating slowly may also help you notice when you’re becoming full.
Guidance on digestive health recommends eating more slowly, chewing food well and avoiding overfilling the stomach. So instead of treating meals like a race, try sitting down when you eat, eating without rushing, and paying attention to your hunger and fullness.
Move Your Body, Sleep Well and Manage Stress
Your gut and brain are in constant communication, and lifestyle factors such as physical activity, sleep and psychological stress can influence the gut microbiota and digestive function.
Get moving
Regular physical activity is associated with differences in gut microbial composition and diversity, although researchers are still working out exactly how different types and intensities of exercise affect the microbiome.
Walking, cycling, dancing, swimming, jogging, playing with your children or simply being more active throughout the day all count.
Make sleep a priority
Sleep and the gut microbes have a two-way relationship that researchers are still unpacking. Current evidence suggests that sleep and circadian rhythms can influence the gut microbial environment, while gut microbes and their metabolites may also communicate with pathways involved in sleep and the gut-brain axis. In other words, your bedtime matters.
Give your nervous system a break
Stress can affect digestion and the gut environment. The evidence is complex, and researchers are still working out exactly how these effects translate into human health, but there is good reason to take stress management seriously.
Find something that genuinely helps you unwind, walking, exercise, breathing exercises, prayer, meditation, music, time outdoors or simply putting your phone down for a while.
Stay Hydrated and Use Antibiotics Responsibly
Adequate fluid intake supports normal digestion and helps your body function properly. Water is also generally the simplest choice when you need a drink without added sugar.
And then there’s another habit that deserves attention: don’t use antibiotics casually. Antibiotics don’t distinguish perfectly between bacteria that cause disease and the many bacteria that normally live in and on our bodies.
They can therefore alter the gut microbial community. Use them when they are medically indicated, and use them exactly as prescribed.
You Don’t Need to Overhaul Your Life Overnight
If you’ve read all eight habits and thought, “Where am I supposed to start?”, take a breath. Start with one or two things.
Add a vegetable to a meal you already eat. Try a new fruit or vegetable. Try a serving of fermented food. Go to bed a little earlier. Then do it again tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
- Eat a variety of foods. A diverse diet, particularly one rich in plant foods, provides different fibres and other compounds that can support a diverse gut microbial community.
- Give your gut microbes fibre and prebiotics. Fibre provides important fuel for microbial fermentation, while prebiotic compounds selectively support certain beneficial microorganisms.
- Include fermented foods. Foods such as kombucha, kimchi and sauerkraut can be part of a varied diet, and research suggests fermented-food consumption can influence the gut microbiota.
- Don’t forget the rest of your lifestyle. Movement, sleep, stress management and hydration all form part of the bigger picture.
- Think consistency, not perfection. Your gut doesn’t need another extreme diet. It needs a sustainable pattern of nourishing food and healthy habits.
Have questions about improving your gut health or choosing the right fermented foods? Reach out to Gut Feast Kenya, we’re here to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fastest way to improve gut health naturally?
There isn’t one magic fix for gut health. A good place to start is by eating a more varied, fibre-rich diet, including a range of plant foods, adding fermented foods if you tolerate them, staying active, sleeping well and managing stress.
What foods are good for gut health?
Fibre-rich plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds are excellent choices. Fermented foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha can also be included as part of a varied diet.
How does fibre help the gut?
Some types of fibre reach the large intestine where gut microbes ferment them. This process produces short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, propionate and butyrate, which have important effects within the gut and throughout the body.
Are fermented foods good for your gut?
Fermented foods can be a useful part of a varied diet. Some contain live microorganisms, and research has found associations between fermented-food consumption and changes in the gut microbiome. A small randomized trial also found that a high-fermented-food diet increased microbial diversity and reduced several inflammatory markers.
Do I need probiotic supplements to improve my gut health?
Not necessarily. Probiotic supplements are not a requirement for everyone, and their effects depend on the specific microorganism or strain, the dose and the reason they are being used. For many people, focusing first on a varied, fibre-rich diet and healthy lifestyle habits is a sensible foundation.
How long does it take to improve gut health?
There is no universal timeline. The gut microbiome can respond to dietary changes relatively quickly, but meaningful changes in health depend on many factors, including your existing diet, lifestyle, health status and individual microbiome. The most useful approach is to build habits you can maintain rather than looking for an overnight “gut reset.”