
Vegan Buddha Bowl
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Gut-Loving Choc-Orange Muffins
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Are you aware that we have more bacteria living within our digestive system than we have cells in our body? Ten times as many in fact!1 The bacteria that live within us exert a significant influence on our health that we are only just beginning to fully understand.
Ensuring we have healthy colonies of the ‘good’ strains of bacteria helps to prevent dybiosis, supports immune health, protects against the development of food sensitivities and maintains the health of the intestinal mucosa. They also metabolise certain foods and aid in the synthesis of nutrients such as folate and vitamin K.
Many aspects of our modern diet and lifestyles negatively impact the balance of beneficial, protective gut microbiota and may result in dysbiosis. Some of these include:
Fortunately there are two key categories of foods (and supplements) we can utilise to help promote gastrointestinal health through supporting our beneficial microbiota; probiotics and prebiotics.
The World Health Organisation states that probiotics are “live micro-organisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host."3 Probiotics include a variety of strains, the most common being those from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium genuses. When supplementing with probiotics it is important to use a multi-strain formula that identifies all strains with their numerical genotype.
We can use naturally prebiotic rich foods to support our gut microbiota balance also. For food to be considered a prebiotic it must: not be digested or absorbed in the upper digestive tract, be fermented by certain beneficial bacteria in the large intestine, promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, and exert beneficial effects on our health.3 Prebiotics essentially help to feed the good bacteria in our digestive systems and keep our intestinal mucosa healthy. Prebiotic rich foods are rich in certain fibres such as inulin.
References available on request