These days, it’s so hard to know if we’re truly eating the right foods for our gut health. There are so many mixed opinions coming from different professionals Shutand wellness experts, and it’s also challenging to eat a diet that’s not strictly meat, fruits, and vegetables.
We’re living in a world that’s highly dependent on premade and processed foods. While eating these foods in moderation is fine, some of them can be super harmful to our gut health, especially as you age, so it’s important that you’re choosing the healthiest option. If you’re of a certain age and looking to improve the quality of the foods you eat on a daily basis, you’re in luck, as Dr. Michael Ruscio, who specializes in gut health, recently made a YouTube video about four easy food swaps you can make in your home to “improve” the state of your gut. Read more about them below.
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1. Regular Bread For Organic Sprouted Bread
Bread is a delicious, filling, and energy-boosting source of carbs that oftentimes gets vilified by the health community. However, if you love bread, don't feel ashamed! Sure, it's high in carbs, but if you're choosing a nutritious bread, like organic sprouted bread, you can find an option that's also packed with fiber and minerals.
Dr. Ruscio suggests swapping your usual white bread or store-bought wheat bread for some organic sprouted bread that will give you added benefits.
"Sprouted bread is higher in fiber, easier to digest, and contains less gluten than regular bread," he notes in his video.
While it might not taste as good as some stripped-down, chewy white bread, your gut will undoubtedly thank you for making the change to sprouted bread.
2. Whole Milk For Greek Yogurt
Dairy is a food group that can provide us with healthy fats and important vitamins and nutrients like calcium, which can help improve our bones and joints. However, some people become more sensitive to dairy as they age, and it can cause a mess in your gut. If you have to stick with one dairy product throughout the day, Dr. Rucsio recommends swapping your daily serving of whole milk for Greek yogurt instead.
"Greek yogurt is a great source of protein and contains natural probiotics for digestion," he explains.
After enjoying a breakfast or snack with a Greek yogurt base, you can swap dairy milk throughout the day with more gut-healthy options, like high-protein almond milk.
3. High-Sugar Breakfast Cereal For Organic Steel-Cut Oats
As quick, easy, and delicious as most name-brand breakfast cereals can be, many of them are full of refined sugars that can irritate and mess up your gut health and harm your digestive system. Most sweet cereals are practically dessert in a bowl, and they're not a great thing to start your morning off with. Instead, reach for one of the better high-fiber options - steel-cut oats.
"Processed cereals are full of sugar and artificial junk that hurts your health," explains Dr. Rucsio. "That's why it's best to choose non-processed carbs that are loaded with vitamins and minerals."
If you're not that into oatmeal, the gut health specialist also suggests looking up recipes for low-sugar, high-fiber chia seed pudding as a way to switch things up.
4. Milk Chocolate For Dark Chocolate
As delicious and indulgent as milk chocolate can be, most companies that make it pack it with sugar and excess dairy that can easily hurt your stomach. Although it contains cocoa, most processed milk chocolates have very few health benefits, which could explain why you may get a bit of a stomachache after you eat them. However, a world without chocolate is a grim one, so Dr. Rucsio suggests reaching for dark chocolate - the higher percentage of cocoa, the better!
"Dark chocolate has 50% less sugar and it's loaded with beneficial compounds like magnesium and theobromine that boost your mood and antioxidant capacity," notes Dr. Rucsio.
If you can't get through the day without a chocolate fix, buy yourself a bar of high-quality dark chocolate with as little sugar as possible, and you will feel better than you would with sugar-filled milk chocolate!
