Singapore Food Trends – How to Eat for a Healthy Gut Microbiome
Did you know that the human body contains at least as many bacteria as actual human cells?!
We have bacteria on our skin, inside our mouth and nose – but the biggest number (and most nutritionally fascinating ones) are living inside our large bowel, often referred to as the gut microbiome.
Don’t worry though, these bacteria are our friends and do incredible things for our health; they:
Aid digestion
Can produce vitamins for us to use
Help to protect us from harmful bacteria
Produce short-chain fatty acids, which have health benefits
Your gut microbiome is incredible, and we know that if we look after our bacteria, the bacteria will look after us.
Despite the huge interest in this topic, there are still so many unknowns. We know that the gut microbiome appears to influence conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, immune function, irritable bowel syndrome and there is growing research as to how the gut microbiome is linked to our brain and mental health. But currently, we do not thoroughly understand how, and therefore unable to have targeted nutrition and dietetic advice for each area of health.
Nutritionists and Dietitians in Singapore, Hong Kong and the rest of the world are eagerly awaiting new research on how we can adapt and target our nutrition advice in relation to the gut microbiome. But for now, we know that greater diversity within our gut microbiome is associated with better health outcomes, and to promote that, we should aim towards:
Consuming a wide variety of different fibre rich foods daily – including wholegrains, beans, pulses, lentils, oats, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables
Eating a healthy and balanced diet
Staying active (as it appears to also improve gut microbiome)
Fermented foods can promote a healthy gut – such kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut and kefir
We also know that stress, illness, overuse of antibiotics, eating a poor-quality diet and potentially poor sleep can cause imbalances to the gut microbiome. So, finding strategies to manage what you can control (e.g. stress, food intake and sleep) is important to look after your trillions of little friends, so that they can look after you!
