acidophilus and Bifidobacterium sp. might effectively decrease lactose intolerance symptoms. Opt for a high-protein yogurt, with minimal added sugars and simple ingredients. Sauerkraut takes any dish to the next level with its tangy taste and crunchy texture.

Use it on your sandwich, in a salad or as part of a grain bowl. Another reason to love sauerkraut is the many gut health benefits it offers. Sauerkraut is a fermented cabbage packed with probiotics to support the gut. During the fermentation process, microorganisms in the cabbage digests its natural sugars and convert them into carbon dioxide and organic acids.

This helps break down nutrients in food, making them much easier to digest. Learn how to make your own sauerkraut in a jar. This nutrient-dense fruit is high in antioxidants, vitamins C and K which help support immunity, heart health and digestion. To tick the gut health checkbox, they contain insoluble and soluble fiber which are vital for digestion as they provide bulk to the stool while helping to keep your bowels moving regularly.

Whether in a soup, as a dip or as a side dish, beans are one of the best gut foods loaded with protein and fiber. High in resistant starch, black beans act like a prebiotic during the digestion process to nourish the good bacteria. Not everyone tolerates beans in the same way, so if they are difficult for you to digest try soaking the beans overnight and you might be able to tolerate it a little better.

Try adding canned black beans in a scrambled egg breakfast burrito for an extra protein kick. This fermented soybean product is rich in plant-protein, as well as both probiotics and prebiotics that positively influences the gut microbiome.

When cooking, be sure to keep the internal temperature below degrees to ensure the live cultures stay intact. Try these easy tempeh lettuce wraps for a quick lunch option.

Ginger has an abundance of surprising health benefits. The root also helps stimulate the digestive tract thanks to gingerol, a natural substance with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

There are so many ways to enjoy it, but one of our favorite options is soothing your stomach with an easy ginger tea. Wash, peel and slice the ginger. Add water and the ginger root to a small pan and boil.

Strain the tea into a cup and let cool for minutes. Add your favorite sweetener and enjoy. Asparagus is also delicious when added to pasta or an omelet. As part of a healthy diet, garlic may help reduce the risk of heart disease and is also anti-inflammatory in the body.

Inulin and fructooligosaccharides are the two main fibers in garlic—a dynamic prebiotic duo. But that's not all garlic is good for. According to a review in the journal Antioxidants , garlic also has shown positive health effects regarding cancer, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, blood pressure and diabetes, thanks to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and lipid-lowering properties.

That's a whole lot of benefits in those little cloves! If you don't like messing with peeling garlic cloves and the smell it leaves on your hands , a good garlic press is invaluable. You can put the whole clove in there without having to peel it yes, please! Garlic can be used to season almost any dish.

Sauté it with onions and mix it into a stir-fry or pasta. Green bananas the unripe ones are best for the gut because they contain resistant starch, a type of indigestible fiber that produces more beneficial bacteria when your microbes feed on it, according to a review in the journal Nutrients.

So go ahead and make barley and brown rice in bulk for the week. Bonus: Ripe bananas are full of fiber too, which helps keep you fuller longer. Eat bananas with peanut or almond butter for protein, healthy fat and an extra dose of fiber.

Add them to overnight oats, Greek yogurt or a high-fiber cereal, or use them as a topping for whole-wheat toast. Pears are a prebiotic food for the gut and also contain pectin, a compound that helps lower cholesterol.

One medium pear is just calories but has 5. Add a dash of cinnamon to fresh pear slices for a tasty snack, bake a pear crisp or mix diced pear into oatmeal for additional cholesterol-lowering benefits,thanks to the fiber in oatmeal, known as beta-glucan.

Watermelon is naturally high in fructans. Watermelon is a summer staple that is tasty eaten plain. Find that boring? Make a refreshing beverage with it as we do in our Watermelon-Basil Agua Fresca or combine it with feta and mint for a summery salad.

They are found in berries, apples, artichokes, red onions, tea, dark chocolate and other fruits and vegetables. Gut bacteria feed on polyphenols and produce beneficial substances, which in turn, have a positive influence on certain conditions, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and aging, according to a review article in the journal Food Frontiers.

Artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose, have zero calories and no sugar. They pass through the body without being digested, yet they come into contact with the microflora in the gut, negatively changing the composition, according to research published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

However, it's unclear how artificial sweeteners actually affect your health. For now, keep an eye out for aspartame, saccharin and sucralose on the label of processed foods and drinks like diet sodas and other zero-calorie beverages as well as some yogurts, granola bars and protein bars.

These foods and drinks often come with added sugar and salt anyway, so limiting them would be a positive change. Try kombucha in place of soda for a bubbly beverage with good-for-the-gut probiotics.

L-carnitine, a compound found in red meat, interacts with gut bacteria to produce trimethylamine-N-oxide TMAO , according to a study from the Cleveland Clinic and Tufts University. This goes to show that the link between red meat and heart disease is not just about saturated fat and sodium: How gut bacteria interact with red meat may play a role.

Eat red meat in moderation, and choose fatty fish, white fish, chicken or plant-based proteins like tofu and tempeh on the regular. Your microbiome thrives on the diverse fibers and polyphenols that come from eating a variety of colorful fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Research studies, like the review published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology , have found that alcoholism negatively impacts the intestinal microbiome. And while research is scant on the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on gut bacteria, one study published in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine suggests that moderate alcohol intake might have a positive influence on both the gut microbiome and cardiovascular disease.

If you enjoy drinking, be sure to do so in moderation, which is one drink per day for females and two for males. It all comes back to eating lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains for prebiotics food for the bacteria and fermented foods like yogurt and kombucha for probiotics good bacteria.

If you do not normally include these foods in your diet, adding them all at once might cause some unwanted gas and bloat.

Start with small amounts, and once a week, increase the amount a little bit, determining how much to add based on how you feel.

Eat processed foods in moderation and limit added sugars, salt, artificial sweeteners and alcohol to keep your gut critters happy and your risk of chronic diseases low. Use limited data to select advertising.

Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content.

Use profiles to select personalised content. Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources. Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content.

List of Partners vendors. Healthy Eating Best Healthy Foods. By Lainey is a weight-loss dietitian who helps people ditch diets, change their habits and create a healthy lifestyle that lasts. Lainey Younkin, M. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines.

Reviewed by Dietitian Elizabeth Ward is a registered dietitian and award-winning nutrition communicator and writer. Reviewed by Dietitian Elizabeth Ward, M.

In This Article View All. In This Article. Different coloured foods provide us with different types and amounts of polyphenols, and it has been shown that a diverse diet with a variety of colours works best to promote a healthy gut. This fermentation process produces short-chain fatty acids, which are known to have numerous positive effects on the gut-brain axis.

Makes 8 Large cookies, or 11 small. Avoiding FODMAPs can be helpful when it comes to gut health, but it is not a long-term solution. I advise you to always work with a gut health specialist if your symptoms are impacting your daily life.

Cut through the noise and get practical, expert advice, home workouts, easy nutrition and more direct to your inbox. What is kimchi — and is it good for you?

Psychobiotics: the latest frontier in gut health. What are the health benefits of kefir?