What constitutes gut-friendly eating?

The truth is, in order to thrive… healthy bacteria in your gut, and digestive system as a whole, require a steady supply of nutrients. Gut-friendly eating of regular meals using a wide variety of whole, unprocessed foods is important for gut health. Certain compounds play a unique role in promoting bacterial diversity. These include fibre, probiotics (healthy bacteria), prebiotics (your gut bacteria food of choice); and polyphenols (plant-based micronutrients bursting with antioxidants).

If gut issues have always been an issue for you, consider speaking to a professional who can help you get your gut biome back in balance.  A few small tweaks in your diet and regular colon cleansing could make all the difference!

Breakfast, lunch, dinner!

Don’t get too stuck on labels. Plenty of foods can be eaten at any time of the day. If you want grains for breakfast and eggs for dinner, go for it! Red meat and heavy carbs are best eaten mid-day, and not necessarily together. Soups and salads make a perfect dinner that won’t keep you up all night, and back to breakfast – eating breakfast is a must!

Adding fuel to start your day right isn’t an option – it’s a must! Drinking coffee until noon is not breakfast. Check that you have balance all the day through. Eating or grazing on smaller meals throughout the day can be beneficial for our engine, but making the right choices for any meal is the most important rule. My mother used to say, “think before you open your mouth.” Now I remind myself of that every time I open my mouth, because everything you put in your mouth has a consequence.

Gut-friendly recipe

Miso Marinated Salmon

This gut-friendly recipe will shake up dinnertime! It’s one of our favorite salmon dishes, and it’s so simple to pull together.

Flavoured with red or white miso paste, rice vinegar and freshly grated ginger, this recipe is a definite crowd pleaser (Recipe below). Miso is a Japanese seasoning made from fermented beans with an added fungal culture, Koji. It’s rich in healthy probiotics and packed with minerals like iron, calcium and phosphorus, as well as stress-relieving B-vitamins.

Marinate in the fridge overnight, or bag it and freeze until you need it.

What to pair it with?

Soba noodles dressed in sesame oil, fresh grated ginger, fish sauce, soya sauce, sesame seeds.

Avocado salad. Avocados cut into bit size pieces, dressed with sesame oil, lime or lemon juice, light soy sauce, sea salt and sesame seeds.

My husband and I have this dish about once a week. We freeze the salmon in the marinade until we are ready to use it. Pull it out of the freezer when we leave for work in the morning, so it’s thawed when we get home. We generally pop it on the grill or in the oven on a grill pan. Preparation takes the stress out of cooking!