Health expert Professor Tim Spector advises incorporating two specific things into your diet to enhance gut health.
The Zoe co-founder, a vocal proponent of gut health’s role in our overall wellbeing, has identified fermented foods as beneficial: “Fermented food, has been shown thanks to a study from Stamford to have anti-inflammatory affects.”
Speaking on the Zoe podcast, Professor Spector shared further insights: “Which means we get this boost of extra microbes that are in food and the probiotics in food, if you have them regularly, and we’re talking at least probably three times a day you’re getting a sample of it, can dampen down inflammation, keep your immune system in much better shape.”
While extolling fermented foods for their capacity to reduce gut inflammation, it should be noted that Healthline previously reported various health issues stemming from gut inflammation, which include chronic constipation, fatigue, and irregular periods.
The fermented Korean dish Kimchi has grown in popularity in recent years (stock)
(Image: Getty Images)
One fermented food that has been gaining particular notoriety in recent years is Kimchi, the delicious dish combines an array of fermented vegetables with a chili and garlic based marinade.
Furthermore, Professor Spector offered another recommendation for promoting a healthy gut – avoiding ultra-processed foods. Despite acknowledging their ubiquity, suggesting it’s ‘pretty impossible to cut them out entirely’, he maintains they should be limited.
He proposed that cutting down on ultra-processed foods to less than 10 per cent of our diet is crucial, explaining: “Because we know that there’s a pro-inflammatory reaction when you’re having a lot of these (ultra-processed) foods and it causes problems for your gut microbes as well as depriving them of fibre and normal nutrients,” reports Gloucestershire Live.
He continued by suggesting how people should aim to incorporate more natural items into their meal plans: “So that is what everyone should be aiming at is to shift more towards real food, you know less fake foods in their diet, plus getting more different fermented foods in their diet.”
Highlighting the dangers, he noted that the negative effects of ultra-processed foods have been consistently recognised and linked to severe health issues like heart disease and certain cancers by numerous health experts.