Microbiome Enhancing Diet: The gut-healthiest diet around!

There are trillions of microbes living on and inside your body including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Your gut hosts a majority of these microbes and is referred to as the gut microbiome. Although many different kinds of microbes are present in the gut, bacteria are the most well-studied species. Some bacteria are linked to diseases, but there are beneficial bacteria in your gut that are extremely important for various functions in the body. A healthy gut microbiome plays a role in regulating several functions such as nutrient and drug metabolism, immunomodulation, maintenance of intestinal barrier, and protection against pathogens. 

What’s more, there are about 1,000 different species of bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract, and each of them has a different function to play. The gut microbes weigh about 1-2 kg, which is comparable to the weight of your brain. They work together as another organ in the body that’s critical for your health.

Humans are first exposed to microbes during delivery through the birth canal and their gut microbiome changes throughout their lifetime. This mainly depends on the person’s lifestyle habits, especially diet. Diet plays a major role in determining the composition of your gut microbiome, indicating that dietary strategies may have a therapeutic effect on the gut microbiome.

There is no scientific evidence to prove the effectiveness of the microbiome diet specifically. But there is evidence that diet can improve your gut microbiome and benefit human health. This article examines how the microbiome diet works, what foods to eat and avoid, and its pros and cons.

How microbiome imbalance affects your body?

Your gut microbiome affects several health aspects and an imbalance in the normal gut microbiome may cause gastrointestinal distress such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), irritable bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease and high cholesterol. The gut microbes also regulate your appetite, glucose metabolism, immune system response, and fat storage. Changes in the composition of the gut microbiome have been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

How to maintain a healthy gut microbiome?

Gut health can be modified through a diet rich in healthy foods and lifestyle changes. Here are some ways in which you can improve your gut health.

• Eat a diverse and wholesome diet: Eating a balanced diet may lead to a diverse microbiome. Foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds contain essential nutrients and antioxidants that are beneficial for your gut health as it nourishes healthy bacteria in the gut.

• Consume more probiotic foods: Fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, and yogurt are good sources of probiotic bacteria that help to reduce the number of bad bacteria in the gut.

• Eat foods high in polyphenols: Polyphenols are plant compounds present in foods including green tea, dark chocolates, red wine, whole grains, and olive oil. They feed the Bifidobacterium and increase their population in the gut, promoting a healthier gut.

• Abstain from gut-damaging foods: Foods containing unhealthy fats, added sugars, and processed foods as well as excessive alcohol consumption, and smoking damage your gut and should be avoided as much as possible.

• Use antibiotics only if necessary: Antibiotics don’t just kill bad gut bacteria but also the good ones. It may contribute to antibiotic resistance and weight gain. Thus, avoid taking antibiotics unless it’s completely necessary.

• Reduce your stress levels: Chronic high-stress levels can take a toll on your whole body, including your gut. Activities such as meditation, yoga, walking, listening to music, and connecting with your loved ones can help you manage your stress.

• Consume prebiotics and probiotics: Probiotics are the good bacteria found in certain foods, while prebiotics is dietary fibers that feed the good bacteria in the gut. Including both prebiotics and probiotics in your diet is crucial for a healthy gut and digestive system consequently.

• Get enough sleep: Chronic sleep deprivation or poor sleep quality can have a significant impact on your gut health. Aim for at least 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

• Limit your consumption of Artificial Sweeteners: Evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame can promote the growth of bad bacteria like Enterobacteriaceae in the gut, and should be avoided as much as possible.

• Stay active: Moderate exercise has been linked to a healthier gut microbiome in terms of both number as well as diversity. Exercises such as walking, running, swimming, and yoga are some of the best forms of exercise to stay healthy.

• Stay in touch with your surroundings: Research has shown that activities such as gardening and playing with your pets naturally enriches your gut flora.

What is the Microbiome Diet?

The microbiome diet is a three-phase diet program intended for weight loss by restoring your gut health. It was developed by Dr. Raphael Kellman, a functional medicine physician who specializes in gut health. The diet gained popularity after Dr. Kellman released his book in 2014, titled ‘’The Microbiome Diet’’. The idea behind this diet is that the right foods can help you achieve a healthy gut microbiome — which affects your ability to lose weight.

How to follow this diet?

The microbiome diet is divided into three phases. It begins with an elimination diet and each phase eliminates the same foods but the flexibility in the diet increases with each phase. The microbiome diet encourages intuitive eating and listening to your body. The dieters are recommended to honor their hunger instead of counting calories and eating mindfully to understand their body’s satiety cues. You should eat when you’re hungry, and stop when you’re full. It also encourages you to listen to your body.

Phase 1: Four R’s Protocol

The first stage lasts for 21 days and focuses on removing bad bacteria from your gut and repopulating it with good bacteria. It also aims to promote the proper secretion of digestive enzymes and stomach acids as well as to repair the gut lining. It is the strictest phase of the three and is based on the ‘’Four R’s’’ of gut health, including:

1. Remove: Eliminate all foods from your diet that contain harmful chemicals and toxins that may disturb your gut microbiome or cause inflammation. These supposedly gut-damaging foods or agents include hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, and certain other medications.
   
   
2. Repair: Consume lots of plant-based foods and take probiotic supplements to heal your gut and restore your gut microbiome, you can learn more about the Best 10 Pre and Probiotics for leaky gut and support gut.
   
   
3. Replace: Consume herbs and spices, and use supplementation to boost the production of digestive enzymes and stomach acids, and stimulate the growth of good bacteria in your gut.
   
   
4. Reinoculate: Bring back the good bacteria in your gut by consuming prebiotic- and probiotic-rich foods and through supplements.

This stage involves eliminating a large number of foods, including dairy, all grains, most legumes, eggs, and starchy fruits and vegetables. Fried, sugary, and processed foods with additives, as well as certain types of fats, meat, and fish should also be avoided.

Instead, you can eat organic, plant-based foods, preferably those with high prebiotic content such as asparagus, onion, garlic, pears, and leeks. You are also encouraged to eat fermented foods that are high in probiotics such as yogurt, kimchi, kefir, and sauerkraut. You can also explore the list of Digestive Superfoods from here. In addition, the microbiome diet recommends taking the following supplements:

• Acids and enzymes: Wormwood and digestive enzymes including lipase, protease, and amylase.
• Gut lining supplements: Vitamin D, zinc, slippery elm, quercetin, and marshmallow.
• Antimicrobials: Caprylic acid, berberine, grapefruit seed extract, oregano oil, and garlic.
• Probiotics: Bacterial strains such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus, L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, L. reuteri, and bifidobacteria.

Phase 2: Meal plan for a Metabolic Boost

This phase typically lasts for 28 days. It’s assumed that you have a healthier gut and microbiome by the time you reach this stage which allows you to be more flexible with your diet. You still need to avoid the foods that supposedly harm your gut from the previous phase, but only 90% of the time.

In other words, up to four meals in a week can include the foods that were not recommended in phase one. Additionally, you can eat eggs, dairy, legumes, and gluten-free grains in this phase. Most fruits and vegetables are also allowed in this stage including melons, mangoes, pears, yams, and sweet potatoes.

Phase 3: Maintenance Phase

The last phase is considered a lifetime tune-up and aims to maintain the benefits of the first two phases. There is no particular maintenance length and you can follow it till you achieve your desired results. This phase also helps you to maintain your weight in the long run. Your gut is believed to be completely healed by the time you reach this stage and you only need to avoid the aforementioned foods 70% of the time. This means you can eat what you want 30% of the time, which is equivalent to one meal per day. But it is still recommended that you avoid added sugars and processed foods as much as possible.

Microbiome Diet Food List: Foods to Avoid

The following foods should be avoided completely, at least in the first phase as they are thought to hurt your gut microbiome:

• High-fructose corn syrup added sugars
• Artificial sweeteners (except small quantities of Lakanto)
• Hydrogenated and trans fats
• Fried and processed foods
• High-mercury fish
• Starchy fruits and vegetables, such as corn, peas, potatoes, and bananas.
• All legumes except lentils and chickpeas
• Deli meats containing high amounts of fats and salt
• Eggs and dairy, except ghee and butter
• Yeast-containing foods
• Glutenous grains
• Fruit juice and dried fruits.

Microbiome Diet Food List: Foods to Eat

You can enjoy the following foods throughout the microbiome diet:

• Fermented foods, such as kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut
• Grass-fed meat and wild salmon
• Non-starchy fruits, such as apples, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi, grapefruit, nectarines, oranges, coconut, avocado, and tomatoes.
• Non-starchy vegetables, such as carrots, baby corn, garlic, asparagus, amaranth, leeks, artichokes, radishes, and onions.
• Chickpeas and lentils
• Nuts, nut butter, and seeds
• Olive oil and sunflower oil
• Herbs and spices
• Small amounts of lakanto

Foods like dairy, eggs, legumes, certain starchy fruits and vegetables, and gluten-free grains can be reintroduced from Phase two onwards.

Additional Rules

Apart from guidelines on eating and avoiding certain foods, there are additional recommendations in this diet.

• The microbiome diet encourages eating only organic foods and avoiding chemicals in personal care products and household cleaners.
• It also recommends using a good water filter. This reduces the toxins, hormones, and pesticides you are exposed to, which in turn, improves your gut health.
• Additionally, it recommends taking supplements to strengthen your gut, reduce inflammation, and maintain a healthy microbiome in the gut.
• Dieters should also avoid certain medications, including antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as these may cause an imbalance in your gut microbiome.

Sample Meal Plan

Here is a one-day meal plan for the first phase of the microbiome diet. Your meal choices will become more flexible with the subsequent phases.

Breakfast: Fruit salad and Brazil nuts.

Mid-meal snack: Roasted cauliflower and chickpea curry

Lunch: Vegetable salad topped with chickpeas, sauerkraut, and a lemon-parsley dressing.

Supper: Celery sticks with guacamole

Dinner: Grilled salmon with mixed greens, roasted Brussels sprouts, and fermented beets.

Benefits of the Gut Microbiome Diet

The microbiome diet provides the following health benefits:

1. Restores your gut health: The gut microbiome diet may restore your gut health in several ways. It is high in prebiotics and probiotics and omits processed foods, all of which help to restore your gut microbiota. It limits your sugar intake which may allow the overgrowth of harmful bacteria. It also warns against the overuse of antibiotics and other medications that could harm your gut. Microbiome restoration translates to less GI distress, improved mood and focus, higher energy levels, clearer skin, and more.
   
   
2. Helps in Weight Loss: The diet is naturally low in fats and high in fibers and other nutrients, which can help you lose weight without the need of measuring portion sizes and counting calories. It also claims to reduce food cravings.
   
   
3. Sustainable and Healthy Diet: The microbiome diet is a healthy way of losing weight as opposed to fad diets. It encourages you to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats, and other plant-based foods and recommends limiting unhealthy fats and processed foods.
   
   
4. Protects against Diseases: Improving your gut health boosts your immunity and may help in disease prevention from a variety of them, including heart disease, colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression. Moreover, the fiber is converted to short-chain fatty acids that support your gut lining and prevents pathogens and toxins from entering your system.

Side effects of the Diet

Despite several health benefits, the microbiome diet also has some downsides.

1. Restricts certain beneficial foods from your diet: The first phase of this diet requires you to eliminate certain foods that may be beneficial for you, such as starchy vegetables, fruits, grains, and most legumes. These foods contain essential nutrients, antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds.
2. Emphasis on organic foods: The microbiome diet strongly recommends eating organic foods to avoid hormones and pesticides. However, it doesn’t take into consideration that organic foods may be treated with organic pesticides instead of synthetic ones that are used for conventionally-grown foods that can be equally harmful. Moreover, organic foods are often expensive which may be a limiting factor for some people.
3. Emphasis on supplements: The microbiome diet encourages you to take a wide range of health supplements to improve your gut health. Such supplements may be helpful for some people, but not everyone needs them.

Conclusion

The microbiome diet is a plant-based diet to help you lose weight by promoting the growth of helpful bacteria in your gut and restoring your gut health. The diet typically includes fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, lean protein, and supplementation and recommends avoiding processed foods, added sugars, and unhealthy fats. It requires you to eliminate the same foods throughout the three phases but the flexibility in the diet increases with each phase. The third phase is the maintenance phase of the diet, which is much more balanced and focuses on healthy eating patterns in the long run.

Since the microbiome is linked to metabolism, inflammation, and immunity, the gut microbiome diet may reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, IBS, IBD, and other gastrointestinal conditions. The dietary pattern of the microbiome diet is similar to some of the other well-established diets, you can read more about Healthy Gut Diet Plans here. For instance, the Mediterranean diet is also a plant-based diet that focuses on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, good fats, and herbs and spices. Several foods that comply with the Mediterranean diet are also microbiome-friendly.

Be aware that a sudden increase in prebiotics (dietary fiber) may cause gas, bloating, or diarrhea in some individuals, especially in those with gastrointestinal sensitivities. It is recommended to gradually increase your fiber intake to avoid these side effects. The microbiome diet can be beneficial for people who are trying to lose weight or want to improve their gut health. However, the first phase is unnecessarily restrictive and the supplement recommendations may not apply to everyone.  Each diet comes with its pros and cons and there is nothing detrimental or dangerous about following this diet, but it’s always a good idea to talk to a nutritionist before starting a new diet plan.

Also Read:

• Pre and Probiotics: How do they differ in Action?
• The Role of BRAT Diet in Treating Gastrointestinal Illness!