Part 3: Keep your mind and microbiome thriving!
We have learned what makes up the microbiome and how stress affects the gut and body as a whole. We have learned how a healthy microbiome helps us endure stress and how to support it using prebiotics and probiotics. Let’s dive deeper into what else we can do to keep the microbiome balanced to help endure and rebound from stressful situations.
Sugar, Sugar, Sugar…
Blood sugar regulation plays a key role in our overall health. Insulin is a hormone created in the pancreas that controls the amount of sugar in your bloodstream at any given moment. Insulin resistance (when the body does not recognize insulin) is one of the biggest hormonal disorders we face as a nation, primarily due to the amount of flour and sugar in the standard American diet.1 When you eat a sugar-laden diet, your body perceives it as stress, just like when a tiger chases you. A high sugar and starch diet spikes cortisol (the “stress” hormone) and leads to increased hunger, slower metabolism, and increased inflammation. As we learned in the previous blogs, cortisol is not helpful in keeping a balanced microbiome. Reducing sugar and carbohydrates while consuming a nutrient rich, whole food diet will help keep your blood sugar (and microbiome!) better balanced.
Foods to avoid
Besides sugar mentioned above, avoid inflammatory foods such as alcohol, processed and packaged foods, cooking oils (like vegetable and canola oils), refined grains, juices, and items containing high-fructose corn syrup. If you are reading a label and cannot pronounce the ingredient, put it back on the shelf. When buying packaged products, try to buy the one with the fewest amount of ingredients and strive for 5 ingredients or less. It’s out there…you just have to do a little hunting in the beginning of your journey.
If possible, avoid pesticides in your produce. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) produces a new list annually of The Dirty Dozen found here. Just like how pesticides kill the bugs and weeds in the crops, it also does the same to your microbiome when you eat it. In addition to the dirty dozen, the EWG is a great resource for determining the toxicity of your personal care, cleaning, and food products. Believe it or not, what goes on your skin can also affect your microbiome!
What CAN I eat?
Fuel your microbiome through healthy eating. If you are looking for a specific model, the Mediterranean diet is highly regarded as a healthy balanced diet. It is rich in good fats, polyphenols and other antioxidants, fiber and other low glycemic carbohydrates, and has a relatively greater vegetable to protein ratio. Make veggies the star of the show! Olive oil, assorted fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts, moderate consumption of fish, poultry, red wine along with a lower intake of red meat, processed meats, dairy products, and sweets is typical of a Mediterranean diet.2
If a full Mediterranean diet is not feasible or desirable, make sure to consume plenty of prebiotic and probiotic foods to support your microbiome. Recall that prebiotic foods include garlic, onions, leaks, asparagus, bananas, and seaweed and probiotic foods include fermented foods like yogurt with live active cultures, pickled vegetables, tempeh, kombucha, and sauerkraut. Fruits and vegetables, which are high in fiber, are great sources of nutrients for a healthy microbiome. Eat the rainbow! If these amazing foods are not already incorporated into your regular diet, make sure to start adding them slowly so that you do not end up with bloating and gas.
Consuming anti-inflammatory foods will help reduce chronic inflammation, heart disease, diabetes while also helping with mood and stress. Foods that help reduce inflammation include fruits and vegetables like blueberries, apples, leafy greens, walnuts, and tomatoes, along with fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and tuna.
Lifestyle choices
Maintaining your microbiome through healthy activities supports the gut and the brain while also reducing stress.
- Exercise is a great way to reduce stress. Find an activity you enjoy like running, walking, stretching, yoga, or Pilates.
- Find something that brings you joy. This could include gardening, drawing, reading, or soaking in your tub that you have been looking at but never have tried! It is important to quiet the mind and find something that tunes out the world.
- Speaking of tuning out the world, mindfulness meditation has numerous psychological benefits including reducing the symptoms of subclinical depression and anxiety and substantially reducing stress.3 If you have never meditated before, try a guided meditation by the UCLA Mindful Awareness Center here, download an app like Headspace or Calm, or start with 3-5 minutes a day in a nice quiet spot to close your eyes and calm your mind.
- Restful sleep is very important in reducing stress and keeping a healthy microbiome. According to the CDC, healthy sleep habits include removing electronic devices from the bedroom, having a consistent bed and wakeup time (even on the weekends) and making sure your bedroom is dark, cool, and quiet.4 Lastly, avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before going to bed.
The microbiome plays a huge role in how we react to stress and also how we recover from stress. The gut and the brain work together. When the gut is off balance, the gut brain connection becomes compromised leading to stress, inflammation, mood disorders, and a host of other immune and gut issues. Caring for your microbiome through the consumption of prebiotic and probiotic foods will help keep the good bugs outnumbering the bad bugs. Sugar, refined goods, fried and other inflammatory foods wreak havoc on the microbiome so it is important to supply it with nutrient dense whole foods. Download the shopping reference guide to help you with your next grocery list. Lastly, our lifestyle contributes to how we perceive and endure stress. Take some time each day for YOU…ride a bike, call a friend, read a book, or just sit in peace and let your mind rest.
Need more?
If you are interested in more information regarding stress and your microbiome, menu planning, or have any other concerns regarding your health, please feel free to reach out to Elevate & Nourish to schedule a consultation. We are here to help you elevate your mind and nourish your body!
References:
1. Hyman M. Food as Medicine: A guide to using food as medicine through the scope of Functional medicine. https://drhyman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FoodAsMedicineMasterclass-PDF-4-1.pdf. Published 2022. Accessed March 8, 2022.
2. Singh R, Chang H, Yan D, et al. Influence of diet on the gut microbiome and implications for human health. J Transl Med. 2017; 15:73. doi: 10.1186/s12967-017-1175-y.
3. Schreiner I, Malcom J. The benefits of mindfulness meditation: Change in emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. Behavior Change. 2008; 25(3): 156-168.
4. Tips for better sleep. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/sleep_hygiene.html. Last reviewed July 15, 2016. Accessed March 15, 2022.