{"id":305364,"date":"2026-01-27T02:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T02:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/305364\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T02:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T02:03:08","slug":"what-doctors-wish-you-knew-about-healing-your-gut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/305364\/","title":{"rendered":"What Doctors Wish You Knew About \u2018Healing\u2019 Your Gut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Work with a dietician or trusted practitioner to eliminate known inflammatory foods<\/a> (think gluten, dairy, soy, and eggs as well as foods that contain sugar, caffeine, and alcohol). As you slowly introduce them back, one by one, you see how your body responds. The goal is to determine what foods may trigger you specifically so you can limit them for the sake of better and smoother digestion.<\/p>\n

Replace Missing Digestive Factors<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about what you eat\u2014it\u2019s also about how your comprehensive digestive system breaks down and absorbs the nutrients from what you eat. Our bodies naturally produce digestive enzymes<\/a>, typically in the salivary glands, pancreas, and small intestines, to help break down food efficiently to allow for maximum nutrient absorption. If your body is struggling to make enough digestive enzymes, it can cause uncomfortable side effects around meal time like cramping, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and more. \u201cDigestive support like digestive bitters or enzymes are generally supportive and well tolerated by most people,\u201d says Gerber, who notes that those with active gallstones or kidney stones should avoid bitters. Electrolytes<\/a> with foundational minerals like sodium, potassium, and magnesium can be beneficial as a baseline, too. \u201cWe need minerals to help make digestive juices like stomach acid and digestive enzymes,\u201d adds Gerber. \u201cDigestive bitters and enzymes naturally help upregulate your own digestive juice secretions,\u201d says Gerber. \u201cIt gives a natural nudge to your stomach acid digestive enzymes and bile to help you digest your food better.\u201d<\/p>\n

How you eat your food is crucial too. \u201cStart with chewing well,\u201d says Gerber who suggests 10-12 chews per bite\u2014ideally until liquefied before you swallow. \u201cAnd slow down, take deep breaths, and sit down for all meals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thorne<\/p>\n

Advanced Digestive Enzymes<\/p>\n

Reinoculate With Beneficial Bacteria<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard about \u201cgood\u201d bacteria versus \u201cbad\u201d bacteria. Bad bacteria can cause illness, inflammation, and digestive issues when they overgrow, invade, and crowd out the beneficial bacteria. Certain medications, like antibiotics, stress as well as diets high in ultra-processed foods, refined sugars, and more are associated with bad gut microbes. \u201cThere\u2019s as many bacteria as there are cells in our body and 100 times as much bacterial DNA as regulating everything about our health,\u201d says Hyman. When you\u2019re in gut repair mode, it\u2019s crucial to bring back the good bacteria. \u201cYour good gut bugs love diversity when it comes to allowing them to flourish and survive,\u201d says Gerber.<\/p>\n

Probiotic<\/a>-rich foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, unsweetened yogurt or kefir, miso, and more introduce live, good bacteria directly into your gut. Prebiotic<\/a> fiber, the soluble fibers found in Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, onions, leeks, dandelion greens, jicama, chicory root, asparagus, and more, are essential too. They act as fuel for the probiotics, providing energy to help nourish and grow beneficial bacteria. \u201cEat an abundance of polyphenol-rich vegetables daily,\u201d says Hyman. Polyphenols act as prebiotics and can help inhibit harmful bacteria, too. Some great examples are spinach, broccoli, carrots, artichokes, red onion, and asparagus. If your diet is lacking these essential nutrients, a high-quality comprehensive probiotic supplement can help restore microbiome balance, as can a multivitamin and prebiotic fiber to support intestinal health and gut barrier function. However, while probiotics can be wonderful tools for supporting gut health for many people, there is some nuance, and your symptoms, history, and tolerance should be taken into consideration. \u201cNot all probiotics are created equally,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cDifferent strains and profiles can deliver different targeted results so it\u2019s best to find the specific one that will work for you with a trusted practitioner.<\/p>\n

Repair the Gut Lining<\/p>\n

Your gut flora will thrive when it\u2019s consistently fueled with a wide variety of plant fibers from vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. However, there\u2019s only a thin cell layer between your intestines and body\u2014and that determines what should be absorbed into your body. Think of it as a coffee filter: the filter prevents the grounds from getting into your coffee, leaving you with only the clear, rich liquid. But if there\u2019s a hole in your filter, the grounds can leak into your coffee. The same is true for your intestines\u2014if you have increased intestinal permeability (a.k.a., leaky gut) what could leak into your body is fungus, not-so-good bacteria, or undigested food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Work with a dietician or trusted practitioner to eliminate known inflammatory foods (think gluten, dairy, soy, and eggs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[799,61688,61689,802,801,798,18,135,19,17,804,797,7070,805,806],"class_list":{"0":"post-305364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-_commerce","9":"tag-_presets_commerce_vogue","10":"tag-_presets_commerce_vogue_beauty","11":"tag-_seo","12":"tag-_syndication_noshow","13":"tag-beauty","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-onecolumn","19":"tag-shopping","20":"tag-splitscreenimagerightfullbleed","21":"tag-storytypecategory-guide-comparison","22":"tag-web"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115964608715445982","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}