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Think about the last delicious thing you ate. Chances are, no matter how enjoyable the meal, once it found its way over the teeth and past the gums, you pretty much forgot about it. Once it's in your belly, it's out of sight, out of mind.
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But what happens to that meal in the next 24 to 72 hours or so will have an enormous impact on your health. That's when smooth muscles push food bits through 30 feet of living drainpipe as acids and enzymes melt these particles into sludge while a bacchanalia of microbes convert them into chemicals that power your brain, muscles and immune system.
5 ‘Gut-Healthy’ Options That Aren't
Sweetened yogurt
The bacterial cultures in fermented dairy are absolutely good for your gut, but the added sugars are not. Sugar feeds bad bacteria, causing more harm than good, says Wake Forest University's Kylie Kavanagh.
Wheat bread
Emulsifiers found in shelf-stable supermarket breads may cause damage to the walls of the gut, and many “wheat” breads aren't whole grain. Look for “100% whole wheat” bread with a minimum of chemical additives.
Herbal-laxative tea
Long-term laxative use, even the herbal kind, can interfere with intestinal nerve function, the Cleveland Clinic notes. Of particular concern is an herb called senna, which irritates the bowel walls and can cause liver damage.
'Light’ prune juice
Noncaloric sweeteners found in “light” juices can throw off your microbiome. The by-products from our microbes’ digestion of artificial sweeteners are as unhealthy as the by-products that come from their eating sugar.
Packaged veggie burgers
There's nothing wrong with pressing vegetables into a patty, but check the label. The standard supermarket veggie burger is often a blend of fillers such as wheat gluten, vegetable oil and chemicals.
![illustration of a cartoon person sleeping on an apple slice next to an avocado and blueberry illustration of a cartoon person sleeping on an apple slice next to an avocado and blueberry](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/health/healthy-living/info-2020/gut-health/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/body_one_cf_one/par2/body_one_callout_one/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/health/healthy-living/2020/12/1140-illo-sleep-avocado.jpg)
Subtle changes in gut health can have a powerful effect on how you look and feel, says Megan Rossi, a research fellow at King's College London and author of Love Your Gut. "Research has linked dysbiosis, an imbalance of gut bacteria, to more than 70 chronic diseases.”
Fortunately, the solution to almost any gut problem is simple: Build each meal around fiber-rich foods, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts and whole grains. These foods provide outstanding nutrition not only for you but also for your microbiome, the medical term for the massive, diverse community of bacteria living and working within your digestive system. And while it's best to get your fiber from food sources, a fiber supplement can help you reach your goals. But only nonfermenting, gel-forming fiber (such as psyllium husk) has been clinically proved as beneficial. Here's what you'll get from feeding your bacteria well.
You'll lose weight
Researchers constantly see different types of gut bacteria living inside thin and overweight people. One example: When researchers in Italy assigned 20 obese women (average age: 79) to a low-sugar Mediterranean diet with 30 grams of daily fiber from vegetables, they saw a spike in bacteria associated with weight loss and a drop in bacteria related to obesity. Not surprisingly, the women lost an average of 2.7 percent of their body weight in 15 days.
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