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Your Gut, Your Health

Your gut health affects more than just digestion—it can impact your mood, immune system, and even lower your risk for diseases like diabetes.

The key to a healthy gut is having more “good” bacteria than “bad” bacteria.

Good bacteria help break down food, fight off illness, and support mental well-being.

Gut-Brain Communication

Did you know your gut and brain “talk”?

In fact, researchers even call the gut your “second brain” because it sends signals to your real brain!

Stress, mood, and depression can have a negative impact on gut bacteria. Other things like lack of sleep, pollution, and antibiotics can also harm your gut health.

And gut bacteria can influence your appetite and food choices, too.
That means what you eat can affect how you feel—and how you feel can affect what you eat!

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Helpful Terms to Know:

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Gut microbiome

Also known as “gut microbiota” or “gut flora”, are the bacteria, fungi, and viruses in your gut. Some are good, some are bad.

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Probiotics

Live, good bacteria found in some foods and supplements. The more variety of probiotics in your diet, the better!

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Prebiotics

Certain types of fiber-rich foods that feed good bacteria. If you’re new to eating these foods, start slow, as they can cause gas!

Tip!
Eating a variety of probiotic and prebiotic foods can help keep your gut healthy and support overall well-being.

Probiotics introduce good bacteria, while prebiotics feed those bacteria so they can thrive.

To give your gut the best care,
choose a variety of probiotic and prebiotic foods like these:

Examples of Probiotic Foods
  • Yogurt: Choose plain and add your own fruit or sweetener.
  • Acidophilus milk & buttermilk: These contain natural probiotics.
  • Kefir: A drinkable yogurt-like product, sometimes thick like sour cream.
  • Miso: A salty paste made from fermented soybeans, barley, or rice. Great for soups and sauces.
  • Tempeh: A fermented soybean cake, often used as a meat substitute.
  • Kimchi: A spicy, fermented Korean cabbage dish.
  • Sauerkraut: Look for refrigerated, unpasteurized versions for probiotics.
  • Kombucha: A fermented tea that contains probiotics and sometimes a small amount of alcohol.
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Your Baby’s First Probiotic Food: Breastmilk

Breastfeeding helps babies build a strong gut microbiome. The probiotics in breastmilk may protect against diarrhea, infections, and inflammation.

Examples of Prebiotic Foods
  • Beans & legumes: Especially black-eyed peas (also called cowpeas) and soybeans.
  • Whole grains: Barley, oats, wheat bran, corn, whole grain breads and cereals.
  • Onions, leeks, garlic & chives: These help feed good gut bacteria.
  • Fruits: Apples, bananas (especially green ones), raspberries, apricots.
  • Vegetables: Jicama, asparagus, carrots, green beans, tomatoes.
  • Chicory root: Added to some foods as inulin and found in chicory coffee.
  • Potatoes: Especially when cooked and then cooled, like in potato salad.
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What about Prebiotic Sodas?

Drinks like Olipop and Poppi have less sugar than regular sodas and contain added prebiotic fiber (about 9 grams per can). They’re low in calories and could be a fun occasional treat that also supports gut health!

Foods to Eat Less of for Better Gut Health
  • Artificial sweeteners: Can harm gut bacteria. Avoid foods with aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin for better gut health.
  • High-sugar foods: Cakes, cookies, candy, sweet tea, and soda.
  • Ultra-processed foods: Often contain artificial ingredients that hurt gut bacteria like emulsifiers, flavor enhancers and additives.
  • Fried foods: High in saturated and trans fats, which are unhealthy fats.
  • Too much alcohol: Can disrupt gut balance.
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A Healthy Gut, A Healthier You

Taking care of your gut means more than just good digestion—it can boost your mood, support your immune system, and even improve overall health.

By eating more probiotic and prebiotic foods while limiting processed and high-sugar options, you can help the good bacteria in your gut thrive.

Small changes to your diet can make a big difference, so start today and give your gut the support it needs!

REFERENCES

Davis, E. C., Castagna, V. P., Sela, D. A., Hillard, M. A., Lindberg, S., Mantis, N. J., Seppo, A. E., & Järvinen, K. M. (2022). Gut microbiome and breast-feeding: Implications for early immune development. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 150(3), 523–534.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2022.07.014

Conz, A., Salmona, M., & Diomede, L. (2023). Effect of non-nutritive sweeteners on the gut microbiota. Nutrients, 15(8), 1869.
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15081869

Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). What are prebiotics? Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved March 24, 2025, from
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-are-prebiotics

Madison, A., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2019). Stress, depression, diet, and the gut microbiota: Human-bacteria interactions at the core of psychoneuroimmunology and nutrition. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 28, 105–110.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.01.011

Bastiaanssen, T. F. S., Cussotto, S., Claesson, M. J., Clarke, G., Dinan, T. G., & Cryan, J. F. (2020). Gutted! Unraveling the role of the microbiome in major depressive disorder. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 28(1), 26–39.
https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000243

Pedroza Matute, S., & Iyavoo, S. (2023). Exploring the gut microbiota: Lifestyle choices, disease associations, and personal genomics. Frontiers in Nutrition, 10, 1225120.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1225120

Hua, Y., Fan, R., Zhao, L., et al. (2020). Trans-fatty acids alter the gut microbiota in high-fat-diet-induced obese rats. British Journal of Nutrition, 124(12), 1251–1263.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114520001841

Bishehsari, F., Magno, E., Swanson, G., Desai, V., Voigt, R. M., Forsyth, C. B., & Keshavarzian, A. (2017). Alcohol and gut-derived inflammation. Alcohol Research, 38(2), 163–171.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5513683/

Baylor Scott & White Health. (n.d.). The rise of prebiotic drinks: Are they actually good for you? Retrieved March 24, 2025, from
https://www.bswhealth.com/blog/the-rise-of-prebiotic-drinks-are-they-actually-good-for-you

Graciously Nourished. (n.d.). Top prebiotic drinks. Retrieved March 24, 2025, from
https://graciouslynourished.com/top-prebiotic-drinks/#how-we-chose-the-best-prebiotic-drinks

Author: Bridget Swinney MS, RDN, LD