Practical Tips for Creating a Healthy Microbiome

HealthPractical Tips
Written By Danielle

The hallmarks of a healthy gut microbiome are both the diversity (the amount of different microbes) and the richness (the total number of microbes) that are present. Richly and diversely populated microbiomes are both more resistant to outside onslaught and more resilient in their capacity to return to healthy baseline functioning after an event (like viral infection) has occurred. In addition, certain bacteria are considered to be more beneficial than others, meaning they confer more health benefits on us as hosts. In an ideal world, we want a microbiome that is densely populated, filled with a diverse array of microbes, and populated with a high volume of beneficial species.

By contrast, in gut dysbiosis, having an overpopulation of pathogenic or harmful microbes can result in poor health outcomes. Imbalance in the ratio of good bacteria to harmful bacteria can put us at risk for increased disease susceptibility.

Having specific species of microbes doesn’t seem to be the key to healthy microbiome. Rather, having a functional core of microbes that can perform certain key tasks appears to be critical in defining what consititutes a healthy microbiome. Microbiome functions can be performed by a variety of different species, and it seems less important which species do the job than if there are species in place to get the job done.

Consider this example - Firefighters, EMTs, police officers, and highway control officers can all rescue you from a car. If you are trapped and your car is on fire, you won’t care who arrives to help. The same is true in our guts. As long as we have teams of microbes in place to perform key functions, it doesn’t seem to matter which microbes are doing the job. Having richly and densely populated gut microbiomes ensures that a functional core of microbes is always in place to perform vital tasks.

How to Create a Healthy Gut Microbiome

While we can’t control past events which may have benefited or harmed our gut microbiomes (whether we were breast fed, if we have taken multiple round of antibiotics, our prior eating habits, past exposure to harmful toxins, etc.), we do have considerable control over our gut microbiome composition each time we eat. In just a matter of days, we can positively or negatively alter our gut microbe diversity and richness. Here is what the research says are practical steps that we can each take to create a healthy microbiome:

  • Eat a Broad Array of Whole Plant Foods - The American Gut Project analyzed the stool samples from over 11,000 human subjects, mostly from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. The researchers found that individuals who ate 30 or more different plant species a week had more diverse microbiomes. Plant foods include fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole-grains, nuts, seeds, and fresh herbs and spices.

  • Eat More Fiber - “It is generally accepted that the consumption of a high-fiber diet promotes an increase in bacterial diversity and leads to a bloom in the growth of beneficial bacteria (i.e., Bifidobacterium sp., Lactobacillus sp., Akkermansia sp., Faecalibacterium sp., Roseburia sp., Bacteroides sp., and Prevotella) as well as a reduction in potentially pathogenic bacteria (e.g., Enterobacteriaceae).” www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8321864/

    Ideally, this includes eating whole foods containing soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, and resistant starch. The average American eats approximately 10 to 15 grams of fiber daily. The USDA's recommendations are that healthy adult women should get approximately 25 grams and men should have 38 grams a day. However, research now suggests that at least 50 grams of fiber a day is optimal, particularly for colonic health. Ideally, this fiber should come from whole plant sources and not from fiber supplements. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6312100/

  • Eat Fewer Saturated Fats and More Polyunsaturated Fats - “Different degrees of saturation have been reported to differentially shape microbial composition. For example, high (Saturated Fat) SFA intake has been shown to be associated with reduction in total bacterial abundance in humans and in microbial diversity and richness, as well as an increase in proinflammatory bacteria…In humans, healthier polyunsaturated fatty acids (e.g., omega-3 PUFAs) promote the growth of beneficial bacteria.” www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8321864/
    For more information on fat sources, please see: www.thewell-nourishedbrain.com/blog/fat

  • Eat More Foods Containing Polyphenols - Polyphenols are compounds found in plant-based foods that act as antioxidants. Polyphenol rich foods include fruit, vegetables, cocoa, coffee, wine, green tea, spices, whole grains, nuts, and extra virgin olive oil. “Polyphenols display a “prebiotic-like” effect, increasing the growth of beneficial bacterial strains, such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, while reducing the number of potential pathogens.” www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8321864/

  • Eat More Fermented Foods - Regular consumption of fermented foods increases microbial diversity and richness. Look for foods containing live cultures and choose whichever fermented products you will eat consistently. This can be sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, kombucha, miso, or any other fermented product that you like and will consistently add to your diet.

  • Don’t Eat a Standard American Diet - “It is generally accepted that a Western, omnivore-type diet, high in saturated fat, animal protein, and refined carbohydrates but inadequate amounts of dietary fiber shifts the composition of the microbiota to a more disease-associated type. Long-term consumption of a Western diet in humans and animals can lead to the extinction of beneficial microbes and decrease bacterial diversity.” www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8321864/

You can label this pattern of eating with any term you prefer (Mediterranean Diet, Plant-Based Diet, Dash Diet, Vegetarian, Vegan, Plant-Predominant Diet, etc.). The key factors for optimal gut richness and diversity remain the same: eat mostly plants (shooting for 85% of your weekly calories coming from whole plant foods), eat tons of plant fiber, eat a wide diversity of whole plant foods (at least 30 different plants, but even more is better), add in some fermented foods, limit foods containing saturated fats and add in foods containing poly-unsaturated fats, add in some polyphenols, and don’t eat a typical Western diet full of hyper-processed foods and refined carbohydrates.

In a subsequent post, I will be discussing all the amazing things a vibrant gut microbiome does for our health (reduced risk for heart disease, cancer, auto-immune conditions, neurodegenerative disorders, mental illness, and obesity, to name but a few). Suffice it to say, having a richly and diversely populated gut microbiome filled with beneficial microbes will give you your best shot at optimal health and longevity.

Wishing you a thriving microbiome! 🌱💕

Danielle
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