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These 20 Gut-Friendly Foods Lead To Weight Loss

July 27, 2017

Your microbiome is your key to weight-loss success. We used to think that the bacteria in our intestines (microbiome) were essentially there and not doing much. We now know differently. These little critters are highly active and powerful in terms of their ability to dictate what we eat, our cravings, how hungry we are, and how many calories we extract from the food we are eating. They're also to blame for unwelcome food cravings.

Our microbiome plays a starring role in creating healthy fat genes by eating specific types of fiber called prebiotics that create short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, which helps reduce our genetic predisposition to weight gain

Our gut bacteria, of which there are 100 trillion (10 times more of them than we have human cells), thrive and multiply on the very things that create low-level inflammation and weight gain in our body: sugar, refined carbs such as white flour, trans fats, and processed foods. These 100 trillion critters, which equate to 5 to 6 pounds in our belly, send out chemical messages to the brain that have enormous influence — not just on our appetite but on our overall health and mood as well.

It turns out that lean people have more gut bacteria and a more diverse microbiota than those who are overweight or obese. An imbalance of gut bacteria may cause low-grade inflammation in your body, contributing to weight gain, obesity, and difficulty losing weight

The good news? Gut microbes respond quickly to a change in diet. We can begin to take control and lose weight by eating the types of food that healthy gut bacteria thrive and multiply on.

Adding just one to three servings a day of the right prebiotic (foods that feed beneficial bacteria) and/or probiotic foods (foods that contain beneficial bacteria) to feed and nurture your microbiome will help stop sugar and carb cravings while you are beefing up your army of good healthy microbes to create weight-loss success.

1. Top 10 prebiotic foods that promote weight loss:

Jerusalem artichokes
Raw dandelion greens
Raw or cooked onion
Raw garlic
Raw leeks
Raw asparagus
Chicory
Bananas
Asparagus
Beans

2. Top 10 probiotic foods that promote weight loss:

Yogurt (without sugar), including nondairy coconut yogurt
Cheese made from raw milk
Kefir (fermented milk drink)
Lassi (Indian yogurt drink)
Sauerkraut (refrigerated, nonpasteurized)
Pickles (refrigerated, nonpasteurized)
Cultured veggies (refrigerated, nonpasteurized)
Olives
Tempeh
Miso
Natto (fermented soy)
Kimchi (spicy Korean condiment)
Kombucha (effervescent cultured drink)

Though it's not a food, by adding a daily multistrained, at least 15 billion, probiotic supplement you will help ensure a healthy intake of probiotics. The bottom line is that if you feed these little critters well, they will help you lose weight and create optimal health.