The Importance of Diet Diversity for a Healthy Gut and Finding Freedom From IBS
The diversity of our food options is ESSENTIAL for the microbiome. What this means is having a diverse amount of plant foods in our diet.
Why? Our gut microbes are like picky eaters - they need different foods to thrive! A diverse diet allows for more diverse gut microbiome and a higher adaptibility to gut/microbiota disturbances.
A recent study suggests aiming for 30 different plant foods PER week – think different grains, veggies, pulses, nuts, and seeds. The more diverse your consumption of plant foods is, the more diverse your gut microbial community will become. This is because different bacteria utilize different carbohydrates (including resistant starches and fibers) to thrive.
Dysbiosis and a Lack of Diversity
In today’s modern diet, most of us do not include enough plant food diversity. What this leads to is a lack of microbiota accessible carbohydrates, causing poor production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and consequently an increase in inflammation.
Microbiota accessible carbohydrates (MACs) are found in plant and animal-derived carbohydrates, consuming a variety of carbohydrate sources allows for diversity in your microbiome as different sources allow different species to thrive. MACs also aid in the production of short-chain fatty acids which aid in calcium absorption and reduce inflammation in the digestive tract through preventing bad bacteria growth.
In addition, due to those with IBS and SIBO restricting their food options to help with symptoms (such as persuing the low-FODMAP diet long term), gut-microbiome diversity is often comprimised. This is because our gut-microbiome needs a wide diversity of plant foods to help it thrive.
Though there is still much more we need to learn, those with IBS are thought to have a less diverse and less than optimal gut-microbiome than those without the condition, meaning that dysbiosis was likely at the root of the IBS development.
How to Add Diversity
Diversity is found in diets with a variety of different plant foods. Can you aim to get 30 different plant foods each week? Sounds hard, but with some planning & intention, it’s really not too bad!
Tips to add diversity:
Challenge yourself to choose a new food you do not normally include into your weekly shopping from categories such as carbs, proteins, fats, fruits and vegetables
Opt for local, seasonal foods to minimize costs to add to a diverse diet without hurting your wallet.
Create a meal plan with your different plant foods in mind to ensure gut diversity is being applied
Make swaps in simple ways: such as occasionally having pears instead of apples or walnuts instead of almonds as your usual staples
Add more variety to your current foods: instead of only strawberries on your breakfast, try mixed frozen berries, or instead of only almonds for snacks, add some other types like pecans and walnuts
IBS, SIBO & Food Intolerances
For those of you living with IBD, IBS, and/or SIBO, you might be thinking that many of these fibre and prebiotic-rich plant foods currently bother you. However, as I alluded to above, this can be very damaging over time.
If you are having issues tolerating foods or are stuck on an elimination diet such as low-FODMAP, the answer is not restricting more for a prolonged period! Please reach out so we can work together to look deeper into your diet and lifestyle, identify your specific triggers, and create a plan to help you increase your diet diversity and build up your gut-microbiome while finding freedom from symptoms.
If you're interested in working together, apply for coaching with me here.
Closing Thoughts
In summary, try to include a diversity of different plant foods in your diet, and experiment with these foods in different recipes to see which you enjoy the most. And if you are struggling with tolerance to certain foods, don’t hesitate to reach out for nutrition support.
Hope you enjoyed today’s post! Feel free to leave me a comment below, and for more IBS, SIBO, and gut-health tips, follow me on my Instagram at @leighmerotto_rd
P.S. Want to save TIME, STRESS and MONEY while optimizing your gut-health and microbiome with proven meal planning and prepping strategies Get my complete guide to Gut-Friendly Diet Meal Planning Workshop + Resource Bundle! You won’t want to miss this!
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