4 Foods to Avoid for Better Gut Health

Did you know if your gut isn’t healthy, your brain probably isn’t functioning optimally either? In fact there’s a good chance you won’t feel well at all. Studies have shown a link between your gut health and brain health. The first rule in gut health is to take care of your “good” bacteria. Taking care of your “gut bugs” requires providing them with a solid house and healthy food.

Tana Amen BSN RN Explains the Importance of Probiotics

4 Foods to Avoid for Better Gut Health

It is true that the gut communicates directly with your brain. About ninety percent of the serotonin in your body is made in your gut. Vitamin formation and mineral absorption also occurs in the gut. The gut is responsible for about seventy percent of your immunity. As a Brain Warrior, the first step to having a healthy gut is to stop doing things that cause harm to it. In Week 6 of the Brain Warrior’s Way Live Class, Dr. Amen and I discussed foods that damage your gut, I’ve listed them here so you can be sure to stay away:

Gluten, Latin for “glue,” is a sticky protein found in wheat, barley, rye and many other grains. It has been proven to damage the intestinal lining. Even if you’re not diagnosed with Celiac disease, gluten doesn’t offer you any health benefits. In fact, it has shown to damage gut lining 100% of the time in recent studies.

Lectins is the Latin for, “to select.” These carbohydrate-binding proteins can be found in many grains including wheat, rice, oats, buckwheat, millet, rye and corn. Quinoa, dairy, eggs, legumes (including dry beans and peanuts), soy, and vegetables in the nightshade family—peppers, eggplant, potatoes, and uncooked tomatoes also contain lectins.

Corn has the worst fatty acid profile of any grain. Be aware that most corn in our country is genetically modified and sprayed with pesticides.

Sugar is the perfect food to grow the enemy’s army: resistant bacteria, yeast and other invaders. Antibiotics and other medications can wipe out most of the bacteria in your gut. The “resistant” bacteria that remain are often the “bad guys.”

Another Way to Support Gut Health

Gut health is one of the most unappreciated systems in the body. It lays the foundation to ensure you to have a healthy body and mind. If you take care of the “good” bacteria it can change your life. Because this system has such a profound impact on our well-being, body function, brain health, and even our physique, it is important to do what we can to support it. I recommend taking a good probiotic, like BrainMD’s ProBrainBiotic to ensure you support those important gut bugs. This is such a great product because it contains 2 specific strains of probiotic that have been studied for brain-specific benefits in a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial¹.