Healthy intestinal flora: Which foods should be avoided

2022-12-21T14:41:28.962Z

Healthy intestinal flora: You should avoid these foods Created: 12/21/2022 3:33 p.m By: Kilian Bäuml "Death sits in the gut" is an old saying. In fact, it is important to take care of your health. Some foods are taboo. Frankfurt – The intestinal flora plays a crucial role in health and well-being. It influences the immune system and thus whether we are healthy or not. A healthy intestinal flor

Healthy intestinal flora: You should avoid these foods

Created: 12/21/2022 3:33 p.m

By: Kilian Bäuml

"Death sits in the gut" is an old saying.

In fact, it is important to take care of your health.

Some foods are taboo.

Frankfurt – The intestinal flora plays a crucial role in health and well-being.

It influences the immune system and thus whether we are healthy or not.

A healthy intestinal flora can even help you lose weight.

The composition of the bacteria in the intestine, the microbiome, is responsible for this.

Good nutrition keeps the intestines healthy and can have a positive effect on the intestinal flora.

Fast food is bad for the gut.

(icon image) © Ashley Corbin Pond/Imago

However, the same applies the other way around: an unhealthy diet has a negative effect on the intestinal flora and thus on health in general.

It is therefore better to avoid these foods:

Alcohol
damages the whole body: it can cause liver disease and gastrointestinal inflammation and promote cancer.
In the liver, the toxin alcohol is finally converted into substances that can negatively change and imbalance the intestinal flora.
Processed
meat
also damages the intestinal flora.
This includes cured and smoked meat and sausages.
According to experts, a Mediterranean diet is the healthiest for the intestines.
That means mostly vegetarian and high in fiber.
It is recommended to consume no more than 500 grams of red meat per week.
According to the German Cancer Aid, a lot of red and processed meat even increases the risk of colon cancer.
Sugar
is also harmful
, especially industrially produced sugar.
It makes no difference whether it is brown sugar, white or powdered sugar.
It quickly triggers inflammatory reactions and damages the intestinal flora.
Sugar is fundamentally unhealthy and therefore has little place in a healthy diet.
Excessive consumption of fruit sugar (fructose) can also lead to stomach and intestinal problems and cardiovascular diseases.
Finished products
and highly processed foods such as fast food often contain several unhealthy ingredients such as fat, sugar, salt and preservatives, but little fiber.
(Source: darmflore-ratgeber.de/nau.ch)

Healthy intestines: A balanced diet is usually sufficient

In order to keep the intestinal flora healthy, you do not have to follow a special diet.

"For healthy people, a balanced diet with vegetables and whole grain products is usually enough to keep the microbiome in balance," said nutritionist Matthias Riedl on

NDR

However, if you want to do something good for your intestines, you can take probiotics.

These are products that contain living microorganisms and have a beneficial effect on health when they get into the intestines.

Examples of probiotics are bifidobacteria in yoghurt or lactic acid bacteria in fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut, reports the Federal Center for Nutrition BZfE.

Even the brain benefits from a healthy intestinal flora

But the influence of the intestinal flora goes even further.

In addition to the connection between nutritional factors, microbiome and physical health, research is increasingly focusing on the so-called gut-brain axis, reports the BZfE.

Gut and brain communicate with each other and gut health even affects the psyche.

As a result, the development of a healthy intestinal flora could even be a treatment option for depression.

There are now even studies that suggest a link between gut health and Alzheimer's.

(kiba)