Your healthy winter gut reset

Winter is a busy time for most of us. And that means it’s especially important that we look after ourselves – and in particular, our gut health. A healthy gut has been linked to improved immunity, reduced risk of depression (it’s seasonal affective disorder time) and resilience against stress – aren’t we all a bit full-on as Christmas approaches?

The mechanism by which our gut plays such a key role in our wider wellbeing still isn’t fully understood. The millions of nerve cells that line the gut are connected to the brain, in what’s been described as the gut-brain axis. There’s also the vagus nerve, which physically links the brain and colon. It’s perhaps these connections that result in the interplay between gut health and mental health, while we know that a large proportion of our immune system is located in the gut.

It’s not difficult to take care of our gut. Diet, as you’d expect, plays an important role. There are some foods we should eat more of (fermented foods, from cheese to keﬁr) and some foods we shouldn’t (high-sugar foods and alcohol can both cause inﬂammation which can damage the stomach). But the easiest way to improve gut health is to feed the good bacteria that create a helpful microbiome.

The microorganisms that live in your digestive system feed on prebiotics, ﬁbres that we can’t digest but which instead are broken down by our digestive microbes. Different microbes thrive on different prebiotics, which is why we’re advised to eat a wide variety of plant foods. Famously, a study found that eating 30 or more different plant foods a week increases bacterial diversity – a key measure of gut health.

So aiming to eat as many different plant foods as we can is a simple but effective way to better health. Plant foods include fruit and vegetables but also herbs and spices, nuts and seeds, beans and pulses, and wholegrains such as brown rice, quinoa and wholemeal bread. Try these simple suggestions to add more plant ﬁbre into your diet.

Quick and easy tips for giving your plants points a boost

Eat the rainbow

You’ve heard about the beneﬁts of eating a variety of coloured fruit and veg but did you know that different shades of the same produce count as separate plant points? So pick up the boxes of red and green grapes at the supermarket, or the pack of mixed peppers, and double (or treble) your plant points.

Add a sprinkle

Seeds are a nutrient powerhouse and the mixed packs (which often contain sunﬂower, pumpkin, hemp and linseed) are the easiest way to add healthy fats and prebiotic ﬁbre to your salads, muesli, bread, pesto and ﬂapjacks.

Opt for beans

Bulk up your casseroles and chilli with tins of mixed beans. Not only are they an absolute bargain but they contain three or four different types of legume, which you can include towards your 30-a-week target.

Make your own muesli

One trip to the health food shop can furnish you with a huge range of ﬂakes and grains for your muesli base. Spelt, millet, oats, wholewheat, buckwheat – you can then add some seeds and mixed nuts, followed by dried fruit. How about sultanas, cranberries, chopped apricots, prunes and dates? Before you know it you’ve lost count of the different prebiotics in your breakfast bowl.

Don’t forget drinks

Coffee surprisingly counts towards your plants target (instant and decaf, too). Matcha, where the ground leaf is consumed, is a better choice than regular or herbal tea (which are infusions). Similarly, smoothies are also preferable to juices as they contain the fruit ﬁbre without the pulp being ﬁltered out.