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6 FOODS You arent you, the single entity. You are you and the billions of bacte-
ria, yeasts, and other microbial organisms that live in your body and

YOU outnumber your own cells. So when youre eating, youre not just feed-
ing and providing energy and micronutrients for your own tissues, or-
SHOULD gans, muscles, and cells. Youre also feeding the microbes living in
your gut. And these arent passive passengers. They are active partici-
BE EATING pants in your digestion, your immune response, your thinking, and
even your emotional processing. To ignore the health of your gut is to
FOR A gamble with your health and happiness. To eat the wrong foods and

HEALTHY
fail to eat the right ones wont just ruin your health. It jeopardizes the
health of your gut and its resident bacteriawhich in turn jeopardizes

GUT your own health.

Connections exist between poor gut health and a variety of serious
health conditions:

1
Colon cancer

Depression and anxiety 2

Obesity 3

Bowel disorders 4
5
Immune disorders
6
Type 1 diabetes

Eating for a healthy gut requires more than just taking probiotics or eat-
ing fermented food, although that plays a role, too. You also must feed
the living things in your gut using fermentable fibers. To get you
started on your journey to optimal gut flora, here are six of the best
foods for gut health.

SAUERKRAUT

Sauerkraut (aka sour cabbage) is best known in the

US as a topping for hot dogs, but it has a long history
as a traditional gut-supporting food. Im not talking
about commercialized sauerkraut that is preserved in
vinegar and comes in gallon-sized cans at Costco,
flaccid and mealy, and void of probiotics. Real sauer-
kraut, the crunchy, tangy, raw, lacto-fermented stuff,
builds healthy gut bacteria levels.

Similar to Korean kimchi, sauerkraut is chopped cab-

bage that has been fermented by various lactic acid
bacteria that naturally reside on the cabbage. It is
concentrated with live lactobacilli and beneficial mi-
crobes, and loaded with enzymes. The fermentation
process makes the nutrients in sauerkraut more bioa-
Safe signs your
vailable (your body absorbs them better), and it even store-bought sauerkraut
creates new ones. A helping of sauerkraut fuels your or vegetable ferment is
body with vitamins C, B, and K, calcium, magnesium, actually fermented:
fiber, folate, iron, copper, potassium, and manga-
nese. Its crunchy and crispy, not soggy
and mealy.
Most importantly of all, sauerkraut is a rich source of
Lactobacillus plantarum, a probiotic strain that helps The ingredients list contains only
regulate the immune system 7, improve skin barrier vegetables, spices, and salt. If vine-
function 8, and reduce the occurrence of eczema .9 gar is on the list, avoid!

Sauerkraut has an extremely distinct taste, so if its
not a good match for your palate, then feel free to
choose from other raw, lacto-fermented vegetables,
like pickles, cucumbers, or eggplant. Kimchi has a
totally different taste profile, but its rich in many of
the same immuno-modulating bacterial strains as
sauerkraut and can often be purchased from Asian
groceries for considerably less money than the arti-
sanal sauerkraut from the health food store.
You purchased it from an ornery
Eastern European shopkeeper at the
local euro market.
Of course, you can always facto-ferment
your own vegetables to really make sure.
Its easier than you think.

When purchasing sauerkraut or any other fermented

veggie, ensure theyre actually lacto-fermented.
These days, many sauerkrauts and pickles are cured
in vinegar-based brines, which act faster and create
shelf-stability but contain no live probiotic strains. Ac-
tual fermentation is a longer, and thus more expen-
sive process, but its necessary to get the beneficial
attributes described above.

3
KEFIR
If you are lactose intolerant, or have any sensitivity to
casein (the main protein in milk and cheese that can
stimulate allergies), kefir might be a good option. Kefir
is a fermented yogurt-like drink that has been touted
for its centuries-old healing properties. Derived from
the Turkish word keif, kefir literally translates to
good feeling, which is how youll ostensibly feel after
downing a cupmaybe even if youre not normally tol-
erant of dairy.

Kefir is made by inoculating milk with kefir grains

(which arent grains at all but a gelatinous mass of ac-
tive bacteria and yeasts), who consume the lactose. It
possesses an impressive nutritional profile of vitamins,
minerals, amino acids, and enzymes, particularly mag-
nesium, phosphorus, calcium, vitamins B2, B12, D, K,
A, and thiamin.

Since the fermentation process breaks down lactose

(milk sugar)thereby mitigating potentially problem-
atic sugar and decreasing overall carb contentand
reduces the allergenicity of dairy proteins 10, people
with dairy and/or lactose intolerance can often con-
sume kefir and other fermented dairy foods without is-
sue. By introducing lactose-digesting probiotic strains
to the gut, kefir consumption also improves lactose tol-
erance and digestion in adults with lactose maldiges-
tion11 when theyre given a dose of lactose.

Kefir is widely available in stores. Full-fat is ideal (I like

the Lifeway brand, which uses pastured milk), but
even low-fat kefir is better than nothing. Avoid sugary
kefirs. If you cant tolerate the flavor of plain kefir, add
a small amount of honey.

Though not as rich in bacterial strains as kefir, full-fat

yogurt and aged cheeses (especially raw ones) are
other great ways to consume fermented dairy.

4
POTATO
STARCH
For decades, fiber was a catchall term for roughagefor the in-
digestible components of plant foods that provided bulk to our
bowel movements and moved things along down there. More
recently, scientists have found that many fibers are digestible,
just not by humans. A certain class of fiber known as fermenta-
ble fibers is the primary source of food for the bacteria living in
our guts. When we eat these fibers, gut bacteria break them
down, metabolize them, and produce beneficial byproducts for
the host (thats us). Butyrate, a common metabolite of fiber fer-
mentation, is the primary energy currency for our colonic cells
and reduces the incidence of colon cancer.

Emerging science has identified resistant starch, a type of

starch that is resistant to digestion by the host, as one of the
most dependable food sources for beneficial gut bacteria. Unlike
other fermentable fibers that can also feed bad gut bacteria,
resistant starch preferentially targets beneficial gut bacteria.
This leads to some impressive health effects.

It promotes greater butyrate production than other prebiot-

ics 12. Butyrate is the short chain fatty acid produced by gut
flora that has some helpful effects on colon health (its ac-
tually the primary energy source for our colonic cells).
Greater production of butyrate may explain the superior
colonic health (and resistance to colon cancer) of non-
industrialized cultures 13, for example.

It improves insulin sensitivity 14, even in people with meta-

bolic syndrome.15
16
It lowers postprandial insulin and blood glucose levels.

5
Raw unmodified potato starch is the fastest and most the RS. If youre going with the unmodified potato
reliable way to up your resistant starch intake. You starch, start with 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon. It will look like
may, however, want to take it slow, because if your almost nothing. Increase it by 1/4 tsp slowly as com-
gut health is currently compromised you might suc- fort allows.
cumb to gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea, con-
stipation, gas, and bloating. These side effects arent
proof that potato starch is badtheyre signs that
your gut needs the extra TLC. If you experience
these symptoms, start really, really, really small with

There are also whole food sources of resistant starch, which you should try to
include in your diet as well. The best food sources of resistant starch include:

Cooked-and-cooled potatoes: Boil or bake some potatoes and store them in the fridge. The cooling
process increases the formation of resistant starch. Subsequent reheating of the potatoes does not
diminish the resistant starch content.

Cooked-and-cooled rice: Same deal here.

Parboiled rice

Green bananas: Great in smoothies. As a banana ripens, the resistant starch turns to glucose.

Plantains

Properly-prepared (soaked, cooked long enough to deactivate lectins) legumes

You can also supplement with other isolated resistant starch sources, like plantain flour or
green banana flour.

6
ALLIUMS
All members of the allium family, including onions, garlic, leeks,
and shallots, are potent sources of the fermentable fibers
known as inulin and oligofructose. Just like resistant starch, inu-
lin and oligofructose support the growth of beneficial bacteria
in the gut 17and promote increased butyrate production. 18 They
also increase magnesium and calcium absorption, especially in
postmenopausal women at risk for osteoporosis.19 Most interest-
ing is the fact that calcium uptake apparently increases with inu-
lin intake only when calcium intake is low or calcium require-
ment is high, suggesting a modulating (rather than blind) effect.

Some caution is warranted. If youre sensitive to FODMAPs (fer-

mentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides,
and polyols), eating large amounts of alliums may cause gastro-
intestinal distress. But dont let FODMAP sensitivity turn you off
fermentable fibers altogether. You still need to feed your gut
flora. Before you start making shallot smoothies, though, work
on healing your gut and start with small amounts of FODMAP-
containing foods.

Do you have to eat your onions raw? No. While cooking con-
verts a portion of the inulin into fructose, about 80% is retained.
The longer you cook your alliums (and the sweeter they get),
however, the more inulin will convert to fructose.

If youre not into alliums, other good sources (some even better
than onions and company) include raw dandelion greens, chic-
ory root, and jerusalem artichokes (AKA fartichokes).

7
DARK
CHOCOLATE
As if you needed another reason to gobble high-cacao dark
chocolate, it turns out that dark chocolate is incredibly good for
your gut. In fact, emerging science is revealing that many of the
benefits associated with consumption of dark chocolate stem
from the interaction of the cacao polyphenols and the cacao fi-
ber with gut bacteria.20

Take this paper from 2011 21, in which people were given drinks
containing either high or low amounts of cocoa polyphenols.
Those who consumed the high-cocoa drinks saw an increase in
beneficial bacteria, a reduction in pathogenic bacteria, and a re-
duction in triglycerides and inflammatory markers.

And in 2009 22, a two-week trial found that eating 40 grams of

dark chocolate per day reduced urinary cortisol and adrenaline
(markers of stress) and partially normalized stress-related distur-
bances to the metabolism. These changes were mediated by
alterations to the gut bacteria.

In one study 23, researchers used a typical junk food lab diet on
mice to perforate the gut lining and induce endotoxemiathe
proliferation of bacterial toxins through openings in the gut lin-
ing. They then gave the mice dietary cocoa, which reduced en-
dotoxemia, restored the integrity of the gut lining, and reduced
overall body inflammation.

Youre already going to eat chocolate, so this section was proba-

bly unnecessary. But cmon: its dark chocolate, a combination
of gut-supportive polyphenols and prebiotic fiber that feed the
gut bacteria who in turn break the polyphenols into small, more
bioavailable components24 that also happens to be really deli-
cious. Any additional justifications for its consumption should be
welcomed.

The higher the cacao content, the more prebiotic and helpful
your chocolate will be to your gut. Shoot for 85% or above.

8
PISTACHIOS
Like dark chocolate, pistachios are unique package of fiber
and polyphenols that contain potent prebiotic power. Theyre a
sweet little gut bacteria hack. Grab a handful, toss em back,
and enjoy the beneficial effects they have on your gut biome.
Other nuts like almonds are also good for the gut, but pista-
chios beat them soundly in a head-to-head matchup, produc-
ing a biome25 richer in butyrate-secreting bacteria.26

And since they usually come in shells, overconsumption is hard

if youre worried about self- control. Although that forced mod-
eration is balanced with the incredible frustration felt when you
encounter a shell that simply will not open. Pistachios: good for
your gut, bad for your stress levels?

You know what, though? Eat other nuts, too.

9
FOODS
THAT
HARM
YOUR
GUT
Eating the right things is important,
but you also have to avoid or limit the
foods that do your gut-bound friends
harm. What are those, exactly?

10
GRAINS
Living things generally do not want to be con-
sumed by other living things. Being digested, for
the most part, tends to interrupt survival, procrea-
tion, propagation of the speciesyou know, stan-
dard stuff that fauna and flora consider pretty im-
portant. To avoid said consumption, living things
employ various self defense mechanisms. Rabbits,
for example, with their massive ears and consider-
able fast-twitch muscle fibers, can usually hear a
predator coming and can outrun (out-hop?) nearly
anything. Tigers have claws and big teeth. Cobras
have poison and lightning-quick reflexes. Humans
have big brains and tools and spears and (now)
guns. You get the idea.
Plants are passive organisms without the ability to
move, think, and react immediately to danger.
They cant run, bite, or fly. They must employ differ-
ent tactics to ensure propagation, and they gener-
ally have to rely on outside forces to spread their
seed. And so various methods are devised
through natural selection to dissuade consumption
long enough for the seed to get to where it needs
to go. Nuts and seeds have those tough shells that
resist digestion and allow the nuts to survive the
digestive tract, while grains have the toxic anti-
nutrients, lectins and gluten, that dissuade con-
sumption, resist digestion, and impair gut function
of those who consume them.
Some animals are clearly adapted to grain con-
sumption. Birds, rodents, and some insects can
deal with the anti-nutrients. For humans, theyre
more problematic. Some of us can digest dairy,
and weve got the amylase enzyme present in our
saliva to break down starches if need be, but we
simply do not have the wiring necessary to miti-
gate the harmful effects of lectins and gluten.
Youve no doubt heard of gluten, but do you actu-
ally know why it can have a negative effect on gut
health? Gluten, found in wheat, rye, and barley, is
a composite of the proteins gliadin and glutenin.
Around 1% of the population are celiacs, people
who are completely and utterly intolerant of any
gluten. In celiacs, any gluten in the diet can be dis-
astrous. If left untreated, celiac disease can lead
to compromised calcium and vitamin D3 levels, hy-
perparathyroidism, bone defects, heightened in-
flammation, and extreme nutrient deficiencies. Be-
fore we knew what was going on, people died from
And it gets worse: just because youre not celiac
doesnt mean you arent susceptible to the rav-
ages of gluten. In a landmark study 27, researchers
found that gluten provokes the release of zo-
nulina chemical messenger in the gut that in-
creases intestinal permeabilityin everyone, irre-
spective of celiac status. The celiacs have it worst,
seeing massive zonulin spikes upon gluten expo-
sure, but non celiacs get a moderate spike as well.
And in a more recent paper, non-celiac gluten sen-
sitive people also show increased zonulin in re-
sponse to gluten exposure 28
This means, for all intents and purposes, that glu-
ten will increase gut permeability (or leaky gut) in
everyone. Some folks get it worse than others. A
healthy gut biome will protect you to some extent.
Some may not notice a difference at all. But Its a
matter of degree.
Lectins also have the potential to attack the stom-
ach lining of insects, bind to human intestinal lin-
ing, and increase intestinal permeability. Proper
heating can deactivate most lectins, but its not a
sure thing.
Once the intestinal breach exists, lectins and other
particles (like partially digested food, toxins, etc)
can leak into the bloodstream, increase inflamma-
tion, and trigger allergic reactions or even autoim-
mune responses. Some researchers even posit 29
that leaky gut from dietary triggers like gluten is
the precipitating event leading to autoimmune dis-
eases in genetically-susceptible individuals.
11
VEGETABLE
OILS
The explosion of cheap vegetable oils onto the
market has led to unprecedented increases in our
consumption of linoleic acid, the omega-6 polyun-
saturated fatty acid that was previously only acces-
sible by eating whole nuts, seeds, and animals.
But instead of covering the danger refined, oxi-
dized, rancid vegetable oils pose to human health
overall, lets focus on how they affect gut function.

Similarly to gluten, diets high in omega-6 fatty ac-

ids have been shown to increase intestinal perme-
ability, impair gut barrier function, and increase the
30
leakiness of bacterial toxins into the bloodstream.
Giving aging rodents a high omega-6 diet is a sure-
fire way to increase intestinal permeability and dis-
rupt the gut biome.31 Scientists even use these
types of diets to reliably induce gut dysbiosis in
mice, only to eliminate that dysbiosis with omega-3
supplementation.32

Ditch vegetable oils and trans fats: corn oil, soy-

bean oil, canola, sunflower/safflower (unless speci-
fied as high oleic or high monounsaturated fat),
margarine, shortening, anything with partially hy-
drogenated in the ingredients list.

12
ARTIFICIAL
SWEETENERS
Ive always suspected that artificial sweeteners
cause problems. Theres usually no free lunch
when it comes to things that taste like sugar, and
loads of epidemiological evidence have found con-
nections between artificial sweetener consumption
and glucose intolerance, diabetes, and obesity.
But until recently, very few credible mechanisms
have been proposed.
33
A 2013 study found that artificial sweetener (AS)
consumption, no matter the source (sucralose, sac-
charin, aspartame), induced glucose intolerance
in mice. This loss of glucose tolerance seemed to
correlate with alterations to the mices gut bacte-
ria, and a later analysis using fecal transplantation
found that these correlations were causal. In other
words, transplanting the gut bacteria of AS-fed
mice into AS-free mice also transplanted the glu-
cose intolerance. The AS-fed gut alterations
closely resembled the type of gut bacteria we see
in humans with type 2 diabetes, an extreme form
of glucose intolerance.

For the second part of that same study, research-

ers looked at the glucose tolerance, gut bacterial
compositions, and artificial sweetener intake of hu-
man subjects. Those who reported using AS had
similar perturbances to their gut biomes as the
mice and a greater chance of glucose intolerance
than people who didnt eat much AS. They also
had larger waists, greater body fat, and overall
poorer metabolic health.

For the third part of the study, they put healthy peo-
ple on diets with normal amounts of artificial sweet-
eners. After a week of eating an AS diet, four of the
seven participants had worse glucose tolerance.

An earlier study34 found that sucralose (or

Splenda) induced gut dysbiosis in rats, so al-
though the evidence isnt yet ironclad, theres no
reason to risk messing with your gut bacteria. Just
leave the diet soda out of your diet, yeah?

13
The One Dietary Pattern
You Need to Avoid
Now, there are studies accompanied by breathless media re-
ports claiming that eating too much meat and fat will destroy
your gut bacteria. The latest one 35 found that putting subjects
on a diet of steak, processed meat, eggs, and cheese resulted
in worse gut bacteria than a vegetarian diet of vegetables and
legumes. Heres the thing: of course thats what happened.
They ate eggs and bacon for breakfast, ribs and brisket for
lunch, salami and cheese for dinner, and pork rinds as snacks.

An all-meat diet, especially one that only uses muscle meats

and processed meat, is severely deficient in fermentable fibers
and polyphenols. Its an extreme example of what not to do.
People may use those diets as indictments of ancestral ways
of eating, but Id argue that theyre far closer to the standard
American diet than anything. Dont believe me?

Go to your average fast food joint and look around at what peo-
ple are eating:

Cheap meat. Empty, refined grains absent all prebiotic fiber.

No vegetation beyond a few strands of onion, a slice of pickle
or two, wilted lettuce, and a mealy tomato (sorry, the ketchup
doesnt count). French fries swimming in rancid vegetable oil.
A liter of diet soda, probably. Tons of refined carbs, moderate
amounts of unhealthy protein and fat. No fiber, let alone fer-
mentable fiber. No resistant starch. No polyphenols. Nothing
fermented. And no dark chocolate.

They arent eating any of the foods you need for a healthy gut
and theyre eating all of the foods you shouldnt be eating. Its
the modern Western dietary pattern, and its terrible for the gut.

A Primal way of eating can and will improve your gut health
and function, provided you dont just eat steak and eggs and
the odd piece of lettuce. It eliminates or limits gut-abrasive tox-
ins and foods, like vegetable oils, gluten-containing grains,
and artificial sweeteners. It emphasizes fermentable fibers,
healthy fats, resistant starch, colorful produce rich in prebiotic
polyphenols, and the animal fibers36 found in whole animals
and their tendons, gristly bits, and connective tissue. And dark
chocolate.

Yeah, dont forget the dark chocolate.

14
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