What to Eat to Improve Your Gut Health

You'll get stronger

If your gut lining becomes inflamed from an imbalanced microbiome, it becomes porous — what's known as a leaky gut. Bacteria that are supposed to remain locked inside your intestines can enter the bloodstream and kick up inflammation in your gut lining and other body tissues, undermining your muscular strength. When researchers at Wake Forest University put 288 people, ages 60 to 79, through a battery of simple fitness tests that included standing up from a chair and walking 400 meters, they discovered a direct correlation between gut leakage and muscular weakness.

You'll think more sharply

Once in your bloodstream, microbes can be carried to your head. “Then the brain has to mount an inflammatory response,” explains Kylie Kavanagh, an associate professor of pathology–comparative medicine at the Wake Forest School of Medicine and an author on the leaky gut study. Over time, that response can increase your risk of dementia.

And bad gut bacteria can produce chemicals that directly hinder your ability to think. “There's more nervous tissue in the GI tract than anywhere else in the body, aside from the brain,” says Michael Pezzone, M.D., chief of gastroenterology at the University of Pittsburgh's UPMC Mercy. “So, some bacterial by-products can make you feel foggy."

You'll sleep better

Recently, 474 people ages 18 to 94 filled out sleep questionnaires. Then they submitted stool samples. Researchers found that participants with more microbiome diversity slept more deeply than did those with less. Another study showed that people with microbiome diversity fall asleep faster and perform better on cognitive tests — just as you'd expect from rested brains.

You'll ease belly woes

According to the Cleveland Clinic, some people may be helped by taking probiotics (through diet or supplements), the common name for active bacteria or yeast that helps break down food in the gut. Probiotics seem to help, these researchers say, with diarrhea, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, yeast infections, urinary tract infections and even gum disease. The National Institutes of Health notes that “there is some evidence that probiotics may be helpful” in treating acute diarrhea or diarrhea associated with the use of antibiotics in adults. If you're thinking about taking one of these popular supplements, medical experts’ advice is to talk to your doctor or other health care provider.

You'll catch fewer colds

Two-thirds of the body's immune cells live in and around the gut, and they take cues from the microbiome, says Dawn Bowdish, a professor of molecular medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. “As gut microbes change with age, some of that immune education starts to fall apart.” Changes in the microbiome offer a partial explanation for why older people are more susceptible to common colds and viral infections.

You'll just plain feel better

After studying the microbiomes of more than 2,100 people, researchers in Belgium and the Netherlands found that symptoms of depression were highest among people with depleted levels of two key bacterial strains: Dialister and Coprococcus. But fiber can help. When researchers assigned moderately to severely depressed people to 12 weeks of either counseling or eating a plant-based Mediterranean diet, those in the diet group were four times more likely to see a significant emotional improvement.

Clint Carter writes for Men's Health and other wellness publications.