Gut Healing Regime

- written by Lisa Schuring.
Please obtain permission from the author before reproducing any copies of this article.

Cleanse the gut and encourage healthy function.

Psyllium seed husks sprinkled on your food or in smoothies to absorb and remove toxins from the gut. Drink 2-3 litres of water a day.

Create an optimal gut environment for beneficial gut flora to flourish in by eating prebiotic foods regularly.

Food sources of prebiotics are chicory roots, jerusalem artichokes, raw oats, and unrefined wheat, flax, barley and other whole grains. Onions, berries, bananas, tomatoes and other fruit also are prebiotic as well as dandelion greens, spinach, collard greens, kale, chard and mustard greens. Legumes like lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, navy beans, black beans are also prebiotic.

Supply your gut with beneficial bacteria that will aid your gut flora by colonising the gut, or passing through the gut.

Home made fermented and cultured foods are easy. Take the opportunity to experiment and learn how to make your own probiotic foods as it is more beneficial to get your bacteria from the food you ingest rather than a supplement.

Food sources of probiotics are cultured & fermented food products such as yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, tempeh, miso, oshinka, amasake, tofu, cultured butter, cultured sour cream, pickeled and cultured vegetables, sauerkraut and natural cheese. Wheat grass, spirulina and chlorella also are a source of probiotics.

You can also take probiotic supplements until you feel your gut health has improved and then maintain your gut on prebiotic and probiotic foods. Save your supplements for times of illnesses, stress or pollution when your gut needs a boost.

Avoid damaging your gut or promoting a gut environment that potential dangerous bacteria flourish in.

Avoid antibiotics – they destroy ALL bacteria indiscriminately and promote unhealthy gut environments that are ideal for pathogenic bacteria.

Avoid drugs – they stress and lower the immune system.

Avoid processed or refined foods, and all white flour products – numerous reasons.

Avoid sugar – sucrose, cane sugar, white sugar, dextrose, maltdextrose, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, malt syrup, lactose,  - depresses the immune system and promotes dangerous bacteria growth.

Avoid un-cultured processed dairy products that will putrefy in your gut.

Avoid red meat consumption – it will also putrefy in your gut.

Minimise stress in your life. Stress adversely affects your gut flora.

Good Sources of Knowledge

www.wildfermentation.com – for fermenting your own foods.

‘Nourishing Traditions’ by Sally Fallon – book to buy!

http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html – the lowdown on making kefir from Dom

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese.html – learn how to make lots of different cheeses and yogurt thanks to Fankhauser!

Gut Healing Recipes

Oatmeal

1 tablespoon pysllium seed husks
1 cup raw oats
water to cover oats
bananas, berries or apples

Cook oats in a pot of water til cooked to your taste. Remove from heat, add fruit and stir in psyllium seed husks.  If you need sweetner or milk, use breastmilk or a rice or nut milk as they are usually sweeter than animal milk.

Yogurt

1 cup home made yogurt
raw oat muesli
fresh fruit 

Home made yogurt is nice for eating on its own but to vary, you can eat it with a handful of muesli over the top, or chopped fresh fruit.

Prebiotic Salad

Cos or Romaine Lettuce
Dandelion Greens
Mustard Greens
Baby Spinach
Onions, tomatoes, cucumber and capsicum
Brown Lentils (cooked til soft, optional)

Chop up salad and veggies. Serve with a scoop of yogurt or salad dressing of your choice.

Berry Smoothie

Berries (can use frozen berry mix, but fresh is more liquidy.)
Home made yogurt and yogurt whey (the yummy yogurt liquid)

Blend and drink!