By Miriam Christie
Do you suffer from digestive upsets and stomach issues? There is a growing wealth of medical research about the importance of a healthy, balanced gut microbiota in supporting the immune system and ensuring proper digestive functioning.Walnuts and almonds are associated with better gut health due to their unsaturated fatty acid content – a Journal of Nutrition study found that including 42g of walnuts or almonds was enough to make a positive difference to gut health.
The research also confirmed that including prunes in your diet can help to increase ‘friendly’ bacteria bifidobacteria. This is possibly due to the dietary fibre content of prunes, along with other nutrients.
The human gastrointestinal tract is one of the most densely populated ‘microbial communities’—a cosy way to describe the number of microorganisms sharing space in your gut—with approximately 1,014 microorganisms, mainly bacteria.
