Good and bad foods for Gut Health

Interview with Jillian Smith, RD.

Curious about what foods are good and bad for your gut health? We will break it down and discuss:

• What should you eat to improve your gut health?

• What are the worst foods for gut health?

• What are the best foods for good gut health?

Transcription:

Michele Riechman: All right. Hello and welcome today. So if you don't know me, my name is Michele Reichman and I have my doctorate in physical therapy and I'm an online personal trainer and health coach. And today we're gonna be talking about gut health and I have a special expert here with us today to give us some more details and really dive deeper into this topic.

Jillian Smith: Yes. Hello. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Jillian. I am a registered dietician who specializes in gut health. So I see clients for all sorts of different gut health symptoms, digestive issues, things like IBS Imal bowel syndrome, Crohn's colitis, any sort of, you know, those fresh reading guts symptoms, like bloating, bathroom issues, embarrassing gas.

All the things. And I really help my clients get to the root cause of what's causing those imbalances in the first place so that we can address those and get them feeling so much better and optimize their health. That's a little bit about what I do. 

Michele Riechman: Yeah. I love that. Cuz I think gut health is so vital and when you're working with people who maybe even have chronic pain or autoimmune issues, a lot of times it goes back to your gut health.

Jillian Smith: Big time. And I mean, over 70% of our immune system is within our gut. So anytime we're talking about any sort of autoimmunity inflammation imbalances with the immune system, we have to first go to the gut and figure out what's going on at the level of the gut, because that is impacting so many of other things.

I know we were kind of chatting before we started recording. I was sharing that, you know, I really see clients for their gut health, but because the gut is truly the center of all health, poor gut health can really bleed into other areas of the health, like issues with metabolism, inflammatory issues, hormonal imbalances.

So really addressing the gut is such a great place to start anytime. We're really looking to just feel better in our whole body. 

What foods not eat for gut health?

Michele Riechman: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. What are the worst foods for the gut?

Jillian Smith: Yes. All right. So let's see. I would say number one big one that I see a lot in my practice are things like sugar alcohols.

This can be a really just great place for people to start. It's kind of why I like to start off with sharing this one. It's a very tangible thing that people can start looking for on the ingredients list. And making this simple little shift to stay away from, those can be really helpful and make a big difference.

Avoid Sugar Alcohols for Gut Health

If you do struggle with some digestive symptoms. So if you struggle with things like bloating or gas or bathroom issues, whether that be a lot of loose stools or the opposite, and you're feeling really constipated. Starting to read the ingredients list for sugar alcohol. So some examples of what sugar alcohols are, are things like xylitol, sorbitol…

So any of those that end in all the O L are typically what I tell my clients. Start looking at ingredients list and avoid those whenever possible. Some of the big culprits of those are kind of like our health foods and I'm doing quotes on those. If someone's just listening to this with the audio things like protein powders, um, energy bars, protein bars, and the reason being is these sugar alcohols.

They are manufacturers can use them because they'll sweeten up the products to make them taste good without adding a bunch of. So it makes the nutrition label look really sexy, right? Cause you can say no sugar, no added sugars, but those sugar alcohols can be really hard on the gut. And if you're somebody who struggles with gut issues, sugar alcohols can be super, super tough.

Avoid alcohol for gut health

So that's a big one and an easy one that you can start kind of looking at another big one is alcohol. So as we know, alcohol can be really disruptive to the. Environment of our gut. It can really bump up in inflammation, which can kind of cause just a whole bunch of other issues. It can feed a lot of the bad bacteria in the gut, which can lead those to overgrow causing more symptoms.

Is gluten bad for gut health?

So I'd say alcohol is another big one to start, you know, just being mindful of your intake. And if you do show with a lot of gut. Maybe try cutting back and see how your body responds to that. And I would say another big one could be gluten. So I say gluten, because I know there's so many questions on gluten and, um, you know, maybe people have heard before if you have good issues to cut out gluten.

And they're wondering if there's validity to that, if it's appropriate for them. With my clients, I do a lot of testing. So I'm actually testing the gut through stool testing, poop testing, and seeing what's going on inside of the gut. And I am checking for gluten sensitivity, but if you know, somebody's listening to this and you're not really ready to invest in testing yet.

Trying out cutting out gluten for about three to six months can be really helpful because gluten can be really damaging to the lining of the gut and it can cause issues with your immune system increased inflammation. So that can be another supportive thing to pull out and see if your body responds well.

Yeah. I love that. 

Is sugar bad for gut health?

Michele Riechman: So going back to the sugar. Yeah. Um, so I do also recommend that people don't eat sugar or eat a lot of sugar. 

Jillian Smith: Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. 

Michele Riechman: So then, so if people aren't eating sugar and they can't eat the fake sugars, um, is there something like you recommend? To sort of getting that sweet tooth. Need some help with clean eating? Head here!

Jillian Smith: Yeah.

So I would say sugar doesn't need to be cut out completely sugar and moderation. So not overdoing it. I would say cut out completely the sugar alcohols, get those out completely, but sugar and moderation is totally fine. Now, if you're overdoing it on sugar, of course, that's just not good for our overall health.

You know, as most of us know, we shouldn't eat sugar, breakfast, lunch, and dinner all day, every day. Overall health. It doesn't really fall in alignment with that, but especially if you do have a lot of gut issues, sugar can feed that bad bacteria. Kill off the good bacteria. So you'll start to get some imbalances and have too much of the bad, too.

Little of the good there's. Also, I work with a lot of clients who struggle with candida overgrowth. Candida is a yeast that can overgrow in the body and cause a lot of gut symptoms can also kind of go back to what you were saying. A lot of those like joint pains, the inflammation that can sometimes be symptoms of a candida overgrow.

So of course you, you wanna test to make sure this is applicable for you, but candida feeds off of sugars. So, if you are somebody who's struggling with this pulling added sugars out of the diet. For the time being, it can be really, really helpful so that you're not, you know, feeding this Canda while you're also trying to get rid of it.

Is sugar in fruit bad for your gut?

So sugars and moderation. Um, also I would say being mindful of added sugars. And so, you know, there's a difference between just sugars and then added sugars. And what I typically recommend for my clients is don't be afraid of all sugar, not all sugar's bad, for example. Fruit. I, I think fruit is amazing. It has so many great vitamins and minerals and fibers.

I am not worried about the sugar and fruits, but a bunch of like added sugars. You know, if you're buying, let's just take, for example, coffee creamer with a lot of added sugars in there. That's kind of an area where I can work with clients and say, Hey, let's switch to different coffee creamer, for example, that doesn't have as much of those added sugars.

And just try to cut it down where you can. 

How to remove sugar to improve your gut health

Michele Riechman: Yeah, I love that. Um, because I think for a lot of people, cutting sugar out is hard and then they try to switch to the sugar alternatives, which aren't great either. So I think slowly adjusting your taste buds and you know, still doing fruit and those other sweet things can be 

Jillian Smith: helpful.

Absolutely. And, you know, I, in my opinion and for my clients, I really do recommend going with the real deal over sugar alternatives of sugar alternatives are a lot harder on the gut. And if you need something, go for the real deal. I also really like Splenda up monk fruit. Those are more natural sugar. Um, you know, that come from a plant they're not artificially made in a lab.

Like some of the other artificial sweeteners can be so monk, fruit. Tevia those can be really helpful. And then yeah. Using, you know, dates to sweeten things up, um, different fruits, maybe doing like a little bit of pure maple syrups and pure honey can also be some, some alternatives. 

Michele Riechman: Yeah. Yeah. I love that.

Cause I think sometimes when you're trying to improve your health, um, I know you had said the health foods that we think are healthy, like someone might do keto and then they get these like keto balls that have the fake sugars in it. Um, so it's like really important to not. Replace something with something that's not better just cuz you think you're doing it.

So really to look at those labels and really think about what you're doing is huge. 

Jillian Smith: Yes, absolutely. And learning how to read a nutrition label and those ingredient lists. It really is such an empowering tool to have, because then you can have confidence going in and going to a grocery store, picking out some foods, knowing how to, you know, turn it around and look at the ingredients list and kind of spot some of those things that maybe you can find a better option for.

Most important foods for gut health

What are the best foods for good gut health?

Wondering what are the most important foods for your gut health? Learn what food to eat for your gut health.

Michele Riechman: Yeah. I love that. So what foods helped to improve your gut? 

Fiber for gut health

Jillian Smith: Yes. Okay. So first and foremost is fiber. So fiber is our friend. You know, we all know we need to be eating our fruits and vegetables. And so much of that is because you're getting a lot of fiber with those fruits and vegetables. Fiber is the thing that is going to feed your good gut bacteria.

So we have to make sure that we're getting in plenty of fibers so that we can feed this gut bacteria and get all the benefits of having a healthy gut and the typical American diet. We're just not getting it. Fiber, you know, you think back to ages ago to our ancestors, the caveman eras, they were eating a lot of fiber.

They were eating a lot of plant foods, lots of berries. And nowadays it's just not really the case. You know, we have much more reliance on convenience foods, and packaged foods, and a lot of those have been kind of stripped from their fiber. And so we're not getting the benefit. That our guts need to really thrive.

Maybe that's a piece why we see such an uptake with gut issues and digestive symptoms nowadays is just because we're not eating the diet to support our gut health. So making sure you're getting in plenty of fruits and vegetables I recommend getting in at least a cup of veggies, every meal, if you can.

What I tell clients sometimes is, you know, for breakfast, sometimes my clients are like, I don't want to eat vegetables for breakfast. Then I say, okay, great. Get some fruit in. Then at least have some fruit. You can still get some fiber in, at breakfast as well. And I say, you know, in for about a cup, if you are picturing it on your plate, about half of your plate to be filled with those colors.

Fruits and vegetables, um, choosing different kinds of fruits and vegetables, so different colors. You're going to get a wider range of benefits. You're going to increase the diversity of your gut bacteria. If you increase the diversity of the plant foods that you're eating. But number one, those fibers are going to be your best friend.

And you're trying to support your gut number two, fermented foods. So things like fermented yogurt, some sauerkraut Keifer kimchi. These are foods that have beneficial bacteria in them. So they have probiotics in them, which are living bacteria. So when we eat those foods, you're, you're bringing that good bacteria into your gut and helping out your gut health and growing those species of good bacteria.

Michele Riechman: Yeah. I love that. So even as I work with clients from sort of a weight loss, health metabolism, Way. I mean, I think fiber's one of the first things we work on because people just typically aren't getting enough, you know, from a health standpoint and not only how it helps their gut. Um, so I love that.

She said that. So as a registered dietician, is there like, can somebody get too much fiber we'll assume they're going up slowly and not doing like a big jump, but I mean like, would you say you can eat too many fruits or vegetables or too much fiber? 

Jillian Smith: Such a good question. And I love that you brought up increasing it gradually.

That is really important, especially if you don't typically eat a lot of fruits and vegetables going the whole hog and being like, okay, Jillian said, have half my plate be fruits, veggies. So I'm going to go in. You know, cold Turkey on that. That can cause a lot of like bloating or gas because it can be a lot of food all at once for that gut bacteria.

And they're going to feast on that food and in turn that can make you feel a little bit more bloated, a little uncomfortable, so increase it gradually. If you're not doing a lot of fruits and vegetables right now, focus on just one meal to get them in. And. Slowly increase that over time. Um, I, I would not be afraid of eating too many fruits and vegetables.

What could happen is it could be a little bit constipating. So if you're eating a lot of fiber, maybe you start to notice that you're getting constipated. You're not going every single day. If that's the case, bump up your water intake. If you increase your vegetable and your fruit intake, you wanna bump up your water intake anyway, to prevent any sort of constipation.

So bump up the water. I don't typically see other than being a little bit, backed up people eating too many fruits and veggies and getting adverse side effects to it. I think just in the American diet were not eating enough anyway. So, you know, I've never worried of like overdoing it there where you can overdo it is if you're doing like a fiber supple.

So sometimes people will have like a powdered fiber supplement that they can add to smoothies or into water. That's like a very concentrated source of fiber so that you can potentially overdo it and get really constipated, get that issues going on, and just not be feeling too well if you're doing whole fruits and vegetables, not too worried about overdoing.

Michele Riechman: Yeah,you can pretty much always eat more. like, we're gonna be okay. Yeah. And I love how, you know, you sort of gave that visual of like half your plate veggies, because I think we're so used to the food pyramid. I, I know it's different now. The one I saw with the kid was the triangle and the bottom was basically.

Refined carbs. Um, so we are just always on that yeah. We just always think we need like more carbs or bread or pasta sort of the base, and really it should be flipped of those veggies should be the 

Jillian Smith: base. Yep, absolutely. And I'm glad that that food pyramid, I mean, it's, it's since been kind of like outdated, right?

That's kind of the old way of doing things. And luckily now, Bra and the U S D a has, what's called my plate and my plate. It's actually a visual of having a plate. And I think that's much better to go off of, because it does kind of give you approximate distributions of how your different food groups have been on your plate.

Having most of it be the vegetables. Of it being some grains and then the other quarter being your protein versus that food pyramid, which was ladder refining carbs. I'm glad that's kind of been outdated now. 

Michele Riechman: Yeah. Um, so what would you say are supplements that heal the gut, and sort of, when should somebody use those, and what are those best ones?

Supplements for gut health you should try

Jillian Smith: Yes. So when it comes to the world of supplements, very personalized, it really is going to differ from person to person. But, um, in general, what I recommend, number one is getting started on a good magnesium supplement. Magnesium is so, so important. It is really great for number one, mental wellness, reducing stress and anxiety, which one we're talking about.

Gut. That gut-brain connection is so powerful. And I work a lot with my kids on reducing stress and anxiety and bringing in some restorative relaxation practices, because that is what your gut needs to heal. If you're always in fight or flight, your gut's not going to be healed and you're still gonna be healed and not so great.

So magnesium's really great for relaxing the mind. It's also really great for improving our sleep. It's really important for making sure you're going to the bathroom every day. So if you're not pooping every. You are constipated. You gotta make sure that you're going every single day. So taking good daily magnesium.

Supplement's great for that. Um, the form matters when it comes to magnesium though. So if you ever go to, you know, like a grocery store and you're looking in the supplement section, there are so many different types of magnesium, there's a magnesium sit tray, magnesium oxide, the kind that I recommend to all my clients it's called magnesium glycinate.

And that one is the best abs absorb. So it's gonna be. Um, absorbed into the body. It's gonna help relax things which is gonna help you go to the bathroom more easily and it's better tolerated. Some magnesium supplements can make you feel more bloated and, um, gly it since it's absorbed so well, it doesn't make you bloated.

So the miracle worker from gut personal, that's the brand, that's the other side of the company that I worked for and on the lead D. We have a magazine called the miracle worker, which is just magnesium glycine. So that's one that I use with my clients. Cause it works really well. It, um, absorbs well, so it doesn't cause any issues.

So magnesium is great. Another one is I do think probiotics have their time in place and that they are very beneficial. Kind of my caveat to that is if you have a lot of gut issues, if you've been struggling with gut issues for a long time, I don't recommend just jumping in and taking any old probiotic because taking a probiotic on top of already having a lot of gut issues can make things worse.

So if you're somebody who doesn't really struggle with a lot of gut issues, you just wanna be sure you're covering all your bases and you're, um, you know, setting yourself up for success long term, starting a good probiotic is great. If you're somebody who does have a lot of gut. Then starting with a very specific kind of probiotic called Sacra Valdi, that's a strand of probiotic on the gut personal company.

We have a product called the booster. That's our probiotic for those, with a lot of gut issues. That's what I recommend starting. It's very gentle. It's actually a probiotic yeast, not a probiotic bacteria. So it's a little bit different and that's why it's actually gonna help heal gut and not cause anymore issues.

But, um, if you're somebody who you're like, oh no, I don't think that really applies to. Getting on a good well-rounded probiotic can be really, really helpful. 

Gut brain connection and what that means for you gut health

Michele Riechman: Yeah. And so you brought up the gut brain connection. So I was just talking with someone the other day. So let's say someone sort of have the, a sensitive stomach.

You know, they have issues like stress goes to their stomach, but how do they distinguish when, um, it's like stress is upsetting their stomach? um, versus like, oh, could it be like something I'm eating or something else? So I don't know if you have any tips on that. 

Jillian Smith: Yeah, such a great question. And I would say nine times outta 10 are gonna go hand in hand.

So because the brain talks to the gut and the gut talks back to the brain. It's really a bidirectional line of communication there. And so if you are any sort of stressed and the thing is is that we live in modern society where things are go, go, go. And I work with clients who come to me and you know, they'll say.

I'll ask them about their stress and like, oh, you know, I'm not, I'm not stressed, not anymore than the next person, but when we really start digging into it, this is where I really advise people to start getting really honest with yourself and start thinking about all the little things that maybe you aren't even thinking that stress, that stress on the body.

So are you sleeping eight hours per night? Are you skipping meals? That's a stress on the body. Are you eating balanced meals? Not that's a stress on the body. Are you sitting in traffic every day when you're trying to get to work? That's a stress on the body. Are you typically somebody who's a late runner?

You know, you're always late to things. You're running out the door. That's a stress. Are you somebody who's overwhelmed? You have a lot on your plate. You're taking care of a family. You have a busy job, you have a side hustle, all of these things. And as you know, we kind of really start thinking about these kinds, going down the list.

N all my clients are always like, okay, wait. Yeah, maybe I do have a little bit more stress in my life than I was even aware. So I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that everybody can be doing things every day to start working on their stress levels, doing things that bring us more into the breast and digest.

And that's really going to affect your gut issues. If you have gut issues, you gotta start working on that stress first and foremost, and that's can make such a huge difference for you. Yeah, 

Michele Riechman: I love what you said right. At the end, sort of getting into that rest and digest that really calming nervous system will probably help give you a hint.

If you're not feeling like you're in that, then it could be that gut brain connection. Definitely. Yeah. And so when do you suggest someone can try some of these things out on their own versus like when someone actually needs some extra? 

Jillian Smith: Yeah. So I think that there are a few of these things that we've been talking about today that you can go ahead and start and try on your own things like bumping up your vegetables, getting half your plate to be vegetables, things like working on your stress, working on your sleep, getting into rest and digest more often.

And starting with those, maybe starting a probiotic appropriate for you and starting a magnesium supplement. Start there. If things are not improving, that's when it is time to reach out for some support. So, as I said, in practice, I do a lot of testing. So I'm working with a lot of people who they've tried it all.

They've been in this ringer for a while. They feel like they're doing everything right. Yet. They still are feeling like crap. That's when it's time to do a little bit of deeper diving and figure out, okay, what's going on in the. There's some, you know, nasty gut bugs, some infection that can't be out dieted, you know, you can have the most perfect diet doing all the things, right?

But if you have an infection in the gut, you gotta adjust the infection, and if you wanna start feeling better. So that's really why I suggest doing the easy stuff. First, those low hanging fruit, if you're not feeling any better, then it's time to reach out for support to get some testing done, to really figure out the root cost, address that.

And that's where we can really start seeing the needle. . Yeah. 

Gluten sensitivity test for gut health

Michele Riechman: And I know at the beginning you mentioned stool testing and I had a quick question. When you, you, at the beginning said you could test gluten through stool testing. Yeah. So gluten sensitivity. So what is the difference between using the stool test or the blood test that tests for gluten sensitivity?

Jillian Smith: Yeah, so you can go, you know, to your doctor get, um, a blood test. They also ha you can do biopsies where they'll test for celiac disease, lots of different kinds of testing that you can do for gluten. And honestly, they're all great. The one that I use in my practice is stool testing. Um, so we can actually measure antibodies against gluten molecules that are coming out via your.

And so along with that, we can also look at your immune response. I'm looking at your species of bacteria. So kind of what I was talking about, taking any old probiotic is not appropriate for everybody, because let's say you have a bunch of bacteria overgrowing in your gut. You don't wanna be supplementing with the probiotic on top of that, because then you're just adding fuel to the fire.

So through this testing, it can actually measure your strains of bacteria and say, oh, you're low in this specific bacteria let's supplement with that specific strain of Probio. And, um, so that's a way that we can really personalize exactly what you need. And then of course, I'm looking for any sort of infections, pathogens, parasites, fungal overgrowth, like that candida that we were talking about earlier, I can even measure how well my clients are breaking down their foods, how well they're absorbing their nutrients.

So it's a lot of great data and that's why it can be such a huge needle mover for those people who feel like they are just not feeling any better and really wanna start making some forward momentum in fixing their gut. 

Michele Riechman: Yeah. So do, um, people typically do one stool test and it sort of tests for all that.

Jillian Smith: Just one and we get all of that. I mean, it's a five page printout of this information. 

Michele Riechman: Yeah. That's nice. Cuz I know sometimes those can be pricey, so it's definitely good to try some other things first, but yeah, just get the help if you need it. Cause it's affected so much if your gut's not on the track.

Jillian Smith: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, not all. Tests are created equal either. You know, I have some clients who will come to me and you say, you know, my, I did a stool test with my doctor and it only tested for one thing and it came back normal and it's like, well, you need a test. That's a little bit more in-depth than that.

And you're right. And it's sometimes, um, you know, always covered by insurance, which can definitely be a barrier. And so start with what you can and if it's appropriate for you. And if you're at a stage in your life where you wanna dive into that testing, then seek out that support and do it. It's so worth it, just to feel good in your body.

Michele Riechman: Yeah, I definitely think so. You know, just investing in your health in general, um, you know, if you feel stuck, it's so much easier to just get help from an expert and just like, get really narrowed in on what you need to do, um, to really stay consistent and just start feeling better. 

Jillian Smith: I so agree. Yeah, I agree.

And that's really what we do where I work with my clients on, uh, the company's called the gut fix. And so we're really fixing people's guts through this very targeted root cause approach. It's very personalized to them. And, um, gut personal is the supplement side that we were kind of talking about before we started recording.

And that's really where it works in personalized gut healing supplements, cuz in the supplement space, really gut health in general, it needs to be so personalized. We're all different. We're all unique individuals. And that's sometimes where people can feel like they're doing all the things, but not feeling any better, but they're not doing something that's personalized to them and is appropriate for them.

Michele Riechman: Yeah. Perfect. And then just let us know, um, how people can reach you. And I don't know if you have a freebie or free resource or anything. 

More info about Jillian here: www.gutpersonal.com

**Use the code “JILLIAN” to save 10%

Connect with Jillian here: https://www.instagram.com/jilliansmith.rd/

 Does your metabolism seem like it is slow? Would you like to stop wasting your time with things that aren’t working? 

Join my FREE workshop to discover how to fix your metabolism so you can lose weight & keep it off.

You will discover:

✅ What foods help your metabolism

✅ Which exercise speeds up your metabolism

✅ What you are doing that may actually be slowing down your metabolism.

Sign up for FREE here!