Your gut health significantly affects your overall health and well being, from your digestion to your immunity, mood and brain health. An unbalanced gut can lead to bloating, skin issues, fatigue, and poor mood, and the foods you eat directly impact your gut. This is where the microbiome diet comes in. The goal of this eating plan is to repair your gut health by consuming foods that support a healthy gut microbiome and eliminating foods that harm your gut. Want to know more? We’re covering it all in this post.
What Is the Microbiome Diet?
The microbiome diet focuses on restoring your gut health by eating foods like fermented foods and foods rich in probiotics, plant-based foods, non-starchy fruits and vegetables, grass-fed meat and wild, low mercury fish. As well as limiting processed foods, added sugars, and refined grains. The goal is to foster a balanced microbiome, which improves your overall health and wellness.
The microbiome diet was created by Dr. Raphael Kellmen and is based on the “four R’s”.
- Remove: eliminate foods that cause inflammation and disrupt the gut microbiome.
- Repair: add foods and supplements that heal your gut and support the microbiome.
- Replace: consume herbs, spices and supplements that replace stomach acid and digestive enzymes, and improve the quality of bacteria in your gut.
- Reinoculate: load up on probiotic and prebiotic foods and supplements to fill your gut with healthy bacteria.
Having a balanced, healthy gut not only aids in digestion, it also benefits your skin, mood and brain health. It lowers your risk of a number of chronic diseases, from metabolic disease to heart disease and certain types of cancer. An unbalanced microbiome can lead to symptoms like bloating, irregular bowel movements, fatigue, skin issues, and mood swings. The beneficial bacteria that make up the microbiome thrive on fibre-rich vegetables and fruits, so load up on bananas, onions, leeks, oats, whole grains, avocados, nuts, leafy greens, and asparagus, and fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, and sauerkraut.
7 Benefits of the Microbiome Diet
- Improves gut health
- Fights bad bacteria from proliferating in your gut
- Improves digestion- reduces bloating, regulates your bowels
- Reduces inflammation
- Improves mood and brain function
- Can help with weight loss and management
- Decreases the risk of chronic diseases
3 Tips to Get Started with the Microbiome Diet
There are 3 phases of the microbiome diet. The first 2 phases take a total of 7 weeks to complete, while the third phase is a long-term maintenance diet. Here’s how to get started.
Phase 1
The first phase of the diet lasts for 3 weeks and is the toughest stage. During this phase, you’re supposed to eliminate the following foods:
- Processed and fried foods
- Added sugars
- Gluten
- Dairy (except butter and ghee)
- Grains
- Eggs
- Packaged foods
- Artificial sweeteners
- Trans and hydrogenated fats
- Processed meats
- Soy
- Legumes (except chickpeas and lentils)
- Yeast
- Dried fruits and fruit juices
- Peanuts and peanut butter
- Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams
- High-mercury fish
During phase 1, you’re encouraged to focus on plant-based foods that increase microbiome diversity, such as prebiotic foods (onions, garlic), probiotic foods (kimchi, sauerkraut), fruits (berries, apples, cherries), healthy fats (avocado, wild salmon), and oils like olive and flaxseed oil.
Phase 2
Over the next 4 weeks, you can start to introduce certain foods back into your diet. This includes:
- Sheep or goat’s milk dairy or kefir
- Organic, free-range eggs
- Gluten-free grains like quinoa, buckwheat, brown, basmati and wild rice
- Beans, including black, red, white and kidney beans
- Sweet potatoes and yams
Phase 3
The third and final phase of the microbiome diet is known as the “lifetime tune up” and emphasizes continuing a diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods, while limiting foods that negatively impact your gut health. If you’ve followed the diet correctly, by the time you reach this phase, your gut microbiome is thought to be healed. This is the maintenance stage that you should aim to follow for the foreseeable future. Although there’s no recommended length, you’re encouraged to make this phase a long-term lifestyle change.
40 Microbiome Diet Recipes for Every Meal
10 Microbiome Diet Breakfast Recipes
1. Healthy Chia Pudding with Apples | Olive Magazine
2. Avocado Toast on Sourdough Bread with Cottage Cheese | Flavorful Life
3. Kefir Smoothie Bowl with Berries and Bananas | Little Home in the Making
4. Spring Greens Shakshuka | Olive Magazine
5. Za’atar Fried Egg, Avocado and Tomato Bowl | The Feed Feed
6. Sweet Potato and Black Bean Breakfast Tacos | Real Simple
7. Sheet Pan Asparagus Frittata | Good Housekeeping
8. Creamy Blueberry Pecan Oatmeal | EatingWell
9. Sweet Potato Protein Breakfast Bowl | Fit Mitten Kitchen
10. Almond Buckwheat Granola with Greek Yogurt and Berries | Good Housekeeping
10 Microbiome Diet Lunch Recipes
1. Cashew Chickpea Salad with Cabbage Slaw | Martha Stewart
2. Citrus Shrimp and Avocado Salad | Foodie Crush
3. Coconut and Ginger Pumpkin Soup | Nourish Everyday
4. Buddha Bowl with Kale, Avocado, Orange and Wild Rice | Pure Wow
5. Chickpea Salad Sandwich | Eating Well
6. Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Bowls with Lemon Tahini Dressing | Two Peas and Their Pod
7. Miso Roasted Eggplant with Sesame Seeds | Real Simple
8. Black Bean Wrap with Greens and Cilantro Vinaigrette | Eating Well
9. Salmon Tacos with Grapefruit Salsa | Real Simple
10. Kale, Apple and Celery Salad | Martha Stewart
10 Microbiome Diet Dinner Recipes
1. Miso Salmon with Sesame Ginger Noodles | What’s Gaby Cooking
2. Black Bean Cauliflower Rice Bowl | Eating Well
3. Fish Taco Bowl with Mango Salad | Calm Eats
4. Crispy Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas and Tahini Yogurt | BBC Good Food
5. Happy Gut Bowl with Sauerkraut Vinaigrette | The Candida Diet
6. Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry | Eating Well
7. Honey-White Miso Shrimp with Soba Noodles and Yu Choy | Make Good Food
8. Red Lentil Soup | Detoxinista
9. Miso Ramen | Well Plated
10. Vegan Black Bean Burgers | Eating Well
10 Microbiome Diet Dessert Recipes
1. Gut Loving Mango Pudding | The Gut Health Doctor
2. Baked Cinnamon Apple Slices | Eating Well
3. Prebiotic-Packed White Chocolate Blondies | The Gut Health Doctor
4. Gut Lovin’ Chocolate Chip Cookies | Giving Grayce
5. Banana Bran Muffins | Eating Well
6. Healthy Carrot Cake | My Bioma
7. Strawberry Chocolate Greek Yogurt Bark | Eating Well
8. Paleo Lemon Tart | The Functional Gut Health Clinic
9. Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Chia Pudding | Eating Well
10. Antioxidant-Packed Chocolate Covered Stuffed Figs | The Gut Health Doctor
If you want to improve your gut health, the microbiome diet could be the right option for you!
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