7 Foods to Avoid If You Want a Healthier Gut

Maintaining a healthy gut starts with knowing what to leave off your plate. Here are seven foods to avoid to support better digestion and overall gut health.

Ultra-processed foods are typically higher in fats, sugars, and chemicals. They’re commonly called empty-calorie foods because they have more calories and fewer nutrients.

Diets high in ultra-processed foods can harm your gut’s bacteria and lead to inflammation, which is a risk factor for some cancers, diabetes, and heart disease.

Examples of ultra-processed foods include:

• Sugary breakfast cereals
• Packaged snacks like chips and cookies
• Instant noodles
• Soda and other sweetened beverages
• Frozen meals and microwave dinners
• Processed meats such as hot dogs and chicken nuggets
• Candy and energy bars

Diets high in saturated fats can lead to health conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and certain cancers. They can also negatively impact the bacteria in your gut.

These high-saturated fat foods include:

• Fatty meats
• Dairy products like whole milk and cheese
• Processed foods
• Certain food oils and lard

Coconut, which is considered a whole food, is also high in saturated fats, especially when turned into oil. However, how saturated fats from coconuts are processed in the body may differ from other foods.

Some research suggests that coconut may provide health benefits such as cholesterol control. However, more research is necessary to fully understand whether coconut is helpful or harmful for cholesterol levels.

Fried foods can be particularly unhealthy due to the way the oil used for frying reacts to high heat. Heating at high temperatures turns some of the oil’s beneficial unsaturated fatty acids into harmful trans fats, a type of fat that raises the risk of heart disease and other toxic substances that aren’t good for the gut.

These foods can also have a negative impact on the variety of bacteria that keep the gut balanced and healthy.

Consuming a lot of sugar may lead to heart-related conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. High amounts of sugars, like glucose and fructose, can damage the gut’s protective lining. This can decrease the variety of bacteria in your gut and promote the spread of unhealthy bacteria, leading to gut conditions such as irritable bowel disease (IBD).

Artificial sweeteners may increase bad bacteria such as Clostridium difficile (C-diff) and Escherichia coli (E. Coli), while also reducing good gut bacteria. These harmful bacteria can also block signals sent through your body that help your gut stay healthy. Over time, consuming too many artificial sweeteners can cause digestive symptoms such as bloating and diarrhea.

Like sugar, alcohol can weaken the gut’s protective lining. A weaker gut barrier can allow a large amount of harmful substances to enter. This can disrupt the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut, increasing the risk of inflammation and infection.

Consuming a lot of red meat can increase your risk of heart disease. It may also decrease the amount of beneficial bacteria in the gut. People with conditions like IBD should limit red meat in their diet because it can cause an upset stomach and other gastrointestinal symptoms.

Foods that support a healthy gut include those that have:

• Fiber: This helps maintain the diversity of bacteria in the gut and keeps your gut lining strong, preventing harmful germs from entering. Fiber-rich foods include oats, lentils, black beans, and dark leafy greens such as kale and collard greens.
• Probiotics: These are good bacteria that support your gut environment and promote health and immunity. You can find probiotics in foods like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut.
• Prebiotics: These are fibers that feed probiotic bacteria to keep them healthy. You can get prebiotics from foods such as artichokes, asparagus, pears, and leeks.
• Polyphenols: These are nutrients in plants and plant-based foods that support your cells and prevent damage. Foods rich in polyphenols include blueberries, purple sweet potatoes, grapes, red cabbage, beets, 70% dark chocolate, and green tea.
• Omega-3 fatty acids: These nutrients help reduce inflammation and may protect your gut’s lining. They may also help maintain good bacteria in the gut. However, more research is necessary to better understand its effects on the gut. Omega-3-rich foods include walnuts, chia and flax seeds, and fatty fish such as salmon.
• Plant and animal proteins: Proteins support healthy levels of good bacteria. Consider adding soy, wheat, rice, eggs, dairy, and chicken to your diet. Animal protein sources, in general, have a better balance of amino acids, the building blocks that create protein, and are easier to digest. However, it may be best to limit your intake of red meat.