When most people think about gut health, they often focus on digestion, bloating, or bathroom habits. While those are important, your gut’s influence reaches far beyond your digestive tract — affecting your energy levels, hormones, mood, skin, weight, and overall wellness.

At Family Nutrition Solutions in Wilmington, NC, our team of functional dietitians work with clients across North Carolina and virtually nationwide to help them uncover the root causes of gut issues and improve their health through simple, effective dietary strategies.

Today, we’re sharing our top gut-friendly foods that you should add to your grocery cart ASAP — plus, a free gut health guide to help you get started right away!

The Basics: Prebiotics and Probiotics

Supporting your gut means feeding and nurturing the trillions of bacteria living inside your digestive tract. Two key players in gut health are:

Prebiotics: These are types of fiber our bodies can’t digest. They serve as food for the beneficial bacteria (probiotics) in our gut.

Probiotics: bacteria that are good for your digestive system. When you consume probiotics (from supplements or food sources), you boost the number of beneficial microorganisms in your gut, which can help balance out the harmful bacteria.

A good rule of thumb for a gut-supporting diet is to eat 30 or more different plant foods per week. This includes fruits, vegetables, herbs, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Not only do many plant foods contain prebiotics, they also provide polyphenols, which are powerful compounds that promote diverse gut bacteria, support the gut lining, and can help reduce inflammation.

Now that we’ve covered a few important “ingredients” for a gut-healthy diet, let’s go through some specific foods we recommend adding to your weekly meal plan!

12 Recommended Gut-Friendly Foods

1. Jicama – prebiotic (baked jicama fries are a tasty option!)

2. Kiwi – a natural source of gut-healthy enzymes and a good source of fiber

3. Beet – helps stimulate bile flow (bile helps us digest fats)

4. Bone broth – soothing for the digestive tract and supports the integrity of the gut lining 

5. Ginger – amazing for any nausea and Gl upset; helps accelerate gastric emptying by stimulating stomach acid production. It also has anti-inflammatory properties.

6. Asparagus – another excellent prebiotic vegetable

7. Lemon, especially the zest – bitter food; helps stimulate digestion and boosts stomach acid.

8. Carrots – high in polyphenols (especially rainbow carrots!) and a great source of fiber

9. Chia seeds – great for lowering inflammation, can help promote healing of the gut lining, and are a good source of fiber

10. Throat coat tea – contains slippery elm & marshmallow root, which are soothing for the GI tract and great for heartburn, reflux, gastritis, etc.

11. Wild blueberries – loaded with polyphenols

12. Any fermented foods! These provide probiotics - think yogurt, kefir, tempeh, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, and miso.

FREE Gut Health Guide — Download Now!

Ready to take your gut health to the next level? We’ve put together a FREE Gut Health Guide packed with actionable tips, including:

• Simple at-home tests for stomach acid and gut transit time
  
• Why resistant starches matter for gut healing
  
• How to support healthy stomach acid levels

Download your free guide here and start feeling better today!

Personalized Support in Wilmington, NC, and Beyond

Integrating these gut-friendly foods into your diet and following our Gut Health Guide recommendations are powerful steps toward better digestion and overall health. But, if you’re currently struggling with uncomfortable gut health symptoms (eg. bloating, constipation, diarrhea), it can be helpful to work with a functional nutrition practitioner to find and resolve your unique root cause. 

The Family Nutrition Solutions team is here to help - offering both in-person nutrition counseling in Wilmington, NC, and virtual appointments across the US. Plus, we accept insurance, making it easier than ever to get expert support for your gut health.

Tap here to learn more about our counseling services, and if you’re ready to fill out an application…

Here’s the link to apply now.