How a Plant-Based Diet Can Improve Gut Health

There are many reasons to feel good about living a plant-based lifestyle. You’re helping the environment and saving millions of animals. However, you should literally feel good by following a vegetarian or vegan diet. That’s because eating more fruits and vegetables is conducive to boosting your beneficial stomach bacteria. Here’s how!

Guest Article: This article is written by Richard Lin, CEO and Cofounder of ThryveInside.com

Fruits, Veggies, and Prebiotics 

Our stomach bacteria help us break down solid food particles. Their hard work helps ease our digestion. We reward them by feeding them foods they actually enjoy. Thankfully for those living a cruelty-free lifestyle, they like the foods we do!

There’s a lot of roughage in our fruits and vegetables. These dietary fibers are hard for our digestive organs to break down. So, they remain in the system. Our stomach bacteria feast on the carbohydrates in these fibers for energy. These types of foods are known as prebiotics. 

Due to stomach bacteria, we aren’t stuck with excess food sitting in our gut. That usually happens when we eat foods rich in artificial sweeteners and processed animal fats. Those types of foods often lead to inflammation that destroys the gut lining.

Probiotics and Short-Chain Fatty Acids for Gut Healing 

Our gut bacteria are living beings. Like us, they must release waste into the system. Luckily for us, that waste actually has healing abilities.

Probiotic metabolites range from vitamins to amino acids. However, the most commonly produced metabolites are short-chain fatty acids.

Cells along our gut lining use short-chain fatty acids as electrical currency. They rely on these short bursts of energy to replicate and get rid of dying cells. 

One of the short-chain fatty acids that probiotics typically produce is butyrate. Our gut lining is porous. That allows us to absorb nutrients from food digested in the intestines. However, inflammation around the gut makes these holes bigger, which allows toxins to seep in. Butyrate helps clog those holes, reducing inflammation. 

Foods Rich in Prebiotics

Eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables should give you adequate prebiotics to feed your probiotic gut bacteria. However, some foods have dietary fibers that are more conducive to healthy bacteria growth.

Some of the most common plant-based prebiotics include:

• Jerusalem Artichokes
• Garlic
• Onions
• Apples
• Chicory
• Bananas
• Asparagus
• Leeks Cabbage

The key to cultivating a healthy gut is diversity. You want as many stomach bacteria species as possible. Maintaining this balance will stop one opportunistic species from taking over and causing GI problems. 

Nourish your gut by providing it with a range of nutrients. Each color represented on a fruit or vegetable means there are unique compounds that benefit bacterial growth. So, be sure to eat the rainbow.

Gut Health Tests and Prebiotics

While a plant-based diet is ideal for a healthy lifestyle, it does come with GI side effects. For some, too many plant items can cause a lot of gas. Others might even deal with chronic inflammation.

Unfortunately, some plant-based powerhouses, such as beans and eggplant, are rich in lectins. While there are health benefits to lectins, sometimes these compounds drain other nutrients of their powers. Therefore, lectins may cause inflammation and chronic stomach pain. Learn more about living lectin-free as a vegan here. 

If you have gut sensitivities, consider getting a gut health test with Thryve. You send in a sample and they analyze your DNA to inform you of your gut bacteria ratios. 

As we mentioned, gut bacteria have specific tastes. So, an abundance of one type may give some clues as to which foods might be causing GI triggers.

Personalized Food Recommendations 

Thryve’s database also gives you food recommendations to enhance your gut bacteria diversity. You can optimize your options to reflect a plant-based diet. 

Here are 100 recipes you can find in the Thryve database:

1. Tandori Roasted Chickpea Squash Buddha Bowl 
2. Shishito Peppers with Pomegranate Caviar
3. Apricot Millet Kasha
4. Guacamole with Edamame and Sesame
5. Roasted Sunchokes with Rosemary
6. Avocado Curry Smoked Tofu and Lettuce
7. Mango and Jicama Salad with Habanero Vinaigrette
8. Celery Margarita
9. Bok Choy and Pineapple Slaw
10. Black Eyed Pea Collard Rolls
11. Dairy-Free Cauliflower Hash Browns
12. Lemon Chia Pudding
13. Quinoa Adzuki Bean Veggie Burgers
14. Carrot Mango and Kiwi Smoothie
15. Japanese Sekihan Red Beans and Sticky Rice
16. Cranberry Apple Sprouted Buckwheat Cereal
17. Pea Potato Crush
18. Farfalle with Arugula Pesto
19. Spaghetti Squash with Rosemary Olive Oil and Parmesan 
20. Double Coconut Crunch Muffins
21. Pumpkin Seed Beer Brittle
22. Mushrooms, Broccoli, and Pomegranate Couscous 
23. Butterbeans, Artichokes, and Mixed Greens
24. Chickpea Tacos
25. Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts
26. Jicama Fries
27. Pumpkin Sunflower Flaxseed Butter
28. Dark Chocolate Bark with Roasted Almonds and Seeds
29. Multigrain Pilaf with Quinoa, Millet, and Teff
30. Stir-Fried Snowpeas with Shiitake and Ginger
31. Minted Peas and Wax Beans
32. Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet
33. Sesame Seasoned Spinach
34. Mung Bean Sprout Salad
35. Fennel with Turnip Greens
36. White Bean Spread with Roasted Garlic
37. Watermelon Lemonade with Kiwi Splash
38. Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats
39. Roasted Thai Curry Cauliflower and Garbanzo Beans
40. Black Bean Chocolate Cake
41. Sunflower Cookies
42. Aztec Corn Salad
43. Southern Spicy Black Eyed Pea Dip
44. Apple and Celery Granita
45. White Rice Sweet Potato and Tomatoes
46. Candied-Spiced Chickpeas
47. Portabello Mushroom and Dried Tomato Bruschetta
48. Paleo Plantain and Apple Fritters 
49. Black Bean Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini 
50. Parmesan Herb Millet Cakes
51. Napa Cabbage and Cucumber Slaw
52. Organic Adzuki Bean Miso Soup
53. Sauteed Grape and Goat Cheese Dip
54. Brandied Cherries
55. Japanese Braised Kabocha Squash
56. Red Bean Espresso Brownies
57. Roasted Acorn Squash with Cranberry Sauce 
58. Onion Tartlets
59. Peach Strawberry Smoothie
60. Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms
61. Refried Bean Cakes
62. Pickled Unripe Peaches
63. Chicken-Like Vegan Gravy
64. Blueberry Spinach Salad
65. Detoxifying Hummus
66. Jalapeño Pepper Pie
67. Pumpkin Seed Bread
68. Candied Sweet Potatoes
69. Hot or Cold Sesame Asparagus
70. Spicy Spinach with Sunflower Seeds
71. Rosemary Citrus Sorbet
72. Candied Cherry Tomatoes
73. Sweet and Sour Pineapple Beets
74. Rhubarb Compote with Oranges and Figs
75. Slow Cooker Brussels Sprouts with Dijon Mustard
76. Celery Cider
77. Lemon Poppy Seed Mini Muffins
78. Herbed Butternut Squash
79. Mung Bean Sprout Salad
80. Caramel Corn with Peanuts and Dried Cherries
81. Juniper Champagne Cocktail
82. Detox Kale Salad
83. Roasted Cauliflower with Kalamata Olives 
84. Baked Apple Chips
85. Skinny Spiced Crock Pot Mocha
86. Stuffed Mushrooms with Zucchini 
87. Simple Mango Salsa
88. Frijoles Negros Picantes
89. Garlicky Lima Bean Spread
90. Green Chile Corn Fritters
91. Chocolate Avocado Truffles
92. Cantaloupe Aqua Fresca with Beet Swirl
93. Roasted Red Pepper Spread
94. Crispy Yukon Golden Diced Tomatoes with Garlic and Thyme
95. Cashew Green Beans and Mushrooms
96. Cantonese Spinach with Garlic
97. Sesame Noodles with Kale
98. Hot Cranberry Tea Fusion
99. Courgette Fritters
100. Honeydew Jalapeño Granita
101. All of this and More!

Get these delicious options and more at thryveinside.com.