Digestive Superfoods
Superfoods. We can’t help be intrigued. But the superfood hype came into existence when we started eating processed foods (“frankenfoods”!) and forgot what real food actually is. Real foods were (and still are) the first superfoods—properly prepared, nutrient dense, whole foods.
Not to disappoint, true superfood knowledge should excite you. They’re easier to get than you thought, cheaper at that, not powerful botanicals with severe actions as well as side effects or full of highly processed isolate nutrients our bodies cannot recognise as food, let alone super food. And most importantly of all, they themselves are highly digestible, as nature intended and your body recognises in a pinch! Superpowers here we come.
1.Bone broth
Everybody reaches for the chicken soup when they’re under the weather, from your immediate family back to your great grandparents. It’s rich in glycine, an amino acid that balances out another amino acid, methionine, found in muscle meats and egg yolks, which, perhaps most importantly of all, helps stimulate the production of stomach acid, seal the gut lining, and reduce the overgrowth of harmful microbes. It also contains glutamine, which helps maintain the integrity of the gut mucosa and the intestinal barrier. The gelatin in bone broth helps draw fluid into the intestine, which supports healthy bowel movements. Meat on the bone is a digestive superfood for the same reasons as bone broth. The connective tissues it contains are rich in collagen, glycine, and glutamine, which are good for digestive function, mood and joint health.
2.Sauerkraut and kimchi
These are naturally probiotic fermented foods whose fermentation removes antinutrients like phytic acid, that can lower the nutrient availability in many plant foods.
3.Raw honey
Raw honey can reduce gastrointestinal inflammation. Honey appears to lower the blood levels of prostaglandins, which play an important role in the body’s inflammatory response. If that’s not super I don’t know what is!
4.Ginger
Eastern medicine has been using ginger for digestion and nausea for centuries. Like others in the family of bitter herbs, ginger helps gastric emptying by stimulating stomach acid production.
5.Beets
One of the biggest reasons for the revelation that a good diet is even more important than we thought is the discovery of the many contributors to our health - the tiny good bacteria living in our guts. Yes, they should be bugging you! In fact we’re more bacterial cells than human cells, with 3-4 pounds of over a trillion of the little fellows.
But what have beets got to do with that? Simply, beetroot juice has traditionally been used as a remedy to activate liver enzymes and increase bile.
6.Roobois
A lot of digestive-sugar interveners opt for roobois tea. Other teas, like black and green, have much higher tannin contents, which can cause iron deficiency, headaches or indigestion.
Rooibos contains many minerals such as copper, manganese, fluoride, zinc, magnesium and potassium. This makes it a great tea for strong teeth and bones. It also has alpha-hydroxy which is great for skin regeneration. In fact, studies are showing that you can use the tea topically to help with itchy dry skin like eczema or even acne.
Rooibos is also used to aid in digestive problems such as constipation, nausea and heartburn. It contains no oxalic acid, which can cause kidney stones. It’s also a natural sedative to help with tension and stress, boosts the immune system and hydrates.
Oh and it’s delicious.
7.ACV
Apple cider vinegar is a short chain fatty acid called acetate. It’s important to have acetate in your body, particularly in the digestive tract, because it will help dampen the immune system.
ACV is a natural anti-inflammatory. And with so much pro-inflammation
in our bodies, a lot of them have forgotten even how to receive anti- inflammation. But the good news is that some immune cells carry receptors that bind to any acetate molecules they encounter. The binding sends messages to the immune system. ACV could well be your new go-to for most symptoms
8.Grapefruit
Although the fiber in grapefruit undoubtedly aids your digestion by moving things along and by helping to keep you regular, promising evidence reveals that other nutrients in grapefruit could also optimize your digestion. Grapefruits are rich in an antioxidant compounds hesperidin and naringin, the latter of which acts somewhat like insulin and may be involved in fat metabolism. Also vitamin C, found in high quantities in grapefruit, may do the same by regulating and affecting several digestive enzymes. Vitamin C also helps to support the immune system, by preventing the free radical damage that triggers the inflammatory cascade. The rich pink and red colors of grapefruit are due to lycopene, a carotenoid phytonutrient, one of the most common dietary carotenoids with the highest capacity to help fight oxygen free radicals, which are compounds that can damage cells.
It’s important to check first with your doctor for the possibility of drug interactions, though.
9.Coconut oil
Coconut oil is another super food no one should be without. Its medium chain triglycerides are a type of fatty acid that is rapidly absorbed (not stored) and turned into usable energy and these healthy saturated fats are an integral part to healing your gut. Lauric, capric and caprylic acids in coconut oil have antimicrobial, anti-fungal and antiviral properties: real food medicine to gently clean your digestive system. It should be organic, extra virgin and cold pressed. It’s also another great trick for addressing sugar cravings: eat a teaspoon or two of coconut oil - no more cravings.
10.Vanilla
Vanilla is one of the best sugar and digestive cheats. Studies on vanillin suggest it contains strong antioxidant and antibacterial properties, which help cleanse skin problems and help fight the damage caused by free radicals, slowing the signs of aging. Vanillin also contains active compounds, which have an effect on the central nervous system. Capsaicin acts as a pain reliever, while eugenols work effectively as topical anesthetics, to aid aches and infections.
11.Bitter greens
Vegetables that are high in insoluble fiber include: greens, peas, green beans, capsicums, eggplant, celery, onions, garlic, cabbage + broccoli. However, when your gut is inflamed, can be a bit like rubbing a wire brush against an open wound! Vegetables that are high in soluble fiber, and safer for those with gut issues include: carrots, squash, summer squash (especially peeled), sweet potatoes (when not intervening), turnips, parsnips + beets. Fermented vegetables like sauerkraut are excellent alternatives for people with gut issues.
12.Cinnamon
Cinnamon is an exotic-spice-made-every-day, lending itself to both sweet and savory dishes. It has a rich culinary history as both a spice and a medicine and is a particularly high source of antioxidants that may improve blood glucose control. It’s the epitome of nutrient density.
You may remember from your Starter Guide that your brain does not like blood sugar changes, up or down. Each one signals a state of emergency in your body. Thus why we’re intervening our sugar! But cinnamon has direct effects on our body’s blood sugar lowering hormone, insulin, at the same time as lessening food’s impact on our blood sugar. It’s really a double Sugar Intervening whammy!
Try sprinkling cinnamon on carb rich veggies like sweet potato to lessen the impact on blood sugar. I add it to my training fluids too, for that little extra buzz but also for the effects on insulin surging around my body during and post exercise.
Can we call water a superfood? It is the most important nutrient in our body. We can go up to 8 weeks without food, but only days without water. It makes up 55–60% of our total body mass. Water is found in all our tissues, making up most of the volume of cells and body fluids too.
The body can produce about 8% of its daily water needs through metabolic processes; the remaining 92% must be ingested through the foods we eat and good water we drink: BW/2 = ounces per day BW x 0.325 = litres per day. Water is scarily the most common nutritional deficiency in the population and maybe simplest nutrient to support sugar intervening and digestion all in one.
Note: soda/soft drinks, coffee and tea mean you’ll lose water by drinking them. Replace 1-2 glasses water for every diuretic.
The best way to learn which foods work best for you is to engage with your diet and be willing to make changes if necessary. Sugar Intervening is a great way to identify intolerances: all potentially inflammatory foods are removed from the diet for a body reset. And works for your friend, sibling, or parent might not work for you. We’re each as different on the inside as out.
