Nearly every day in my practice, I get asked the question: “What should I eat to heal my gut?”
And while you will never hear me say the words “paleo”, “bone broth”, “Whole 30”, or “low fibre”, you most certainly will hear me ramble on about all the different plants you should be including in your diet to feed your fibre degrading, beneficial gut microbes.
The emphasis of my practice has always been on plant diversity, because truly, that’s the single greatest predictor of a healthy microbiome.
But today, I also wanted to share with you a plant food that is near and dear to my heart that I want every single person on this email list to start incorporating into their diet in the next month.
And that food, is sprouts.
Yes! I’m talking about those earthy tasting, funky looking stringy plant things that hippy dippy restaurants typically use as a garnish on your meal 😉
Sprouts are nutrient powerhouses, and if we all started growing our own sprouts and eating them on the regular, we would all be giving our microbiomes a huge health and diversity boost.
Why sprouts?
Sprouts are some of the most nutrient dense plant foods we have. Everything that a plant needs to grow into the largest, most full version of itself is contained within those tiny little seeds that you can grow into sprouts.
And not only do sprouts have more micronutrients and vitamins than their fully grown plant counterparts, but they also have far more antioxidants.
Antioxidants = less inflammation = easier poops.
Plus, sprouts are fibre rich and contain ample polyphenols; a potent pre-biotic.
Sprouts are easy to incorporate into the day to day of your routine. I like to add mine to buddha bowls, salads, sandwiches, wraps, avocado toast and salad rolls.
My favourite kinds to grow are: radish sprouts, lentil sprouts, barley sprouts, broccoli sprouts and alfalfa sprouts.
You can grow your own (YouTube is your best friend here) or buy them at the store!
Happy sprouting team! Your gut will thank you 🙂
Ros
