09/14/2025
How to Restore and Boost Your Gut Health via Diet and Probiotics
Your gut is home to trillions of microbes that influence everything from how well you digest food to how effectively your immune system and metabolism function. But when these microbial populations get out of balance, your health starts to unravel at every level.
But getting your gut health back on track is not just about taking probiotics. There are a few important considerations to help your gut microbiome thrive. I recommend following these strategies:
1.Fix your gut microbiome before feeding it — Although fiber is essential for gut health, consuming too much if your gut health is imbalanced will only end up feeding the unhealthy microbes, triggering gas, bloating and toxic byproducts like endotoxins. This is called the fiber paradox — The very substance that promotes a healthy microbiome in the long term worsens symptoms in the short term if introduced too early.
If you're dealing with inflammation or bacterial overgrowth, start by healing your gut. Remove ultraprocessed foods and focus on easy-to-digest carbohydrates like fruit and white rice until your symptoms stabilize. Afterward, you can add in small amounts of more fibrous carbs like root veggies.
Once your gut health is healed, expand your diet by adding non-starchy vegetables, starchy options (sweet potato or squash), beans, legumes, and eventually whole grains with minimal processing.
2.Prioritize bacteria that produce butyrate — Butyrate is an SCFA and is one of the most powerful healing compounds your body makes. It fuels the cells lining your gut, calms immune overactivation, and reduces whole-body inflammation.
Specific gut microbes are needed to produce butyrate, particularly Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia, and Eubacterium. They thrive on fermentable fibers found in foods like cooked-and-cooled potatoes, green bananas, lentils, Jerusalem artichokes, and oats. Once your gut lining begins to heal, feeding these bacteria becomes a top priority.
3.Feed Akkermansia correctly — While not a butyrate producer itself, Akkermansia plays a supportive role by maintaining and thickening your gut's mucus layer, creating an ideal environment for butyrate-producing microbes to thrive.
Having higher levels of Akkermansia is strongly associated with improved blood sugar control, lower inflammation, stronger gut barrier function, and even reduced body fat. Think of it as a gatekeeper that improves the terrain, while Faecalibacterium and others generate the fuel. Together, they create a microbiome that's stable, anti-inflammatory and metabolically protective.
Polyphenol-rich foods like pomegranate, red grapes, cranberries, and green tea directly promote Akkermansia growth. So do inulin-containing plants like garlic, leeks, chicory root, and asparagus. Start with small amounts and build as tolerated.
4.Support gut health at the cellular level — Beyond just adding fiber, you need to remove factors that actively damage your gut environment. One major culprit is excessive linoleic acid (LA) from vegetable oils, which disrupt your mitochondrial function, decreasing your cellular energy production and wrecking your gut environment. Switch to healthier fats like butter, ghee, or tallow instead.
Also, minimize exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and electromagnetic fields (EMFs), as these further impair cellular energy and negatively impact the oxygen-free gut environment that beneficial bacteria like Akkermansia need to thrive.
Once you’ve eliminated vegetable oils for at least half a year, considering taking a timed-release Akkermansia supplement, which will allow more of the bacteria to survive and reach your colon.
5.Rebuild daily habits that reinforce microbial balance — Eating at regular times, getting early morning sunlight, sleeping deeply, getting enough daily exercise, and managing stress all shape your gut flora and contribute to your overall health.
