12 quick recipes to reboot your gut health

Improve your gut health in just 30 days with tasty recipes including vegetable quiche, Indonesian curry and miso aubergine

Not a week goes by without another study extolling the virtues of a healthy microbiome. From the efficient digestion of food, to supporting the immune system and even improving our mood, it seems there’s little our gut bacteria can’t do. Indeed recent research from the renowned Zoe nutrition project has identified 15 “good” gut bugs that are linked with lower weight and less visceral, or belly fat, so having a healthy gut can also help trim our waistline.
So what constitutes a healthy gut? There’s no official definition but there are certain attributes of the microbiome that are associated with good health, including the diversity of the bacterial species present, as well as the stability and resilience of the microbiome. This means one that is resistant to disruption and recovers quickly after a disturbance – for example, following an illness.
The Gut Health Reset
There is a plethora of “probiotic” supplements available now that claim to improve gut health, but registered dietitian Laura Clark, the creator of the Pause to Nourish programme, advises a food-first approach.
She says: “Factors beyond our control can influence the effectiveness of probiotic supplements, for example gender and our overall health. We may be better off investing our time and effort into eating foods that enable our good bacteria to thrive and help stave off hunger pangs.” 
So here is how to improve your gut health in just four weeks by making some simple dietary tweaks.
Research from the American Gut Project found the single best thing you can do for your gut health is to eat 30 different plant foods a week. Leading UK gut experts such as Prof Tim Spector and Dr Megan Rossi, support this advice. It might seem a tall order but the term “plant foods” includes not just fruit and vegetables but grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices.
This week, give your gut a further boost by reducing the added or “free” sugar in your diet. Studies show that a high sugar intake can negatively alter our gut bacteria leading to an increased risk of chronic inflammation, which in turn makes us more susceptible to weight gain. 
Most of the added sugar we consume comes from ultra-processed foods (UPFs) such as biscuits, breakfast cereals, soft drinks, ready meals, sauces and dressings. 
Check the ingredients in the things you buy regularly. If they contain more than 5g of sugar per 100g – the NHS defines “low sugar” as less than 5g/100g – or any unrecognisable ingredients, look for a lower-sugar, non-UPF alternative, or make your own homemade version.
Overnight oats is the easiest way to get a headstart on your 30-plant-foods a week challenge. This particular recipe contains 10 so you’re already 33 per cent of the way there, and it’s a veritable microbiome banquet; the yogurt provides probiotics and there are prebiotics and fibre from the apples, seeds and nuts. This recipe will make enough for three breakfasts.
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If you love quiche but can’t be bothered with the pastry, then this crust-free version is a good alternative. It provides lots of fibre from the five plant foods it contains, prebiotics from the onions and probiotics from the Parmesan, which is added after cooking to preserve the good bacteria which can die off when exposed to high cooking temperatures.
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Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients; they all count towards your 30 plant foods a week and this recipe is a great introduction to tempeh, tofu’s firmer, arguably more approachable, cousin. Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans and is packed with probiotics, so it’s added just 10 minutes before the end so that more of the probiotics within are retained. 
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With the results of week one literally under your belt, you should start to feel the benefits, with more regular bowel movements, increased energy and better mood.
We build on this in week two by adding more probiotic foods to the menu. Probiotic foods contain live bacteria which help increase the diversity of our microbiome. Studies suggest that probiotics may reduce the number of calories you absorb from food and help regulate appetite hormones and aid weight loss.
Introduce probiotic foods such as fermented foods – kimchi, kombucha, kefir and the more familiar sauerkraut – and try to eat some every day. Look for “live” or “raw” products rather than those that are pasteurised, which kills off any live bacteria. Live yogurt and aged cheeses such as mature cheddar, Parmesan, and Edam are also probiotics.
If you have yet to try fermenting this is a good place to start. It’s my go-to kimchi recipe and I think it will become yours, too.
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This very simple recipe calls for kimchi which you can buy in the supermarket (choose the raw versions in the chiller cabinet) or use your own. The kimchi is added after cooking the eggs rather than added to the pan, to preserve all the lovely probiotics.
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Miso is a paste made from fermented soybeans best known as the base for the Japanese staple miso soup, but it also works brilliantly as a marinade. For a complete meal, I serve these spicy, sticky aubergines with brown rice and a simple fried egg on top (which brings it to about 250 calories).
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By now your gut should be teeming with health-giving microbes that need feeding. So up your intake of prebiotic foods. 
Prebiotic foods contain a particular type of fibre that passes through the gut undigested and feeds certain good bacteria in the large intestine. Good sources of prebiotics are slightly under-ripe bananas, leeks, garlic, onions, asparagus, barley, oats and cooked and cooled rice. 
As an added bonus, researchers at the University of Leipzig Medical Centre found that after two weeks on a prebiotic-packed diet, the study participants had a more muted brain response to high-calorie “reward” foods. In other words, the more prebiotic foods you eat, the less likely you’ll be to crave sugary junk.
Prebiotics are a form of carbohydrate that the good bacteria in your gut love to feast on. This soup contains some of the best prebiotic foods out there, so your microbiota are in for a treat. I like to stir in a spoon of live Greek yogurt or kefir before eating for even more gut goodness.
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Cabbage, beans and quinoa provide plenty of prebiotics and fibre which will fill you up and keep your microbiome happy. Bacon is used sparingly simply to flavour the dish, but without overdoing it. The government recommendation is that we eat no more than 70g of processed or red meat per day; this recipe contains about 65g but it serves two.
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An Asian-style ceviche. Make sure you have a really good quality piece of fresh, wild salmon, and look for the blue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) mark for sustainability. This bowl contains seven plant foods as well as prebiotics in the form of resistant starch from the cooked and cooled rice. You can buy frozen, podded edamame beans in the supermarket. Just defrost in boiling water before use.
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After three weeks of packing in plants, probiotics and prebiotics, it is time to introduce more fibre, which acts as the gut’s housekeeper. Fibre is a type of indigestible carbohydrate that moves down the intestinal tract like a big brush, sweeping out unwanted debris and preventing constipation. It also plays an important part in weight management by slowing down digestion, helping to regulate appetite and stabilising blood sugar levels.
The recommended daily intake of fibre is 30g, but most of us miss this target by a long shot. The UK average intake is 20g, so most of us could do with eating more. Wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes and potatoes in their skins are the best sources. For example, a slice of wholegrain bread contains 4g fibre, 100g raw carrots has 3g, a pear has 6g, 30g almonds 3g, 100g cooked lentils 8g and a medium-sized potato with the skin on, 5g. Try to include fibre-rich foods at each meal, and snack on fruit, hummus or veggie sticks to up your fibre intake.
This smoothie is a delicious combination of gut goodies: figs are fibre-rich, almonds and chia seeds are gut-friendly sources of plant protein and the banana and cherries provide the requisite sweetness. It is also an easy way to get started with kefir, a fermented yogurt teeming with beneficial bacteria but which can taste quite sour on its own. 
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I’ve played fast and loose with authenticity here in the interests of speed, but the main flavour elements are all there. This is about as simple a weekday meal as you’ll get that still hits home nutritionally and provides a very welcome 10g fibre per serving. For even more fabulous fibre, pair with a toasted wholegrain pita.
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For the fibre to do its work efficiently in the gut it requires hydration. Of course, you can drink lots of water but what you eat counts too. All the fruit and vegetables used here have a high water content to help you stay hydrated and refreshed. The dressing contains apple cider vinegar which, if you choose a raw one with ‘the mother’, is also a probiotic. Top with your protein of choice for a healthy lunch.
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