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7 Most Powerful Anti-Aging Superfoods

7 Most Powerful Anti-Aging Superfoods

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The Truth About Superfoods: What Really Makes Them “Super”?

You’ve seen the buzz around foods like acai berries, salmon, avocados, and kale, all celebrated as “superfoods.” But what does it actually mean for a food to be “super”? The term “superfood” is often used as a marketing tactic to suggest that a food is packed with nutrients that can boost your health and performance. While it sounds impressive, the label can be overused, with everything from snacks to smoothies claiming superfood status.

What to Really Look for in a Superfood

A true superfood goes beyond just having vitamins and minerals; it’s loaded with antioxidants. These powerful compounds fight oxidation and inflammation, helping to protect your cells from aging prematurely. The more antioxidants you include in your diet, the better it is for your long-term health.

Maximize Your Antioxidant Intake

Fill your plate with a colorful variety of fruits, vegetables, and even seafood to boost your antioxidant intake. The vibrant colors often signal high concentrations of these beneficial nutrients.

Explore the top 7 antioxidant-rich superfoods to keep you fit, resilient, and youthful. Read on to discover the foods that pack the most powerful anti-aging benefits.

Download this list of the top anti-aging superfoods to add to your diet now 

Top antioxidant-rich superfood list

To index every superfood here would leave you with a hefty shopping list, but fortunately, the National Institute on Aging developed a ranking system. The ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) scale measures the antioxidant capacity of different foods. Foods with high ORAC scores boast potent antioxidants in lab tests, and include leafy greens, colorful fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds, and certain spices, herbs, and teas.

Antioxidant-rich superfoods usually contain several antioxidant compounds, with one or two making up the brunt of their composition. Here, the top superfoods to keep you fit, resilient, and young.

1. Glutathione

If there’s one antioxidant you remember, make it this one: Nicknamed the “master antioxidant” for its free-radical-busting superpowers, glutathione is crucial to detoxing and boosting performance in every cell of your body. This powerful antioxidant is your body’s natural detox agent: it protects against inflammation, oxidation and toxins, while supporting your mitochondria, boosting immunity, and recharging other antioxidants and enzymes. (It’s even great for hangovers!)

While your cells produce some themselves, today’s polluted, high-stress world can quickly sap your glutathione stores. It’s a good idea to take a supplement, or give your body the raw building blocks to build its own, from n-acetyl-l-cysteine, glutamine, alpha-lipoic acid, or grass-fed whey.

2. Co-enzyme Q10

CoQ10 is another potent antioxidant produced in your body, and used to protect all cell membranes. Its antioxidant abilities make it necessary for cell communication, mitochondrial function, and ATP formation. Low CoQ10 levels are associated with a range of chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative, muscular and cardiac diseases, as well as diabetes and cancer. CoQ10 also helps re-fuel other antioxidants, keeping you young and resilient. As you age, your body has a tougher time converting CoQ10 into its active form, ubiquinone, so consider adding supplements or ubiquinone-rich foods like organ meats and fatty fish.

3. Vitamin C

On top of being vital for collagen formation and a big immunity-booster, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is also a powerful antioxidant. Vitamin C easily donates electrons to neutralize free radicals, and help prevent oxidation in your body. [8] It’s also used to manufacture glutathione, another big name antioxidant.

Load up your plate with vitamin C-rich foods, including broccoli, spinach, and sweet potatoes. It can be hard to get enough vitamin C from food, so supplement with at least 500mg per day.

4. Vitamin E

Vitamin E (tocopherol) is a fat soluble antioxidant, and protects the fats in your cell membranes from oxidation and damage. It plays a big role in protecting your skin from damage and aging caused by the free radicals that form with UV exposure. There are 8 forms of vitamin E, although your body’s preferred form is ?-tocopherol. You can up your vitamin E intake by incorporating more nuts, seeds, and olive oil in your diet.

5. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA)

Lipoic acid is known as the “universal antioxidant” for its ability to ease oxidative stress throughout the body. Studies show that ALA supports lowering glucose levels in diabetic conditions, boosts mitochondrial function, and fights premature aging. ALA also has neuroprotective and cancer-fighting effects, and acts as an anti-inflammatory. On top of its own benefits, ALA can also help recharge vitamin C, vitamin E, and glutathione to be useful again as antioxidants. Your body makes some ALA to cover basic functions, but higher amounts are needed to tap into its potential as an antioxidant. You can boost your ALA intake from muscle and organ meats, or supplements. Aim for between 300 and 600mg a day. 

6. Astaxanthin

This powerful antioxidant comes from red marine algae, and is what gives wild salmon and crustaceans their reddish flesh. Astaxanthin is a highly potent antioxidant that prevents oxidative stress in your brain, nervous system and heart, and boosts your mitochondrial energy production.

Astaxanthin makes its mark as as an eye and skin defender. It slows and reverses age-related eye degeneration and accumulates in your skin to protect you from UVA rays and prevent wrinkles and sun damage. Load up on astaxanthin by eating wild-caught seafood (especially salmon), or supplementing with a high quality krill oil supplement.

7. Flavonoids

Flavonoids are a diverse group of antioxidant plant chemicals that promote memory, learning, and cognitive function by protecting your brain from oxidation and inflammation. You can find them in berries, teas, dark chocolate, and coffee.

Here are two especially potent flavonoid antioxidants you want to add to your diet:

  • Resveratrol: You can find resveratrol in cocoa, red wine, and the skins of grapes and blueberries. As a strong antioxidant, its anti-aging superpowers include boosting cardiovascular health, protecting skin, and defense against cancer, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases.
  • Fisetin: Recent studies with mice found that the anti-aging antioxidant fisetin increases lifespan by about 10 percent and improves quality of life with age. Clinical trials are underway to see if the same is true for humans, but for now it can’t hurt to add more strawberries, apples, persimmons, and cucumber to your plate. Fisetin also shows promise in protecting from stroke, Alzheimer’s, and depression, and helps reduce inflammation-related disease by knocking out several inflammatory compounds.

Read next: Anti-Aging Hacks to Live Longer, Look Younger, and Be Stronger

 

Stellate Ganglion Block: A New PTSD Treatment Option

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[tldr]

  • Researchers are testing the effectiveness of a procedure called stellate ganglion block (SGB) to treat PTSD in veterans.
  • Researchers have pointed to the increase of norepinephrine in the brain as a main mechanism of PTSD, and since SGB downregulates norepinepherine, you see a decrease in symptoms of PTSD.
  • Here’s everything you need to know, including my experience with SGB — how it felt, and how it worked for me.

[/tldr]

Researchers are testing the effectiveness of a procedure called stellate ganglion block (SGB) to treat PTSD in veterans.

SGB involves numbing your neck and using ultrasound to guide a needle toward your stellate ganglion — the bundle of nerves in the front of your neck that controls your whole body’s fight-or-flight response. The doctor injects a medication into the area to temporarily block those nerves.

If SGB becomes an accepted and common treatment for PTSD, you will see a massive impact on the mental health of veterans when they integrate back into civilian life. Veterans come back from high-conflict deployments with symptoms including:

  • Anxiety disorders
  • Rage episodes
  • Panic attacks
  • Jumpiness
  • Flashbacks
  • Nightmares
  • Sleep problems

The list goes on. The Veteran’s Administration reports 6,000 veteran suicides every year,[ref url=”https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/data.asp”] and experts think that number is under-reported for various reasons. PTSD among veterans is a widespread mental health crisis, and what’s promising about SGB is that you can feel the effects immediately.

The science is emerging, but several studies point to SGB as an effective treatment for PTSD. Two small studies report that SGB worked for most participants, but to varying degrees.[ref url=”https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.11111729″][ref url=”https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1533-2500.2010.00373.x”] Some participants experienced relief to the point that they were able to stop using psychiatric medications.[ref url=”ghttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1533-2500.2010.00373.x”]

Results are highly individual and some people may require more than one treatment to get an initial effect, or the effect could wear off over a few months or years. In others, it’s one-and-done.

Researchers have pointed to the increase of norepinephrine in the brain as a main mechanism of PTSD. Trauma stimulates the release of norepinephrine, which triggers arousal, startle, and encodes fear memories.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3182008/”] When those nerves become sensitized to react more readily, you end up with more norepinephrine surges, and more fear encoded into your nervous system. Rinse and repeat until you have more fear than you know what to do with.[ref url=”https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987709000413″] When you can give your fear and panic response a break, you’re not constantly marinating your brain in norepinephrine, and the effect stops compounding on itself.

My experience with stellate ganglion block for PTSD

I learned in my 30s that I was experiencing PTSD as a result of having my own umbilical cord wrapped around my neck during birth. For years, I didn’t know why my reactions didn’t match what was happening. I learned that the threat during my first minutes of life heightened my stress response to everyday things. I’ve done a lot to heal from that, including neurofeedback at 40 Years of Zen.

My friend Dr. Matt Cook did an SGB procedure on me a while back. It’s mildly uncomfortable for about three minutes, but totally worth it. Here’s what to expect.

The doctor does a smaller injection in your lower neck to numb you from the sensation of the real needle. Once you’re numb, an ultrasound tech scans your neck to find the target area, and to avoid things that you don’t want to poke with a needle, like major arteries. Then, the doctor injects the medicine right into the stellate ganglion. The whole procedure only takes a few minutes.

When he first did the injection, it felt like my neck, shoulders, and chest were melting. It’s totally bizarre — I remember feeling like I couldn’t swallow, but I could. When the medicine goes in, a wave of calm sweeps throughout your whole body. Every muscle you have relaxes, and you’re immediately less emotionally reactive. It works fast — the immediate effect is why it’s so promising as a PTSD treatment.

The weird numbness and melting feeling wore off within a couple of hours, but the quieted fight or flight response persists. It’s almost like your nervous system gets a much-needed break, which gives it a chance to re-calibrate how it reacts to things.

The result? It dampens your unconscious reactions to the world around you. You’re more even keeled, and you don’t get worked up by the things that rattled you before. Think of SGB as rebooting your fight-or-flight response.

You can hear Dr. Matt go into detail about the procedure in an episode of Bulletproof Radio (iTunes). He explains that the stellate ganglion can become hyper-sensitized by any trauma, not just war trauma. He describes the mechanism behind SGB and why it works.

“In a lot of people that have had PTSD or chronic pain, the fight or flight system can be overactive. What we do is we take very powerful numbing medicine or local anesthetic and we put it into that plane and put the fight or flight nervous system completely to sleep for about four to six hours. That has a very profound effect of turning off flight or flight so that people can begin to feel what it’s like to rest and relax,” says Dr. Cook.

RELATED: The Deifinitive Guide to Stress Management

Two for one: hydrodissection of the vagus nerve

Vagus Nerve Affects Memory_headerSince the vagus nerve is in the same neighborhood, Dr. Cook uses the opportunity to treat the vagus nerve in addition to the stellate ganglion. Your vagus nerve is the two-way communication line that regulates most of your organs (read about the vagus nerve here).

Your brain tells your organs what to do through your vagus nerve, and your organs send regular status checks back. Your vagus nerve has a lot to do with your stress response as well, so you can hit them both at the same time. May as well — you’re getting poked anyway.

“When we turn the vagus nerve off [temporarily], that tends to reset the vagus nerve. Often we rest both [the stellate ganglion and the vagus nerve]. It’s fairly difficult to just get one by itself.”

If you think SGB will help you, open up a conversation with your doctor about it. Find a doctor who uses ultrasound to guide the needle, not fluoroscopy (continuous x-ray, like a movie). Ultrasound allows a more precise injection, and the doctor doesn’t have to use as much medicine.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24760493″] Also, radiation interferes with your thyroid gland, especially if you’re in the growing population that has thyroid problems. Even though it’s a short procedure, you’re aiming for your neck, where your thyroid lives. You don’t need to give it a continuous radiation zap.

 

How to Forgive Yourself and Let Go of the Negativity Holding You Back

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[tldr]

  • One of the cheapest biohacks that’s available to everyone is learning how to forgive yourself and others.
  • Negative thoughts and stress create physiological responses — changes in heart rate, respiration, hormone release — that are easy to recover from in small doses, and cause real damage with constant exposure over time.
  • Re-framing false stories about yourself and others is powerful stuff. You’ll treat yourself and others better, you’ll be happier, and you’ll be a more magnetic person to be around.
  • Here’s how to train yourself to look for the positive in everyone and everything.

[/tldr]

They call it baggage for a reason.

The anger, the hurt, the resentment you carry around with you weighs you down, holds you back, and keeps you from becoming the badass you were meant to be.

I’m not just talking about feeling down because your mindset is in a bad place. Sure, negative feelings and thoughts weigh on your mind, but it doesn’t stop there. Negativity and stress create physiological responses — changes in heart rate, respiration, hormone release — that are easy to recover from in small doses, and cause real damage with constant exposure over time.

Unpleasant emotions are a part of life. In an episode of Bulletproof Radio (iTunes), emotional expert Joan Rosenberg, Ph.D. explains that it’s crucial that you experience your negative emotions.

“So that rather than feeling like you’re falling apart, or you’re unraveling, or you have to shut down, what you’re able to do is actually to stay present to what you’re experiencing in the moment, and then not do anything to try to get away from it. No avoidance, no distraction, no disconnection. And you move through it,” she recommends.

The good news is, you’re a biohacker, so you’re in control here. Your thoughts are inputs, just like food and supplements. So, how do you load up your plate with some thoughts and close the fridge on others?

Waking up and saying, “I’m going choose to be happy today” is a start, but it only takes you so far. It takes practice to shove your thoughts out of the driver’s seat and take control so that negativity doesn’t control you.

Here’s how to do it.

Identify the stories you tell yourself (aka stop lying to yourself)

Your brain is lazy. That’s not meant to be an insult. What I mean is, your brain plows through a huge portion of your body’s energy, so it takes the path of least resistance whenever possible to conserve resources.

One of your brain’s favorite shortcuts is using a story over and over. It’s an efficient system when you’re telling good stories, but sometimes your brain decides to ride on a train of lies.

An example of a story: I’m stupid.

How your brain recycles this story: I can’t study for this exam because I’m stupid. My business isn’t taking off because I’m stupid. I got passed over for that promotion because I’m stupid.

This kind of story you tell yourself is so common that it has its own category: limiting beliefs.

Identifying your own limiting beliefs is one of the most powerful life hacks you can do, and it’s free. It’s so powerful that I have an entire section on it in my new book “Game Changers: What Leaders, Innovators, and Mavericks Do to Win at Life”. Any time you think you can’t do something because of a character flaw, or that some attribute you have is holding you back, you’re up against a limiting belief.

Limiting beliefs can be so strong that you think they’re as set-in-stone as your height or eye color. It’s your job to recognize when you’re lying to yourself and change it. For example…

I’m not stupid. I need to organize the material better so that I can learn it for the exam. I’m going to make an outline so that I can break this all down into digestible chunks.

I’m not stupid. I’m new at this business. Every great entrepreneur has several mentors. Time to start looking for one.

Jim turned heads with his last presentation. His stellar report was fresh in the leadership’s mind, and that’s probably why he was promoted over me. If I keep up my performance, I’m a shoe-in for advancement next quarter.

Instead of letting your brain recycle these stories, it’s up to you to introduce new ones and intentionally use them as much as possible. Then, your brain will recycle those ones instead of your limiting beliefs.

RELATED: The Bulletproof Mind — Upgrade Your Brain for Better Focus 

How to forgive others

Self-pity is one of many forms of heavy, negative thinking. Another big one is being angry with people or situations.

You’re not going to get through life (or even a few months) without pissing someone off at some level or getting pissed off at someone else. It’s part of human interaction. It’s how you deal with it that makes the difference.

When you encounter a negative situation, your nervous system reacts the same way it reacts if you were being chased by a pack of coyotes. Once your (lazy!) brain decides something threatened your safety, it goes into the “danger” bucket. Your brain recycles information for efficiency, so once your brain labels something a danger, it’s tough to disassociate that label.

How does that play out in life?

If someone bumped into you in the hallway, and you perceived it as a shove, you’re going to label that person as aggressive and put your guard up. If you got triple the workload of your colleagues, you might perceive it as others trying to skate by at your expense.

It’s easy to fall into an “everyone’s out to get me” mode of thinking. With the exception of a few a-holes, most people want to get along. That means most of the time, when you think someone slighted you on purpose, they didn’t. A lot of the time, the stories you’re telling yourself about others’ rudeness, shortness, etc. are simply made-up.

When you start to feel this way, try to come up with reasons why people treated you in certain ways. Fight fire with fire — make up your own crazy positive stories instead of defaulting to the screwball negative ones. Pick a story that allows you to empathize with their rude or mean behavior.

It can be realistic: Liz didn’t realize that I had this other project going on at work, and that’s why she gave me extra tasks.

Or it can be a little outlandish: Jerry had food poisoning and had to get to a bathroom, so he wasn’t paying attention and bumped into me in the hallway.

The story you come up with can be pretty out-there, as long as it allows you to see that there may be reasons the other person acted the way they did, that had nothing to do with you.

Because it probably had nothing to do with you.

 

The missing piece to true forgiveness: gratitude

Saying you forgive a person or that you’re “letting go” helps. True forgiveness, where you combine forgiveness and letting go with a sense real gratitude for having experienced it, has a positive effect on you at the cellular level. Feeling thankful for crappy situations literally rewires your brain to dissolve negative feelings about the situation, to feel happier in the moment, and with practice, you’re training your mind to look for satisfaction and even joy in every situation.

Now, you have a little bit of homework. Here’s how to spin a positive light on every situation.

RELATED: Use Gratitude to Rewire Your Brain 

How to practice effective forgiveness for positive thinking

Here are a few easy exercises you can do to reroute your negative patterns of thinking. I’ve listed a few examples to get your gears turning.

In a few words, describe the worst thing that has ever happened to you.

My parent died when I was a teenager.

The bank repossessed my house when I lost my job after my company restructured.

I wasted four years on the worst relationship of my life.

Now, list one good thing that resulted from it. Dig deep until you find a way to feel gratitude for it.

Losing my parent at a young age gave me incredible perspective throughout young adulthood. Unlike a lot of my peers, I had the life experience to understand what real problems look like, so I didn’t have to get caught up in the insignificant worries that people in their late teens and early twenties experience. That level of emotional maturity launched me forward in my first job.

I wouldn’t have challenged myself to learn a new skill set that makes me more marketable if I had stayed with the former company. I’m with a new company now that’s much more solid, and I met some of my best friends in my new neighborhood.

Having dated that loser, I recognize red flags when I see them. My dating life is much healthier now.

Describe a situation in which someone was rude to you, short with you, or otherwise slighted you.

That guy cut me off in traffic. He’s being such a jerk to me.

It’s like my nurse doesn’t even care. I rang the call button almost an hour ago. He’s totally ignoring me.

Now, come up with a few possible reasons why the way that person treated you had nothing to do with you. It doesn’t have to be real.

That crazy driver’s wife is in the ER right now having a miscarriage and he wants to be there for her. I am grateful that I could get out of the way, and I hope he gets through this traffic jam soon.

The nurse was having a difficult conversation with the family next door and providing emotional support when they needed it most. I am grateful to do my part by giving them space. I can see that my nurse is working hard and he’ll get to my room when he can.

Make a list of people or situations that make you feel anger or resentment whenever you think of them. Bonus points if you feel the physical effects of anger when you think of these people or things. It’s a strong signal that this is a good situation to work through.

My kids adore their grandparents, but they come dead last on my parents’ priority list and that breaks my heart for them.

Dwight totally hijacked my big work project to get the boss’ attention, and he’s ruining it for the whole team.

Do these stress-busting breathing techniques to return to a good state. Then, list at least one reason to be grateful for these negative interactions.

Uninterested grandparents made it really easy for my family to relocate for a better work opportunity and better area for the kids to grow up in. This move is shaking my kids’ world enough as it is, and I am grateful that their relationship with their grandparents won’t change much or add to the stress.

Having that project off of my plate frees me up to focus on this other project that is really taking off. Plus, I am grateful that I didn’t get an ounce of blame for that disaster.

Positive thinking, gratitude, and forgiveness aren’t things that happen in a day. It takes practice. You train it like a muscle. In time, it will come naturally, and you’ll find yourself happier, less stressed, less distracted by things like anger and resentment. Start today, and see how you feel next week.

 

You can start re-wiring your brain right now. Download your free printable positive thinking and forgiveness worksheet here.

17 Proven Ways to Heal Your Gut Microbiome

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[tldr]

  • Your gut microbiome is involved in nearly every aspect of your health, so you want to pay attention to the trillions of microbes living in and on you. 
  • Ways to reduce damage and promote good gut microbiome health include: avoiding gut-damaging behavior, staying away from certain foods, and taking a gut microbiome test.

[/tldr]

Your gut microbiome is involved in nearly every aspect of your health. So, if you want to feel better, have more energy, and improve your overall well-being, you’ve got to pay attention to the trillions of microbes living in and on you.

Your richest population of microbes by far is found in your gut. This is great news because your gut microbes are heavily affected by your diet and behavior – meaning you have a lot of influence over the activity of your gut microbe population, also called the gut microbiota. 

These little guys are your body’s natural pharmacy: they help you digest your food, influence your mood, and even help you maintain a healthy weight. The science of the gut microbiome has given us new insight into what it means to be healthy. We now know that to truly be healthy, we must take the right steps not only for ourselves, but also for our microbiomes.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can reduce damage and promote good gut microbiome health with 17 science-backed ways to heal your gut microbiome.

Avoid gut-damaging behavior

The following are 4 gut-damaging factors, according to science.

1. NSAIDS

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen influence the composition of the gut microbiome.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26482265″] NSAIDs also increase intestinal permeability (leaky gut) in as little as 24 hours after ingestion.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19148789″]

NSAIDs are a double whammy when it comes to your gut health. So, when it comes to taking Advil for your headache, you should ask yourself – is it really worth it?

Order your Viome Gut Intelligence test for $199 (aff link)

2. Antibiotics

Antibiotics are another medication we need to be better about weighing the costs against the benefits. While there are times when it’s necessary to take antibiotics, as a society we use them far too liberally.

Because antibiotics don’t discriminate between the microbes they blast through, you are killing both good and bad bacteria when you take a dose.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27028893″] Antibiotics are like a nuclear bomb for your gut microbiome, which can cause consequences like dysbiosis to last for years after you take them.

 

3. Stress

There are many lines of communication between your gut microbiome and brain along the vagus nerve through the immune system, gut hormone signalling, tryptophan signalling, and microbial metabolites.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29276734″] Through these pathways, stress can have a significant effect on gut microbiome composition and intestinal permeability. On the flip side, dysbiosis and leaky gut can contribute to low-grade inflammation and potentially contribute to stress-related psychiatric disorders.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604320/”]

This cyclical gut-brain axis takes stress reduction to the next level. Not only should you try to reduce daily stress through exercise, mindfulness, and meditation, but you’ll also benefit from working to improve your mental health through your gut health.

4. Smoking

Hopefully, you aren’t smoking. But if you are, here’s yet another reason to quit. Smoking changes the composition of the microbiome. Some studies have found that the changes in the  gut microbiome caused by smoking resemble the microbiomes of people with conditions like inflammatory bowel disease and obesity.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29626219″]

Yikes.This means if you’re smoking, you can be causing shifts in your gut microbiome towards disease states.

Avoid gut-damaging foods

The following are three gut-damaging foods, according to science. Remember, there could  be more foods to add to this list depending on your unique gut microbiome.

5. Sugar

You may have heard by now that sugar can wreak havoc on your gut. High-sugar diets alter gut microbiome composition and function.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1379072/”] Bad bacteria and other microbes like the fungus Candida albican love sugars. When you reduce your sugar intake, you reduce the food supply to harmful gut microbes.

Western diets are extremely high in refined sugar due in part to the hidden sugars in so many processed foods. When you lower your sugar intake make sure there isn’t any hiding in your favorite sauces, condiments, and more.

6. Artificial sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners are sometimes thought to be a better alternative to sugar due to the lack of calories. But when it comes to your gut health, artificial sweeteners are bad news. Artificial sweeteners are capable of inducing dysbiosis and contributing to metabolic abnormalities. Artificial sweeteners also promote glucose intolerance through changing the composition and functions of the gut microbiota.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4377866/”]

In an effort to lose weight you might have switched to artificial sweeteners, but science shows  this may be doing you more harm than good.

7. GMO foods

When it comes to genetically modified organisms or GMOs, the problem lies in the fact they’ve been modified to withstand the harsh chemicals that are being sprayed on them. Specifically, GMOs are made to withstand glyphosate, more commonly known as Roundup.

Essentially, when you eat GMO food you run the risk of consuming glyphosate and glyphosate contributes to dysbiosis and leaky gut.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4841035/”]

How to Increase Good Bacteria in the Gut Naturally

Below are 10 factors that can positively impact your gut microbiome.Most of these are pretty easy to implement. Let’s get real about gut health!

8. Take a gut microbiome test

Taking a gut microbiome test to learn about your personal gut health is a great way to gain profound insights and personalized recommendations. While there are many gut microbiome tests on the market, Viome is the only test with RNA sequencing technology that can see down to the strain level, and it includes the metabolites being produced by your gut microbes. Viome uses artificial intelligence analysis to develop personalized food recommendations so you can put your individual findings into action.

Learn more about Viome’s Gut Intelligence Test – Now only $199 (aff link)

9. Get dirty

Decades ago, many more people used to live on farms. However, we gradually move to the cities and with that move we’ve lost microbial diversity in our day-to-day lives.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25231862″] Research on how certain environments impact the health of the gut finds that microbe-rich environments like farms have a protective effect on the gut microbiome.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/”]

This suggests that to counterbalance city life, we should take opportunities to play outside in nature more. Not only is nature beautiful and enjoyable, it can also increase the good bacteria in the gut.

10. Exercise

We know exercise is good for us, but the way in which it affects the gut microbiome composition and metabolic activity is yet another reason for us to exercise regularly. Exercise increases the number of beneficial microbial species, enriches diversity, and specifically promotes commensal bacteria.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18089942″] Commensal bacteria are those that we derive certain nutrients from, making them extra good for us.

Exercise isn’t just good for you, it’s good for the health of your microbes too!

11. Stick to a schedule

You probably think of your circadian rhythm as your sleep and wake cycle, but it’s much more than that. Your whole body runs on internal circadian rhythms that keep you healthy when they stay on time. Your gut microbiome has a delicate microbial rhythm as well, which is regulated by what you eat and when you eat it. When timing is thrown off, like when you change time zones or work a graveyard shift, it can contribute to diseases.

When you stick to a healthy schedule, this can significantly impact your metabolism and immune system homeostasis.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5635058/”]  

12. Get a dog

Exposing children to household pets has been shown to reduce allergies and obesity.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5357536/”] These fascinating findings are believed to be because pets increase gut microbiome diversity. Pets do more than just bring us immense joy, making it a good idea to get a furry friend for your family.

13. Improve your home microbiome

Now that we know how important microbes are to our health, it’s no surprise that we are finding the microbes of the home are also important.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27793218″] That’s right, your home also has a microbiome. A few things can be done to improve the microbiome of your home, including avoiding harsh cleaning products, getting an air filter, checking for mold, and even using home probiotics.

14. Get veggies from your local farm

Buying your vegetables from a local, organic farm could be good for your gut microbiome because they are more likely to be grown in soil rich with microbes. It appears that gut microbes and soil microbes share evolutionary trends.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5382463/”] Eating vegetables grown in healthy soil can help gut microbiome health through increasing diversity and richness.

15. Vaginal birth

While you don’t have much say over how you were born,  the delivery method plays a big role in the formation of the gut microbiome for future children. It’s ideal if babies are delivered vaginally because this helps build a strong and resilient gut microbiome.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3661444/”]

If you had to have a cesarean section – fear not! You can help your baby build a strong gut microbiome with baby probiotics and possibly vaginal swabbing.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3536091/”] Vagina swabbing is a relatively new concept and should not be done on your own. Some hospitals are putting it into practice, so be sure to bring it up with your doctor.

16. Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is another important time for gut microbiome development.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23926244/”] There is bacteria in a mother’s breast milk that seeds the gut and helps strengthen the immune system. We’ve come to realize that breastfeeding is not only important for nutrient delivery but also for gut microbiome health, setting a child up for a healthier life.

17. Sleep well

Poor sleep can change the composition of the gut microbiome and negatively impact health.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26828196″]  It’s important that you’re not only getting plenty of sleep, but also that your sleep is high quality. We tend to focus on getting between 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night, but if your sleep is interrupted this can prevent your body from going into the deepest, most healing stages of sleep. Things like snoring, interrupted breathing, and sleeping with a pet can all negatively impact your quality of sleep.

The great gut microbiome diet myth

You probably noticed there aren’t any specific foods listed thus far. But if you were to do a quick Google search you’d probably see some of the following:

  • Fiber
  • Fermented foods
  • Bone broth
  • Yogurt

Truth is, there are no “best foods for the gut microbiome.” Remember, your gut microbiome is unique to you and therefore your ideal diet is going to be one-of-a-kind. Having a healthy gut microbiome is dependent on diversity, so try and incorporate plenty of organic vegetables into your diet to cover your bases.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28492938″] Also, consider getting a gut microbiome test that is designed to help increase microbial diversity, like Viome (aff link).

Probiotics are also not on this list because although they’ve been found to be helpful in many cases, it’s likely that they should also be individualized in the same way your diet should. Also, there are tons of variations in quality, strain, and outcome. So be sure to do your research if you take probiotics and make sure you’re taking the right one for you.

The potential for improving your health through your gut microbiome is proving to be exciting and powerful science. One thing is for sure, your gut microbiome is unique and therefore future health advice must be personalized to reflect these scientific findings. Order your Viome Gut Intelligence test for $199 (aff link).

 

Bacteria Found in Dirt May Bust Stress, Finds New Study

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There’s a reason kids love playing in the mud and babies are always putting their dirty hands and feet in their mouthes. They instinctively know that dirt is beneficial. Dirt is full of bacteria that help keep your own good gut bacteria thriving.

Now scientists have found that one of these strains of bacteria living in soil may protect against stress.

In a new study, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder isolated a fatty acid called 10(Z)-hexadecenoic acid from the soil bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae to see how it interacted with immune cells. They found that the fat blocked pathways that lead to inflammation and cause stress.

“We think there is a special sauce driving the protective effects in this bacterium, and this fat is one of the main ingredients in that special sauce,” says senior author and Integrative Physiology Professor Christopher Lowry in a statement.

The researchers hope to use the bacteria to develop a “stress vaccine” to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Dirt really can make you happier

soil microbes dirt benefits

In my book “Game Changers,” I talk about the benefits of mycobacterium vaccae on mood. Previous research shows that this specific strain of bacteria has improved the quality of life in cancer patients. In a 2004 study, lung cancer patients at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London were happier, showed more vitality, and had stronger cognitive functioning after being injected with the soil bacteria.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15151947″]

In another study, scientists injected mice with the same bacteria, and found that it boosted serotonin levels in a similar way to antidepressants.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1868963/”]

Related: Can Dirt Double as an Antidepressant? The Mood-Lifting Benefits of Soil Microbes 

“The idea is that as humans have moved away from farms and an agricultural or hunter-gatherer existence into cities, we have lost contact with organisms that served to regulate our immune system and suppress inappropriate inflammation,” says Lowry. “That has put us at higher risk for inflammatory disease and stress-related psychiatric disorders.”

So don’t be afraid to get dirty. Get outside, run around barefoot, or take up gardening. Discover more ways to tap into the natural world for a happier and healthier gut.

Read next: To Live Longer, Here’s Why You Need to Get Dirty

 

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