Bacteria are an ever present and important part of our digestive systems. There are trillions of bacteria, or gut flora, living in your colon that help build your immune response, protect you from infection, and help breakdown and metabolize food for energy. Researchers continue to discover new benefits of gut flora, and we now know that it is extremely important keep your gut flora healthy.

How to Improve your Gut

A diverse range of different types of gut flora are important for a healthy gut. Eating a wide variety of foods including vegetables, fruit, beans, and grains will help to diversify the gut flora. A high fiber diet helps promote Bifidobacteria, which decreases inflammation in the colon. Adding fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, and kombucha to your diet will increase lactobacilli and can help to decrease the amount of bacteria that can cause diseases.

Things to Watch For

Good bacteria helps keep the disease causing bacteria under control. The use of a probiotic may help to decrease the amount of bad bacteria and increase the amount of good bacteria, but you should talk with your doctor before beginning a probiotic regimen. Antibiotics can decrease the amount of healthy bacteria and lead to diarrhea, which could be life threatening. Clostridium difficile is a type of bacteria that can get out of control following an antibiotic causing inflammation in the colon. These types of infections are very serious and require medical intervention.

If you are concerned about the health of your colon, call Asheville Gastro and make your appointment for consultation today.