Eat More of These Foods to Lower Inflammation—and Drop Pounds! This advice is from journalist and author Stephen Perrine, based on his research for his latest book, The Full-Body Fat Fix: The Science-Based 7-Day Plan to Cool Inflammation, Heal Your Gut, and Build a Healthier, Leaner You!
Perrine is the co-author of a number of best-selling diet and fitness books, including The Whole Body Reset, with Heidi Skolnik, and the former Editorial Creative Director of Men’s Health and former Editor-in-Chief of Best Life. Here is his advice for how to improve gut health, lower inflammation in the body and lose weight.
Advice From Author Stephen Perrine
If you were to take a deep dive into your own gut, you’d find you’re not alone. about 100 trillion microbes live in there, primarily in your large intestine. Until about 20 years ago, even gastroenterologists believed these buggers—bacteria, fungi, yeast, and more—were primarily responsible for helping you digest food.
Today, we’ve come to understand that the microbiome in our gut plays a role in our weight, our hormones and, most important, our inflammation levels. New research shows that those of us with the healthiest and most diverse microbiomes enjoy tremendous benefits, such as:
- Lower body weight. One study compared 54 sets of female twins and found that the twin with the greater diversity in her microbiome was the one less likely to be overweight or obese.
2. Improved fitness. Elite athletes average twice as many different strains of a
particular bacteria than their less-athletic counterparts.
3. Greater happiness. A 2020 study of 655 people found that those who had the
highest levels of stress and anxiety and the lowest levels of social support
showed the lowest levels of diversity in their microbiomes.
4. Improved sleep. When the microbiome is dysfunctional, it can overproduce
certain compounds that prevent you from falling asleep.
Eat More Types of Food Every Day
The key to a healthy microbiome is diversity—think of a lush forest, a Yosemite of You, with thousands of species of microbes living in harmony. The key to a diverse microbiome is a diverse diet.
Recent research from the American Gut Project found that people with the healthiest microbiomes are those who eat at least 30 different plants (nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes) per week. Does that sound like a lot? It’s actually not. When I challenged myself to eat as many different plants as I could in 7 days, I got up to 65! Think you can beat me?
Here are 15 easy ways to get started.
Amp up your loaf. Swap out whole-wheat bread for a super-packed multigrain
bread. I like Dave’s Killer Bread, which comes loaded with 21 different whole
grains and seeds.
Sneak ground flaxseed into pancake or waffle batter. No one will know!
Or steam and puree some cauliflower, and sneak it into baked goods and even
mac ‘n cheese. (Again, no one will know!)
Make a game of topping your morning cereal with a different nut, seed and fruit
each day. Strawberries, pecans and sunflower seeds today; raspberries, walnuts
and pumpkin seeds tomorrow!
Speaking of nuts, swap out the can of cocktail peanuts for a mix with 5 or more
nuts—hazelnuts, cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, macadamias.
Did someone just say “cocktails”? Make the sinful soulful: Muddle some mint for a mojito; use fresh ginger in rum drinks; float some juniper berries in gin. (Just
make sure you eat the plant before pouring seconds.)
Never eat ice cream naked. Always top it with nuts and berries (most Froyo joints have plenty of options).
Or pizza, either. Try artichokes, mushrooms, and olives.
Check out the new “rice” options like broccoli, cauliflower and hearts of palm.
Instead of just kale or Romaine in your salad, use a mesclun or spring mix; that
alone could quadruple the variety of plants. And add something cool on top, like
edible flowers.
Snack on dried seaweed (kids love it, too!)
Look for alternative crackers like Mary’s Gone Crackers, which are made of
brown rice, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, and flaxseed.
Swap out the black bean soup for a 12-bean soup.
Use dates for sweetness in smoothies, brownies or muffins. They’re a whole-
plant alternative to sugar or honey.
When in doubt, get the chili. From Waffle House to Wendy’s, plenty of
restaurants that we don’t associate with “health food” offer plant-rich chilis.
A Diverse Diet is the Secret to Natural Weight Loss
When you feed your microbiome a diverse menu of plants, you’ll also be magically
cutting calories: the microbiome can absorb as many as 400 calories a day from whole foods. That magic, plus lower inflammation from a healthier gut, is a perfect ticket for weight loss. Remember, you’re not eating for one. You’re eating for 100,000,000,001!
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