"One of the most significant factors here is the tsunami of processed foods we are eating," says Swift

Áilín Quinlan explains how current research into intestinal bacteria could play a major role in fighting diabetes, promoting weight loss, and improving your overall health

'Gut garden' and 'microbiota' are two words you really need to understand if you're planning to lose weight in 2015.

Because according to the latest cutting-edge science, the millions of tiny organisms which live in your digestive system play a crucial role in weight loss.

In fact, according to US nutritionist and author Kathie Swift, improving the balance of bacteria or 'microbiota' in your digestive system or 'gut garden,' can lead not only to significant weight loss and a flatter tummy, but can boost energy, beat cravings and even fix digestive problems and bloating.

The whole concept of the gut garden, is "the scientific story of the decade," declares Swift, a top holistic nutritionist who is currently the senior nutritionist at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and has worked as the head of nutrition at three landmark centres of health and wellness.

The way science understands the gastrointestinal tract, specifically the role played by the bacteria that live there, has undergone a revolution, she says.

Expand Close . Getty Images/iStockphoto / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp .

"We've known for about 20 years that the bacteria living in our colon break down the fibre that we get from plant sources - vegetables, fruits, pulses, nuts, seeds - which would otherwise be indigestible."

However, adds Swift, who has more than 30 years of experience in the field, what we've only just begun to appreciate, is that if the microbiota are not getting enough plant fibre, if they're being indiscriminately wiped out by the overuse of antibiotics, or if they're damaged over time by excessive amounts of stress hormones, your weight, your digestion and the workings of your immune system can go haywire.

Healing the gut and making some basic gut-friendly lifestyle and stress-reduction adjustments can address issues with weight gain, believes Swift, who has just published a book The Swift Diet, on her theories.

"Heal the gut and lose weight - that's been my experience and my credo for a long time," she says.

Swift points to a landmark published in the renowned scientific journal Nature in 2013 in which French researchers tracked two groups of subjects - 169 obese people and 123 lean people.

The lean people, it emerged, had both a greater number and a wider variety of bacteria at work in their gut than their heavier counterparts. They were also less likely to gain weight over the nine years of the study and less likely to develop common diseases such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

In a second study, published in the same issue of the journal, by the same researchers, 49 subjects who were overweight were put on a higher fibre, lower calorie diet for six weeks.

The bacteria in their guts became significantly richer and more diverse, resembling the bacteria in the group of people who were naturally more lean - and they lost weight.

Their metabolism and digestion, explains Swift, quite literally "shifted" to support their weight-loss efforts.

These bacteria, she adds, impact just about every aspect of our lives, from food cravings and how our bodies store fat, to our emotions, our digestion and our immune system response. 'Leaky Gut' and IBS have recently been linked to everything from chronic fatigue syndrome, to osteoporosis, to depression.

The good news is that by paying close attention to how we eat and how we live, we really can influence our overall well-being, she believes - and here's how.

Start with your diet, she advises: "One of the most significant factors here is the tsunami of processed foods we are eating," says Swift, who warns that too much sugar and the wrong kind of fat are literally disrupting the ecology of the gut.

"Our gut bacteria depend on fibre, and a good amount of it, but in the USA, for example, the average person gets only a fraction of the fibre they need.

"We have to get back to real whole food. This is about the bacteria in our gut feasting on real, whole-food, so that in turn they produce the critical compounds which maintain our health."

The first of three major steps, she explains is to start to "build your plate" around fibre to nourish your gut garden.

"Fibre comes from fresh vegetables and fruit and whole-grains," she says, explaining that fibre, or prebiotics, provides crucial nourishment for your gut bacteria in the form of vegetables, fruit, legumes, and gluten-free grains.

Expand Close Milk, yoghurt, almonds, cheeses, broccoli, salmon, and avocado are good sources of calcium / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Milk, yoghurt, almonds, cheeses, broccoli, salmon, and avocado are good sources of calcium

Second, you must add in some probiotic power: "These are foods which have live active cultures - fermented foods with a live active culture of bacteria.

"These bacteria interact with those in our resident gut garden to provide an added dose. These foods add good bacteria, explains Swift, adding that a good broad-spectrum probiotic supplement containing a mix of lactobacillus and bifido bacterium can help to restore balance in the digestive system.

A Canadian study published two years ago in the British Journal of Nutrition underpins her assertions in the efficacy of probiotics - researchers put 150 overweight men and women on a diet and then on a weight-maintenance programme.

Half of the subjects also took two daily probiotic capsules of a bacterial strain similar to one found in yoghurt. The other half did not. The women taking the probiotics lost considerably more weight - 9.7 lbs - than those who didn't take the supplements - who lost an average of 5.7 lbs.

Swift has found that in just a month, people who change their diets can reap the initial benefits of eating and living in tune with the gut.

"No matter how sophisticated the underlying biology, the diet guidelines couldn't be simpler," she declares.

"Take out the fattening and toxic foods in your diet that wreak havoc on your macrobiota and put in the delicious, nutritious foods that support it. The path has got to be simple when you intend to stay on it forever.

"We feed the bugs with fibre and we also give them an added dose of bacteria through, for example, yoghurt with live active cultures," she says, adding that such foods include buttermilk, cheese, raw apple cider vinegar or natural, unsweetened yoghurt, for example goats' milk yoghurt or natural cows' milk yoghurt, or good organic soy foods.

Expand Close Greek yoghurt is strained multiple times, resulting in a higher protein content. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Greek yoghurt is strained multiple times, resulting in a higher protein content.

It's worth considering polyphenols, found in a wide range of vegetables (onions), fruits (berries, applies, citrus) and herbs and spices (cloves, curry, ginger peppermint, rosemary, thyme and sage) as well as green tea, coffee and red wine - they can also help with weight loss by working to stabilising blood sugar and insulin levels, and discouraging fat storage, says Swift. .

While fats do feed the cell membrane, she says, excessive fat and sugar causes an imbalance in the gut microbiota.

"Avocados, nuts, seeds, nut butters, coconut oil, extra virgin oil are all very important.

"We need healthy fats to feed our cell membranes, but moderation is the key."

The final element in the gut-healing plan, says Swift, is the adoption of a mindful approach to eating and living.

A mindful approach to eating, she says, encourages you to focus your attention on the food in front of you.

You learn with practice to nourish your body when there is physical hunger, "not when your mind is craving some sort of emotional release."

Behavioural science research has shown that people who are attuned to their body's hunger signals are more successful at managing their weight than those whose eating habits are more influenced by external cues, such as TV advertisements, says Swift.

A mindful approach, she believes, is critical to weight loss and health because it influences "the brain in our belly" which in turn influences our eating behaviours or moods. Mindful eating can "tamp down" stress which can result in less cravings for the wrong foods.

Expand Close Photo: stock / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Photo: stock

"Too much stress can cause the gut to be more porous, and unfriendly substances can seep through what should be a strong good wall defence, altering gut microbes, which makes the gut more vulnerable to inflammation.

"Chronic low-grade inflammation causes an imbalance in hormones such as insulin, which drives fat storage - and that's the connection to body weight."

Eating the wrong things drives up inflammation, disrupts hormones such as insulin and strongly encourages fat storage.

The bottom line, says Swift, can be boiled down to healing the gut, and there are three rules: Eat plenty of fibre (Prebiotics), eat fermented foods (probiotics) and eat mindfully. This she says, will reduce inflammation and bring more harmony to the gut garden.

"Everyone's weight loss is different, but within days some people can say they will feel different."

However, she emphasises, changing the diet takes time and as far as she is concerned, healing the gut is the bottom line. The resultant weight loss, is basically a side effect.

"The digestive tract can be the Highway to Health or the Pathway to Problems - including the epidemic of obesity," she warns.

"Research is saying that there's no one condition that we cannot link to the gut, so it is extremely important to pay attention."

'The Swift Diet' by Kathie Madonna Swift is published by Vermilion, €16.60.

Health & Living