1장
Revolutionizing Our Plates: A New Food Philosophy for Health and Healing
Have you ever wondered why, despite the explosion of diet books and nutritional advice, Americans are sicker than ever? Dr. Mark Hyman's "The Pegan Diet" might be the answer we've been searching for. This isn't just another restrictive eating plan-it's a revolutionary approach that combines the best aspects of paleo and vegan diets into a flexible framework anyone can follow. The book has garnered praise from celebrities like Cindy Crawford and Hugh Jackman, who credit it with transforming their health and energy levels. What makes this approach so powerful is its rejection of dogma in favor of science-backed principles that address both personal health and planetary wellbeing. As chronic disease rates soar (affecting 6 in 10 Americans) and healthcare costs skyrocket, Hyman's approach offers a refreshingly practical solution to our most pressing health challenges.
2장
Food as Medicine: The Foundation of the Pegan Philosophy
Every bite of food we consume is essentially programming our biology-it's not just calories but information that influences every aspect of our health. The Pegan Diet embraces this fundamental principle: food is medicine with the power to heal or harm. Rather than relying on pharmaceutical interventions for chronic conditions, we should first look to our "farmacy" rather than the pharmacy.
Modern science now reveals that food contains thousands of medicinal compounds that regulate the billions of chemical reactions occurring in our bodies daily. This phenomenon, which Hyman calls "symbiotic-phytoadaptation," explains how humans have evolved to borrow molecular magic from plants and animals to optimize our biological functions. The 25,000+ phytochemicals found in plant foods (and in animals that eat diverse plants) are crucial for preventing what Hyman terms "long-latency deficiency diseases"-conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and dementia that develop slowly over decades.
Functional medicine provides the framework for understanding how food works as medicine. Unlike conventional medicine that treats organs in isolation, functional medicine views the body as an interconnected network. When something goes wrong, the solution isn't just suppressing symptoms but addressing root causes by removing harmful triggers and providing what the body needs to thrive. Food represents the most powerful lever for creating rapid change and disease reversal.
The implications are profound: industrial food drives inflammation and disease, while real, nutrient-rich food does the opposite-turning off inflammation, balancing hormones, optimizing the microbiome, and activating health-promoting genes. What makes the Pegan approach unique is that it's not just about personal health but also about healing our planet. Our current food system drives climate change, soil depletion, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss. By becoming what Hyman calls "regenetarians," we can support regenerative agriculture that restores soil health, conserves water, increases biodiversity, and reverses climate change while producing more nutrient-dense food.
The beauty of the Pegan Diet lies in its flexibility and inclusivity. It's not about perfection or restriction but about eating nutritionally dense food 90% of the time while leaving room for pleasure. The principles that follow provide a roadmap toward personalized eating that benefits you, your family, your community, and the planet while remaining delicious, nourishing, and joyful.
3장
Eating the Rainbow: Nature's Pharmacy in Full Color
Michael Pollan's famous advice to "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" forms the cornerstone of the Pegan approach. But rather than being strictly plant-based, the Pegan Diet emphasizes being plant-rich-making the bulk of your diet colorful plant foods complemented by high-quality protein and healthy fats.
What makes plant foods so special? They deliver exceptional nutrient density with minimal calories and contain two unique components essential for optimal health: fiber and phytonutrients. Without these plant-specific elements, we may not develop acute deficiency diseases like scurvy, but we'll likely develop chronic diseases over time.
Plant foods represent the most powerful medicine in your "farmacy," with their rainbow of colors containing over 25,000 beneficial chemicals. These phytonutrients-including polyphenols, resveratrol, flavonoids, terpenoids, and carotenoids-boost immunity, reduce inflammation, and provide anti-cancer and anti-aging effects. Plants produce these compounds not for our benefit but as their messaging system for protection, defense, and survival.
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors consumed more than 800 varieties of plant foods, while today fifteen crops make up 90 percent of our food intake. The optimal vegetable intake should be 6-8 cups daily, yet only tiny percentages of Americans meet even the minimum recommendations. Most Americans consume nutritionally poor vegetables like French fries, ketchup, iceberg lettuce, and corn rather than medicinal powerhouses.
Different colored fruits and vegetables provide specific benefits: red foods offer anti-inflammatory properties through compounds like lycopene; orange foods provide antioxidants for fat-soluble tissues; yellow foods support gut health; green foods support circulation and detoxification; and blue/purple foods offer cognitive support through anthocyanins that can cross the blood-brain barrier.
When shopping for produce, quality matters. The Environmental Working Group publishes annual "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen" lists to guide consumers on which foods are most important to buy organic. Foods best purchased organic include strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, and grapes, while avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, onions, and cabbage are acceptable to buy conventionally grown.
The simple practice of "eating the rainbow" by including a variety of colored foods daily is your gateway to using food as medicine. Try incorporating blue and red berries in your breakfast, leafy greens with lunch, and purple carrots with orange and yellow bell peppers at dinner. This colorful approach ensures you're getting the full spectrum of nature's medicinal compounds.
4장
The 75 Percent Rule: Vegetables as Your Dietary Foundation
All plant foods are carbohydrates, but there's a crucial distinction between whole plant food "slow carbs" and refined carbohydrates. Plant food carbs come packaged with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals that balance blood sugar and optimize health, while refined carbs drive high blood sugar, inflammation, and contribute to chronic diseases.
The Pegan Diet recommends filling 75 percent of your plate with non-starchy vegetables-foods that barely register on the glycemic load scale. These include leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, and zucchini. These vegetables can be eaten in unlimited amounts, providing abundant nutrition without blood sugar concerns.
Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, winter squashes, and potatoes should be limited to half a cup per day or less, especially for those with blood sugar issues. For people with gut problems that make eating vegetables difficult, short-term dietary restrictions may be needed while working with a practitioner to heal the gut.
The 75 percent rule applies to the volume on your plate, not calories. Even two plates of non-starchy vegetables won't make up the bulk of your calories when eaten with healthy fats and quality protein. While the minimum recommendation is 5-9 servings of vegetables, the Pegan Diet recommends 6-8 cups (12-18 servings) daily with as much variety as possible.
This approach ensures you're getting maximum nutrition with minimal blood sugar impact-the perfect foundation for a healing diet that supports both immediate health and long-term disease prevention.
5장
Finding Balance: Beans, Grains, Nuts, and Seeds
Beans, grains, nuts, and seeds generate significant debate between Paleo enthusiasts and vegans, despite general agreement about their health benefits. Some argue that lectins and phytic acid in these foods damage the gut, while others worry about omega-6 fats in nuts and seeds driving inflammation. The carbohydrate content of beans concerns some, while grain consumption has skyrocketed since the 1992 Food Pyramid recommended 6-11 servings daily-coinciding with dramatic increases in metabolic disorders and obesity.
The Pegan approach focuses on quality and preparation of these foods rather than wholesale elimination. Contrary to common belief, nuts actually help with weight loss when consumed in moderation-two to four handfuls daily can benefit your waistline and prevent heart disease and diabetes. Not all calories are created equal; 200 calories from nuts differs dramatically from 200 calories from cookies in how they affect your body.
For those concerned about lectins and phytic acid, soaking raw nuts and seeds overnight and lightly toasting them reduces these compounds and increases digestibility. Nuts and seeds provide a beneficial balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, along with vitamins, fiber, protein, minerals, and antioxidants like vitamin E. Walnuts, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, and chia seeds are excellent sources of plant-based omega-3s.
When it comes to beans, they offer both benefits and drawbacks. On the positive side, they contain resistant starch that helps your microbiome produce beneficial short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which reduces cancer risk and speeds metabolism. However, they're carb-heavy without substantial protein. The best approach is selecting the right varieties: lupini beans (high protein, zero net carbs), lentils, organic green peas, black-eyed peas, and mung beans are preferable to starchier options like lima, kidney, pinto, and baked beans.
Preparation matters-soak dried beans overnight with salt, then cook with kombu seaweed to improve digestibility. With soy, avoid processed forms like isolated soy protein while embracing traditional preparations like organic tofu, tempeh, miso, natto, and gluten-free tamari.
Grains are relatively new to human diets (10,000 years) yet now comprise over 60% of modern consumption. While whole grains provide fiber and nutrients, they can cause problems for those with insulin resistance, gut issues, or inflammation-particularly gluten-containing varieties. Gluten triggers zonulin production, creating leaky gut by opening tight junctions between intestinal cells.
For healthier options, choose true whole grains like brown rice, red rice, wild rice, teff, amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa, with black rice ("forbidden rice") and Himalayan Tartary buckwheat being exceptional choices rich in antioxidants. Limit consumption to 12-1 cup daily, and consider a three-week grain holiday if you have gut issues, weight problems, or autoimmune conditions to see if symptoms improve.
6장
Meat as Medicine: The Quality Revolution
The meat debate involves three key considerations: ethics/morality, environmental impact, and health effects. Rather than viewing meat as simply good or bad, we must recognize the crucial distinction between factory-farmed and regeneratively raised animals. Regenerative agriculture restores ecosystems by building carbon-sequestering soil, supporting biodiversity, reducing chemical inputs, and producing nutrient-dense food while being more profitable for farmers.
While some avoid animal products for religious, cultural or ethical reasons, the real problem isn't meat itself but modern factory farming (CAFOs). These operations feed animals unnatural diets including corn, soy, animal parts, chicken waste, antibiotics, and hormones-creating disasters for animal welfare, the environment, and human health. However, all industrial farming causes harm-even plant agriculture kills an estimated 7 billion animals yearly through habitat destruction and pest control.
From an environmental perspective, while livestock production contributes 14.5% of greenhouse gases, only 5% comes from animal methane-the rest stems from feed production, processing and transportation. The bigger climate issue is industrial fertilizer-400 billion pounds used annually worldwide, requiring massive energy (mostly from fracking) and producing nitrous oxide (300 times more potent than CO2).
When it comes to health impacts, a 2019 review of 61 studies covering 4 million people found no link between meat and disease or death-and these studies examined conventional meat, not regenerative or grass-finished varieties which may be beneficial. Quality matters tremendously: a wild elk or regeneratively raised cow eating phytonutrient-rich plants differs completely from a feedlot cow fed an unnatural diet with hormones and antibiotics.
Remarkably, grass-fed meat contains phytonutrients like terpenoids, phenols, and carotenoids with anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective effects-essentially medicinal plant compounds transferred from diverse forage. Even the saturated fat concern is oversimplified, as stearic acid (the main saturated fat in meat) is neutral for blood cholesterol, and individual genetic responses to saturated fat vary significantly.
The Pegan approach recommends meat as a side dish, not the star-a palm-sized portion of protein twice daily, properly cooked with medicinal spices and eaten as part of a plant-rich, whole foods diet. Avoid high-temperature cooking methods like grilling, frying, or charring-instead use low-temperature methods like baking, roasting, and poaching, and incorporate plenty of spices.
7장
Quality Matters: Choosing Poultry, Eggs, and Fish
Industrial poultry and fish farming devastate animals, humans, and the planet, yet these foods constitute a major part of global diets. Being selective about these foods is essential for both personal and planetary health.
Conventional chickens suffer in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), living in small cages with minimal outdoor access. They're pumped with corn and antibiotics, making them fatter but less nutritious, and more likely to carry pathogens like Salmonella. The industry creates terrible working conditions and massive pollution. Chicken labeling is confusingly deceptive-terms like "all-natural," "vegetarian-fed," and "free-range" are often meaningless. True pasture-raised poultry (birds that roam freely eating their natural diet including insects) is ideal but hard to find; organic is the next best option.
As for eggs, they're actually superfoods, with the yolk containing the most nutrients-protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, choline and even carotenoids. The cholesterol concern has been debunked, though people with autoimmune conditions might need to test for egg sensitivity.
When choosing fish, focus on wild-caught and sustainably harvested farm-raised options. Smaller fish like anchovies and sardines contain more nutrients and fewer toxins than larger fish like tuna. The SMASH fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and herring) are rich in omega-3 fats with lower mercury levels. Farmed fish often contain more omega-6 and fewer omega-3 fats, antibiotics from overcrowding, higher PCB levels, and require 5-10 pounds of ocean-harvested fish feed to produce 1 pound of consumable fish.
Regenerative ocean farming is emerging as a sustainable solution-mixed aquacultures of seaweed, scallops, oysters, mussels, and clams require zero inputs while sequestering carbon. Growing seaweed in just 3.8% of California's coastal waters could offset all the state's agricultural emissions, and feeding seaweed to cattle can reduce their methane emissions by 60%.
For optimal protein choices, prioritize pasture-raised chicken, turkey, duck, and eggs, with organic as the next-best option. Aim for two 4-ounce (palm-sized) servings of animal protein daily, with eggs 2-3 times weekly. Eat low-mercury fish three times weekly, focusing on wild salmon, sardines, anchovies, herring, and mackerel, plus sustainable shellfish like clams, mussels, and oysters.
8장
The Fat Revolution: Essential Nutrients for Health
Fat has been unfairly vilified for decades despite being essential for health. When Americans followed low-fat advice for 40 years, obesity rates skyrocketed from 5% to 42%. The right fats make you healthy and lean while fueling your brain, but the wrong fats can be deadly.
The Pegan Diet acknowledges individual differences-some thrive on high-fat diets while others struggle. Monounsaturated fats from olive oil, nuts, seeds, and avocados help prevent heart disease and improve insulin sensitivity. The Western diet contains too many omega-6 fats from processed sources like GMO soybean and canola oils, and too few omega-3 fats from fish, pasture-raised eggs, and seeds.
While some low-fat advocates still warn against avocados, nuts, and olive oil, evidence overwhelmingly supports these protective foods. Both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential building blocks our bodies can't produce. Whole food sources of omega-6 fats (beans, grains, nuts, seeds) are safe when balanced with adequate omega-3s from fish, pasture-raised eggs, and seeds like flax, chia, and hemp. The problem is the Western diet's excessive omega-6 consumption from processed sources like GMO soybean oil (10% of our calories) and too few omega-3s.
Saturated fats aren't the villains we once believed. Found in dairy, meat, coconut oil, and even healthy plant foods like nuts, olives, and avocados (olive oil is 20% saturated fat), these fats have varied effects on the body. Context matters-butter with vegetables may be healthful, while butter in cookies could be harmful. Never combine saturated fats with starch and sugar, as this combination causes inflammation, weight gain, and disease.
Individual genetic and biological differences significantly impact responses to saturated fats. One patient on a high-fat, low-carb diet saw dramatic cholesterol improvements and lost 20 pounds, while another experienced concerning lipid changes. Functional medicine looks beyond basic cholesterol numbers to particle size and quality-large, fluffy LDL particles are protective, while small, dense particles indicate heart disease risk.
For cooking, use high smoke point oils like avocado oil, coconut oil, and ghee; for low-heat cooking and drizzling, choose olive oil, almond oil, macadamia oil, and various seed oils. Don't fear fat; instead, eat the right fats with every meal. Fat won't make you fat unless eaten with starch and sugar. Aim for 3-5 servings of fat daily, primarily with vegetables.
9장
The Dairy Dilemma: Reconsidering a Cultural Staple
America's dairy obsession stems more from marketing ("Got Milk?") than science. Milk and dairy sensitivities cause numerous health issues, yet government guidelines recommend three glasses daily-advice not supported by research. Harvard nutrition scientists David Ludwig and Walter Willett reviewed top dairy studies and found the purported benefits unproven, while identifying real risks for cancer, allergies, autoimmune disease, hormone disorders, eczema, and digestive problems.
The claim that dairy provides essential calcium for strong bones is fundamentally flawed. Countries with highest dairy consumption have highest fracture rates, while those with lowest intake have fewest fractures. Research shows each additional glass of milk consumed daily during adolescence increases fracture risk by 9%. Better calcium sources come directly from plants-the same place cows get their calcium-including greens like kale and collards, tofu, sesame seeds, and fish with bones like sardines and canned salmon.
Contrary to popular belief, low-fat dairy doesn't help with weight loss. Research measuring actual dairy fat levels in blood shows full-fat dairy may reduce diabetes risk. A 22-year study of 3,000 seniors found those with higher blood levels of dairy saturated fatty acids had 42% lower risk of stroke death with no increased heart disease risk.
Despite this, Hyman rarely recommends traditional cow milk products since up to 70% of the world population is lactose intolerant. Most patients report improved skin, digestion, and less congestion when eliminating dairy. Milk increases insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which promotes cancer cell growth, making it "nature's perfect food, but only if you are a calf."
If you love dairy, opt for sheep or goat products containing less inflammatory A2 casein instead of the A1 casein found in most modern cows. For cow dairy lovers, choose grass-fed, full-fat, regeneratively raised options from A2 cows (Guernsey and Jersey breeds). Butter provides butyrate, a fatty acid that prevents cancer, boosts metabolism, and reduces inflammation. Ghee (casein and whey removed) is easier to digest and better for high-temperature cooking. Probiotic-rich kefir and yogurt offer benefits for gut health, but avoid sugar-laden varieties.
10장
The Regenetarian Way: Healing the Planet Through Food Choices
Our current agricultural system is destroying both the earth and human health by depleting soil, razing rainforests, wasting freshwater, and decimating biodiversity. Industrial agriculture contributes to 11 million deaths annually and drives the obesity epidemic. We urgently need a regenerative system that restores both planetary and human health.
According to the UN, we have only sixty harvests left before running out of soil, threatening our very ability to grow food. Our food system generates nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions through deforestation, destructive farming practices, food waste, and soil damage. What we do to the planet we do to our bodies, and vice versa.
The food system is the primary contributor to climate change, with soil loss accounting for one-third of all atmospheric carbon dioxide (300 billion tons). One-fifth of fossil fuels power our food system-more than transportation by planes, ships, cars, and trucks combined. While many believe a plant-based vegan diet is the answer, science shows animals must be integrated into regenerative agriculture to build soil, produce fertilizer, conserve water, and eliminate toxic chemicals.
Regeneratively raised animals benefit the climate by restoring soil-the planet's largest carbon sink, capable of storing three times more carbon than exists in today's atmosphere. Photosynthesis remains our best carbon capture technology, and managed grazing mimics natural grassland animal behavior to build soil effectively. Currently representing just 1% of agriculture, regenerative farming is actually more profitable for farmers (up to 20 times more) and produces higher yields of better-quality food.
Individual choices significantly impact climate change. Food waste is among the biggest contributors-40% of food in our kitchens ends up trashed. If food waste were a country, it would rank as the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter after the US and China. Discarded produce generates three times more methane than factory-farmed livestock.
To eat like a regenetarian: 1) Shop local and organic by joining community-supported agriculture programs and farmers' markets; 2) Look for the regenerative organic certified (ROC) label covering soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness; 3) Reduce food waste through composting, buying only what you need, eating leftovers, and using services like Imperfect Produce; 4) Limit plastic use by choosing glass containers, carrying reusable coffee cups and utensils; 5) Choose real, whole foods-avoiding packaged, ultra-processed options makes you a climate activist.
11장
Sugar: The Sweet Poison in Our Food Supply
Sugar tastes delicious but becomes deadly when overconsumed. While occasional treats are harmless for most people, Americans have become sugar addicts, consuming an average of 152 pounds per person annually-nearly half a pound daily. Add to that 133 pounds of flour yearly, which affects the body even worse than sugar. Our biology has many genes protecting us from starvation but few safeguarding against overconsumption.
Sugar addiction is a biological disorder driven by hormones and neurotransmitters that affect the same brain pleasure centers as heroin or cocaine. Our bodies are programmed to crave sugar and store it as fat for winter shortages that never come in modern society. One in two Americans, including one in four teenagers, has prediabetes or type 2 diabetes-previously called "adult-onset diabetes." Sugar and starch, not fat, are responsible for 75% of Americans being overweight.
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is particularly problematic-an industrial food product extracted from corn stalks through chemical enzymatic processes. Unlike regular sugar's equal glucose-fructose ratio, HFCS contains 55-75% fructose, making it sweeter and more addictive. Since HFCS entered the market, rates of obesity, fatty liver disease, diabetes, and chronic illnesses have surged, especially in children who consume soda. In fact, soda consumption is the leading cause of fatty liver disease in children.
Artificial sweeteners may be worse than regular sugar despite having no calories, because food is information, not just calories. These hyper-sweet designer molecules (1,000 times sweeter than sugar) negatively impact brain function, hormones, and gut microbiome. Better alternatives include whole plant stevia and monk fruit (used sparingly), or small amounts of honey, high-quality maple syrup, or coconut sugar.
Treat sugar as a recreational drug, not a necessary food group. A little honey in tea or occasional dessert is fine, but avoid sugar at every meal. Eat sugar after nutrient-dense meals to blunt harmful effects, but avoid it completely if it triggers addictive behavior. Build metabolic resilience through the Pegan Diet and try sweetening with whole fruit instead. Reset your relationship with sugar by eliminating it for 10 days and noting how you feel.
12장
Personalized Nutrition: Finding Your Optimal Diet
We're approaching an era of precision nutrition where biological samples analyzed through artificial intelligence and complemented by wearable technology will create personalized nutritional maps. These will reveal which foods optimize your metabolism, activate healing genes, meet your unique nutrient needs, support your microbiome, and provide the most beneficial phytochemicals for your body.
While this technology is still developing, current tools like blood tests, hormone assessments, nutrient measurements, genetic testing, microbiome analysis, and food sensitivity testing already enable fairly precise nutritional guidance. Food isn't merely calories but information that programs your biological "software"-affecting genes, hormones, brain chemistry, gut bacteria, inflammation, immunity, and providing building blocks for your entire body.
The author identifies six approaches to personalize nutrition:
1. Personal and family history - Conditions like belly fat, weight loss resistance, or family history of obesity, diabetes, dementia, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, or allergies can indicate potential dietary pitfalls like carbohydrate intolerance, sensitivity to saturated fats, or gluten issues.
2. Hormonal and metabolic testing - Measuring lipids, insulin, and blood sugar helps determine whether you're more likely to gain weight from carbohydrates or need to avoid saturated fats.
3. Nutritional testing - Most physicians don't measure nutrient levels, yet 90% of Americans are deficient in at least one nutrient. Common deficiencies include omega-3 fats, vitamin D, magnesium, folate, B12, zinc, and iron.
4. Food allergy and sensitivity testing - While controversial, these tests can identify problem foods when properly interpreted. Common triggers include gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, grains, beans, nightshades, and nuts.
5. Stool testing - This reveals gut health status and microbiome composition. Findings might show low levels of short-chain fatty acids (beneficial gut fuel) or immune-regulatory bacteria that thrive on cranberry, pomegranate, and green tea.
6. Genetic testing - Genes regulate metabolism, fat and carbohydrate handling, appetite, taste preferences, and food addiction tendencies. Certain genetic profiles may require specific nutrients.
The elimination diet remains the gold standard for personalizing your diet. For 21 days, remove foods that commonly cause symptoms like bloating, eczema, allergies, fatigue, brain fog, headaches, autoimmune disease, and systemic inflammation. After the elimination period, reintroduce one food at a time over two days while maintaining the elimination diet otherwise. Wait 24 hours to observe any reactions.
Start with the Pegan Diet Principles as a foundation-whole, nutrient-dense, low-glycemic, plant-rich food with good fats and quality protein often dramatically improves health. Get appropriate testing-request metabolic markers (NMR lipid test, fasting insulin/glucose, hemoglobin A1c) and nutrient testing from your doctor. Consider genetic testing and find a functional medicine doctor when self-directed approaches aren't working.
13장
Healing the Gut: The Key to Overall Health
This is the decade of the microbiome-Hippocrates was right when he said, "All disease begins in the gut." Our diet is low in prebiotic fibers and polyphenols while we take too many gut-damaging antibiotics and medications. The bad bugs drive inflammation, causing leaky gut where food proteins and toxins enter our bloodstream, triggering immune responses.
To cultivate a healthy inner garden, follow three steps: 1) Weed (remove gut-busting foods and drugs), 2) Seed (add good bugs through fermented foods), and 3) Feed (support healthy bacteria with prebiotic and fiber-rich foods).
First, remove gut-busting foods and drugs. Bad bugs thrive on sugar, starch, and processed foods. Eliminate highly processed foods, refined grains (especially wheat), gluten, dairy, sugars, artificial sweeteners, refined oils, antibiotics (except when necessary), steroids, anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, acid blockers, chronic stressors, and environmental toxins, particularly glyphosate-sprayed products.
Second, add in the good bugs. Include fermented or cultured foods in your diet such as naturally fermented sauerkraut, pickled vegetables, kimchi, kefir (unsweetened), miso, gluten-free tamari, tempeh, fermented tofu, naturally fermented soy sauce, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, and unsweetened coconut yogurt.
Third, support the growth of healthy bacteria. Include both prebiotic foods (apples, artichokes, asparagus, dandelion greens, Jerusalem artichokes, jicama root, onions, garlic, leeks, plantains, underripe bananas, polyphenol-rich foods, and seaweed) and fiber-rich foods (avocados, beans, berries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, cucumber, figs, kale, lentils, nuts, seeds, olives, olive oil, pumpkin, spinach, and strawberries).
For those with gut issues, consider working with a functional medicine practitioner for bacterial or yeast overgrowth or parasites. Eat probiotic-rich foods like tempeh, sauerkraut, miso, and kimchi, or take a daily probiotic. Consume prebiotic and fiber-rich foods such as garlic, onions, avocado, and leafy greens. For bacterial overgrowth, introduce these slowly and lightly cook vegetables to make them easier to digest.
By healing your gut, you're addressing the foundation of health that impacts everything from immunity to brain function to hormonal balance. This three-step approach can transform not just digestive symptoms but overall wellbeing.
