The Top Foods to Nourish Your Gut and Feel Better in Your Body
If you’re feeling bloated, sluggish, or stuck in a cycle of low energy and cravings, you’re not alone. What you eat—and how you nourish your gut and metabolism—can make all the difference in how you feel.
The good news? You don’t need complicated detoxes or restrictive diets. By adding the right healing foods, you can support digestion, balance your blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and even reshape your body composition.
Here are the top foods I recommend to my clients to enable healing from the inside out:
Bone Broth: Liquid Gold for Gut Repair
Bone broth is rich in glycine (important for detoxification and liver health), glutamine (which helps heal the gut lining), and collagen (which supports joints, skin, and tissue repair).
Why it matters: Sipping bone broth is one of the easiest and most nourishing ways to restore gut integrity and soothe inflammation.
Try this: Add a cup a day to your routine — as a sipping broth, or as a base for soups and stews.
Kiwi: The Secret Gut Superfruit
Kiwis are one of the most powerful fruits for gut health—especially when you eat two a day consistently. They’re packed with fiber (both soluble and insoluble), enzymes (like actinidin), and prebiotics that help your digestion work with you, not against you.
Why it matters: Kiwis have been clinically shown to improve constipation, enhance gut motility, and nourish your microbiome.
Try this: Eat the skin, too (if organic)—it’s loaded with extra fiber and antioxidants.
Ginger & Turmeric: Nature’s Gut-Healing Duo
These two golden roots aren’t just spices — they’re therapeutic tools that have been used for centuries to soothe the gut, calm inflammation, and support metabolic health. Adding even small amounts of ginger and turmeric into your daily routine can go a long way in improving how you feel from the inside out.
Ginger: Soothes Your Gut
Relieves bloating, gas, and sluggish digestion
Speeds up gastric emptying (by up to 50%! — International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2013)
Acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and carminative
Turmeric: Reduces Inflammation
Contains curcumin, a potent anti-inflammatory compound
Supports the gut lining and helps calm gut-related immune responses
Enhances bile flow for better fat digestion
Pro tip: Combine turmeric with black pepper and a fat source (like coconut milk or olive oil) to boost absorption by up to 2,000%!
How to Use Ginger and Turmeric Together:
Sip ginger-turmeric tea after meals
Blend into smoothies, stir-fries, or bone broth soups
Add to golden milk or dressings
Consider ginger capsules for digestive support or turmeric supplements for inflammation relief
Fermented Foods: Your Gut’s Best Friends
Fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt) are rich in live beneficial bacteria (probiotics) that help populate and diversify your gut microbiome. These microbes improve digestion, boost immune resilience, and help reduce symptoms like bloating, constipation, and leaky gut.
Why it matters: Regular intake of fermented foods has been shown to increase microbiome diversity and lower inflammatory markers like IL-6. (Stanford School of Medicine, 2021).
Fun fact: Regular intake of fermented foods has been shown to increase microbiome diversity and lower inflammation markers like IL-6. (Stanford Medicine, 2021)
Try this: Aim for a small serving daily, like 2 tablespoons of sauerkraut or a cup of kefir.
Cruciferous Vegetables: Detox and Defend
Broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and bok choy are packed with sulforaphane and other glucosinolates. These compounds support liver detoxification, reduce inflammation, and strengthen the gut lining.
Why it matters: Cruciferous veggies feed good gut bacteria and increase short-chain fatty acids like butyrate—essential for healing leaky gut and reducing oxidative stress.
Try this: Lightly steam or roast to maximize digestibility and nutrient absorption.
Berries: Antioxidant Powerhouses
Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are bursting with polyphenols, plant compounds that act like prebiotic fuel for your gut bugs. Blueberries in particular have been shown to reduce gut inflammation, support cognitive function, and enhance microbial diversity.
Why it matters: Berries lower inflammation, protect against gut permeability, and even support brain health by nurturing the gut-brain axis.
Try this: Add a handful to smoothies, salads, or enjoy as a snack.
Prebiotic Foods: Fuel for Your Good Bacteria
Oats, green bananas, asparagus, leeks, and Jerusalem artichokes are rich in prebiotic fibers that feed the beneficial bacteria in your gut.
Why it matters: Prebiotics help your microbes produce butyrate, a healing compound that protects against gut inflammation and metabolic disease.
Try this: Start small and increase gradually to allow your gut time to adjust.
Wild Salmon and Fatty Fish: Omega-3 Essentials
Wild salmon, sardines, and mackerel are rich in EPA and DHA—omega-3 fatty acids that calm inflammation, support tight junctions in the gut lining, and improve insulin sensitivity.
Why it matters: Omega-3s have been shown to lower CRP, cytokines, and support whole-body healing.
Try this: Aim for wild salmon or fatty fish 2–3x per week for optimal benefits.
Bitter Greens: Prime Your Digestion
Arugula, dandelion greens, kale, and endive are natural digestive stimulants that enhance bile production, improve fat digestion, and support liver detox pathways.
Why it matters: Bitters help regulate appetite, reduce bloating, and create an environment for better microbiome balance.
Try this: Start your meals with a handful of bitter greens tossed in olive oil and lemon.
The Top Foods Checklist
✔️ Bone Broth
✔️ Kiwi
✔️ Ginger & Turmeric
✔️ Fermented Foods (Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Kefir)
✔️ Cruciferous Vegetables (Broccoli, Brussels, Cauliflower)
✔️ Berries (Blueberries, Raspberries)
✔️ Prebiotic Foods (Oats, Green Bananas, Asparagus)
✔️ Wild Salmon and Fatty Fish
✔️ Bitter Greens (Arugula, Kale)
What to Remove (for best results)
While adding these healing foods, it’s also important to reduce the most common gut and metabolic disruptors:
Ultra-Processed Foods: Give yourself the gift of simple, easy-to-prepare meals using real, whole foods.
Alcohol: Taking a break will dramatically improve your gut, brain, metabolism, and inflammation.
Added Sugar: With a balanced meal plan, cravings fade naturally because your body gets the nutrients it needs.
Common Triggers: Gluten, dairy, and soy can contribute to inflammation in some people and gut issues for many—watch how you feel without them and adjust accordingly.
Final Thoughts: Healing Starts with What You Feed Yourself
You have so much more power over your gut and metabolism than you’ve been told. Start with these small shifts. Nourish your body with the foods that love you back.
Your energy, digestion, and body composition will thank you—inside and out.
