OhMyGut in Interview – gut-friendly nutrition in everyday life

After talking about our kombucha with nutritionist Adrienne Tonner from Kombuchery, I took the opportunity to ask Adrienne from OhMyGut a few questions about her specialty: gut-friendly nutrition. We'd like to share her answers with you here. You'll learn more about the gut and microbiome, the gut-brain axis, and how varied a gut-friendly diet can be. Afterwards, you'll find Adrienne's bowl featuring our kombucha.

Would you briefly introduce yourself and explain the core of your work and passion?

I'm Adrienne. I'm a nutritionist, cookbook author, and knowledge and food blogger at ohmygut.de, the healthy food blog all about gut-friendly nutrition. When I was training to be a nutritionist, I truly realized the importance of the gut for our holistic health. It's closely connected to our entire organism. Yet, the gut was long an overlooked organ that deserves much more attention. During my specialization in the topic, I found a lot of specialist literature on gut health, but unfortunately less culinary inspiration that truly made gut-friendly eating appealing. So I thought, "Well, Adrienne, you'll take care of it now and show how fantastic gut-friendly food can taste!"

I'd like to discuss gut health with you. How important is the gut for our health, well-being, and psyche?

The gut, intestinal mucosa, and immune system are in close communication. A large part of the immune system is connected to the gut. However, it's not possible to make a general assessment of how strongly individual dietary factors influence these complex interrelationships. Symptoms like fatigue, skin problems, or difficulty concentrating can also have many different causes and should not be generally attributed to the gut.

The gut has its own complex nervous system and is connected to the brain via the so-called gut-brain axis. This exchange of information involves, among other things, neuronal, hormonal, and immunological signaling pathways. How these connections influence psychological well-being is the subject of current research.

A small example: Approximately 95% of the feel-good hormone serotonin is produced in the gut. If we eat well and thus help our body with serotonin production, we can literally eat ourselves happy with the help of our gut. Crazy, right?

In particular, the topics of anti-inflammation and the influence of sugar and sugar substitutes have increasingly come into focus.

1. There's often talk of inflammation in the body. Is this also important for healthy people? Also with regard to gut health?

In our Western diet, we actually tend to eat too many pro-inflammatory substances and too few anti-inflammatory foods. This leads to an imbalance and can promote the development of silent inflammation in the body.

It's important to know: Diet and lifestyle can be related to metabolism, gut, and general well-being in various ways. However, individual symptoms such as fatigue, skin changes, concentration problems, or allergies have numerous possible causes and should not be generally attributed to inflammation in the gut. A balanced, varied diet is generally advisable. Persistent or unexplained symptoms should be medically evaluated.

2. How do different types of sugar differ nutritionally? And how would you classify the sugar content of kombucha compared to other soft drinks?

Sugar

Sugar is a tricky thing. There are many sugar alternatives on the market that give us the good feeling of eating a little healthier. But in reality, agave syrup, maple syrup, honey, rice syrup, cane sugar, etc., are just sugar. Like sugar, they consist of simple, quickly metabolized sugar molecules: fructose and glucose. Of course, a date or honey also contain a few minerals in addition to sugar, which is naturally better than a highly processed refined sugar that is completely devoid of vital nutrients. But in the end, it's still sugar. It disrupts blood sugar levels, promotes cravings, has pro-inflammatory effects, and inhibits fat burning.

The only exception I can truly recommend for sweetening is yacon syrup. Here, the fructose molecules are present as long, firmly connected fructose chains. These are called fructans. And these are metabolized by the gut not like sugar, but like prebiotic fiber. Fiber provides food for gut bacteria, which promotes a healthy gut flora and also keeps blood sugar levels stable. For anyone interested in yacon, I'd like to recommend yacomo-food.com. Here you can find yacon syrup sustainably packaged, organic, and at a fair price.

But now, let's talk about kombucha. I think it's a truly exciting product. On the one hand, you have to consider that the sugar in this product has a real raison d'être because it is the nutrient base for fermentation. A large part of the sugar is converted during the fermentation process. Kombuchery currently contains 2.3 g of sugar per 100 ml, which is 50% less sugar than conventional soft drinks. The sugar content of kombucha varies depending on the recipe and fermentation. Kombuchery currently contains 2.3 g of sugar per 100 ml. The combination of low sugar paired with living microorganisms and nutrients is a great mix. In my opinion, the small amount of sugar is totally justifiable. It's the sum that counts in the end. By the way, I also find kombucha highly interesting for vegans. Which B vitamins are produced during kombucha fermentation and in what quantity they are present in the finished drink depends on the culture and manufacturing process.

We can nourish our gut with fiber, probiotics, and prebiotics. Would you briefly explain these three terms?

Fiber

Fiber consists of plant components that cannot be broken down by our digestive enzymes. Thus, they reach the large intestine undigested, where most of our gut bacteria reside. They serve as food for our bacteria. Just like for us humans, food helps bacteria grow and thrive. The better the good, beneficial bacteria are doing, the better we are doing. That's why we should always include enough fiber in our diet. According to a National Consumption Study, many Germans consume less than the recommended minimum of 30 g of fiber per day. Unfortunately.

Prebiotics

Prebiotics are a special form of fiber. They are not only food for bacteria, they also increase the activity of bacteria and stimulate their growth and multiplication. The digestion of prebiotics produces acids that have a positive effect on our intestinal lining and create a favorable climate for the beneficial bacteria in our gut.

Probiotics

Probiotics are live bacterial cultures that arise, for example, through fermentation or a long maturation process. They are like guest workers who make their way to the gut through food. However, for them to have a positive effect on the gut flora, they must be eaten, drunk, or taken in sufficient quantities and, above all, regularly. This is because probiotics from outside have a much harder time settling in the gut. The already established bacteria defend their territory.

How can we imagine the right balance of good and bad gut bacteria?

First, it must be mentioned that the classic good-versus-evil thinking isn't entirely accurate. Of course, there are bacteria that have a more beneficial effect than others. Some produce anti-inflammatory end products, others more pro-inflammatory ones. However, it's not the bacterium and its properties alone that determine how we feel, but above all the right ratio of bacteria to each other. Every bacterium has its right to exist in our gut. Just as in a healthy society, "diversity" is important in the gut! The more different bacterial strains we host, the better.

It's important that the bacteria that are particularly good for us always maintain the upper hand. The more they hold the reins, the more our health benefits. With the right diet, we can specifically control this balance. Because different bacteria also have different culinary preferences. The particularly beneficial bacteria like bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, and Akkermansia muciniphila love prebiotics, for example. Those who consume a lot of them already make a huge contribution to better gut balance.

What do you think of probiotics? Are there characteristics of a good probiotic that everyone should look for, and do you recommend taking them?

I believe probiotics will play a major role in nutritional medicine in the future. Currently, however, research can only cultivate a small fraction of the bacteria we host in our gut in the lab. So, when taking probiotics, you can never supply the gut with all the relevant bacteria that might benefit you, but only with a fraction of the microbes.

A tip: A microbiome analysis is often a good idea beforehand. This way, you know where an imbalance exists and can specifically supplement the probiotics you are lacking.

Another tip: If you want to supplement probiotics, you should look for a particularly high bacterial count (e.g., 20 billion) and opt for a synbiotic. A synbiotic is a mixture of pro- and prebiotics. This way, the probiotics are immediately supplied with bacterial food and can colonize more easily.

What is the basis of all gut-friendly recipes?

In short: a prebiotic, probiotic, and anti-inflammatory diet that builds up beneficial gut bacteria long-term and reduces silent inflammation.

How important are fermented products in our diet?

I am a big fan of absorbing essential nutrients that are good for us as naturally as possible. This means that a largely plant-based, whole food diet enriched with fermented foods and omega-3 sources can provide you with many important nutrients – without having to take pills or supplements. In exceptional cases such as veganism, pregnancy, lactation, or illness-related deficiencies, this can of course still be sensible. But I believe a healthy person can achieve a lot with diet alone. And fermented foods should also be an important part of this diet. In addition, they are also truly delicious culinarily. I think many people are not even aware of how many probiotic foods we eat every day. It's not just kombucha; it's also grandma's sauerkraut, the kimchi at the Korean restaurant, the soy sauce at the Asian restaurant, fresh yogurt in the morning, or pickled cucumbers for dinner. All of this is delicious and rich in live microorganisms, provided it hasn't been heat-treated.

What's an easy way for anyone to start improving their gut health?

To ensure everyone can do something, I've written a guide for better gut health in my book. You need to know that numerous factors affect our gut. It's not just diet that plays a role. Mental health is also important.

Turning everything upside down at once is often difficult. I'm convinced that the path of small steps is always the best. For this, you can, for example, simply look at the numerous nutrition and lifestyle tips in the book and see what seems quick and easy for you to implement.

A few tangible examples

• Eating less meat, for example, is an important way to reduce inflammatory factors. Here, you could start by saying, "Okay, from now on I'll eat vegetarian or even vegan more often. I'll try that now."
• Eating more prebiotics and probiotics is also often very easy to implement. Just look at the list of all pre- and probiotic foods. What do you find delicious? Then just incorporate it into your diet more often or get inspired by ready-made recipes on my blog or in my book.
• Fewer preservatives in food is another point. The best way is to cook fresh. But that is often time-consuming. The solution: meal prep – planning and preparing meals. That's why my book also includes various meal prep ideas.

Adrienne's Berry Kombucha Bowl

Many more tips and inspiration on what else you can do can also be found on Adrienne's blog. For all those who also have a penchant for browsing cookbooks and trying new recipes, I can also heartily recommend her cookbook "OH MY GUT, THAT'S DELICIOUS!" (You can also find the cookbook here.)

Good luck with the preparation and good health!