Tag: intestine

Red Wine and Gut Health

Todays post is about how red wine can assist our gut health.

I have written previously about the health benefits of red wine. The good news is, now there is more evidence available.

Drinking a daily glass of red wine not only tastes good to many people, but it’s also good for the bacteria lining your large intestine.

A new Spanish study suggests that sipping about 266ml of Merlot or a low-alcohol red wine changed the mix of good and bad bacteria typically found in the colon in ways that can benefit your health.

 Bacteria and the gut

Bacteria may sound like a bad thing to have in your intestinal tract, but having a balanced mix of them actually helps to digest food, regulate immune function, and produce vitamin K (which plays a key role in helping the blood clot).

Previous research has looked at whether polyphenols in the diet can influence the balance of intestinal bacteria. The latest study sought to explore whether drinking red wine can have a similar effect.

 What are polyphenols?

Polyphenols are helpful plant-based compounds found in a variety of foods and beverages. Besides red grapes, many other fruits and vegetables are rich sources of polyphenols, as are coffee, tea, chocolate, and some nuts.

 The good news

This study found that moderate consumption of red wine resulted in increased production of beneficial gut bacteria. It also had beneficial effects on blood pressure and total cholesterol levels. The study also found that that consuming 100ml of spirits daily can damage gut bacteria, this was due to the ethanol content.

This study revealed that the accompanying substances (polyphenols and tannins) actually provide health benefits, and in fact neutralise the damage caused by the ethanol in the wine.

One important thing to remember: it is best to drink wine with or after food.

The food slows down the absorption allowing the polyphenols and tannins time to exert their health benefits. When drunk on an empty stomach, around 80% of the alcoholic beverage passes into the upper small intestine for absorption. The health benefits will be missed and the ethanol will actually cause damage.

 What about beer?

Although it has not been studied extensively, scientists consider that moderate consumption of beer may have similar health benefits. The antioxidant content of beer is equivalent to that of red wine. However the specific antioxidants are different due to barley and hops containing different flavonoids to grapes.

(Sources – www.australiannaturaltherapistsassociation.com.au, www.sciencedirect.com, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, https://academic.oup.com)

So, enjoy a nice glass of red with your meal for better gut health.

Till the next post, 

Live clean n prosper.

What is the FODMAP diet?

Hi, today’s topic is the low FODMAP diet.

Now I have seen the odd reference to this diet in the past but not really taken any notice. During the last fortnight, Scott has been studying different diets and was talking about a FODMAP diet. A lady I know has also recently stated that she was on a low FODMAP diet.

As this term has started to crop up more often, I started asking Scott more questions. He suggested I do a bit more research and write about it. So I did.

What does FODMAP mean?

The word FODMAP is actually an acronym. FODMAPs are short chain carbohydrates and sugar alcohols that are poorly absorbed by the body, resulting in abdominal pain and bloating. In other words, they are indigestible sugars that provide fast food for bacteria.

They can occur in some foods naturally or as additives.

The acronym stands for:

Fermentable – rapidly broken down by bacteria in the bowel

Oligosaccharides – fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS)

Disaccharides – lactose

Monosaccharides – fructose

And

Polyols – sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol and maltitol

If this seems too wordy to get your head around, just remember that ‘saccharide’ is simply another word for sugar. Polyols are what we call sugar alcohols – sugar molecules with an alcohol side-chain. You may have heard of some of these sugars or seen them in ingredients lists.

These foods are not necessarily unhealthy products. Some of them contain healthy prebiotics that help stimulate the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. Many of them are otherwise good for you, but for some people, eating or drinking them causes gastrointestinal symptoms.

Who might benefit from a low FODMAP diet?

When FODMAPs are not absorbed well in the small intestine. They increase the amount of fluid in the large intestine (bowel) and they produce more gas.

Symptoms and signs that suggest you may be eating products high in these short chain carbohydrates are:

Gas

Pain

Bloating

Abdominal distention

Abdominal pain

Diarrhea (similar to IBS symptoms)

A feeling of fullness after consuming only a small amount of food or liquid.

What is a low FODMAP diet?

 This diet cuts out many common foods that contain may contain high FODMAP foods.

Such as certain types of vegetables and fruits, beans, lentils, wheat, dairy products with lactose, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners.They are eliminated or severely limited for 3-8 weeks, then gradually reintroduced into a low-FODMAP diet to see if they cause symptoms (elimination diet). It is not meant to be a permanent solution because is very restrictive.

The principle behind the diet is to give the gut a chance to heal, especially if you have gastrointestinal problems like IBS.

This diet may be difficult to follow.  It is advisable to contact a health care professional, like a naturopath or a dietician to make sure that you are on the right track and getting enough dietary nutrients.

 Till the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper