A file photo of yogurt. Yum.  (Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS, 2005 AFP)

KUSA - We are still in the thick of winter, and there’s been a lot of nasty illnesses going around.

Everyone needs to be thinking about how to keep healthy ? and prevention is key to success.

There are a lot of incredible supplements, herbs and tinctures you can take to boost your immune system or shorten a cold, but today we’re going to focus on something we don’t talk about a lot: your good bacteria that live in your gut. 

 We call this your gut micro biome. Estimates say that your body has 10 trillion human cells and 100 trillion bacterial cells. 

That’s 10 times more non-human cells than human cells, so clearly they are very important. When your gut microbiome is balanced, you stay healthy, you are in a good mood, you have a lot of energy and your immune system is strong. When your gut microbiome is out of balance, you are setting yourself up for a host of health issues, including weight gain, diabetes, brain fog, and cancer. The good news is, you can change your gut micro biome. 

There are three simple ways to your diet to improve your gut bacteria and immunity.

Cut out the sugar

Sugar gets absorbed into the body without help from our good bacteria, so the bacteria stay hungry and snack on our gut lining. This causes a bunch of gut and immune issues. 

Feed your good bacteria

When you eat, you need to think about feeding your good bacteria. This is what your bacteria loves- dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, bok choi, carrots, radish, leeks. The fiber from these veggies feed our bacteria which in turn protects our immune system. 

Repopulate your good bacteria

We have all heard that yogurt is good for you because it’s alive. What they are talking about is the probiotic content of the yogurt which repopulates your good bacteria. Other great foods to add to your diet are kombucha, which is a delicious fizzy drink or fermented veggies which you can find in your health food store. The key to knowing that the pickles or sauerkraut you’re buying are fermented and not pickled is that fermented veggies are kept in the fridge and label as raw or fermented.