Let’s clear something up: gut health doesn’t start with restriction, rules, or cutting everything you love.

It starts with what you do most days. The meals you come back to, the staple ingredients you keep on rotation and the small habits you have around food that quietly support your body over time.

Your gut is home to trillions of microorganisms that influence far more than digestion - think energy, immunity, skin, mood and even hormone balance. And the good news? Supporting them doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the most powerful changes are often the simplest.

Here are five places to start:

1. Build meals around different plants 

When it comes to gut health, diversity in the foods we eat really matters. Different plants feed different strains of gut bacteria, and a diverse microbiome is a more resilient one.

Vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices all count, even in small amounts. It’s not about eating everything all the time, but rotating what you eat across the week.

2. Make fibre a daily non-negotiable

Fibre is one of the most powerful (and most overlooked) tools for gut health. And most of us simply don’t get enough of it.

It supports healthy digestion, regular bowel movements, balanced blood sugar, and that satisfied, steady-energy feeling after meals. Think oats or chia at breakfast, salad with lunch, and cooked vegetables at dinner.

You don’t need a total overhaul. Sprinkle seeds, add fruit, choose whole grains where you can. Small fibre upgrades, done daily, make a big difference over time.

3. Add fermented foods - little and often

Fermented foods like yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and miso introduce beneficial bacteria to your gut and help support microbial balance.

You don’t need them at every meal or every day. A spoonful on the side, a dollop in a bowl, a splash in a dressing all adds up to support a healthy and diverse gut microbiome.

4. Eat regular meals (and give your system a break between them)

Your gut isn’t designed to be digesting constantly. It needs time to work, then rest.

Ideally we want our meals to keep us full, fuelled and satisfied for the next 4-5 hours, and at least 12 hours overnight. This gives your digestive system time to break food down efficiently, followed by stretches where it can switch into “rest and repair” mode, allowing your gut’s internal clean up system (A.K.A the migrating motor complex) to do its thing.

Snacking isn’t the enemy, but constant grazing can interrupt this natural rhythm leading to sluggish digestion and energy.