Stomach Bacteria and Cancer

November 9th, 2017 | Cancer, Prebiotics

We have all heard about the importance of healthy stomach bacteria, but a recent study showed the importance of having fauna in our gut.  Professor Pritchard from the University of Liverpool lead a study looking at the bacterial strains inside the gut of patients with stomach cancer.  The results indicated correlation between a variety of bacterial infections in the gut and diseases such as cancer and other autoimmune diseases.  The study also demonstrated that healthier people tend to have more diverse bacteria in their gut.  You can read more information at World Wide Cancer Research or if you are adventurous you can read the detailed research report.

Take Home Message on Cancer

We need to be careful not think by merely shifting our gut bacteria can help treat these multifaceted diseases, but there may not be harm in shifting our diet to include less processed food and more pro and prebiotic dishes.  These foods can help to promote good gut bacteria in the gut.

Onions

Onions are cheap and can be eaten raw or cooked.  Either way they are a good source of several nutrients and they help to promote good gut bacteria.  I like to saute onions with chicken or steak, but I also toss them raw into salads and wraps.  The red onions are a little better because they have more phytonutrients, but any increase in onion in the diet can help.

Cabbage

What better prebiotic food than the precursor to sauerkraut, an excellent probiotic food.  Like onions, you can find cabbage in a variety of colors.  Cabbage is also a great addition to salad or you can cook it up with chicken broth as a warm soup.

Bananas

You may not think of banana as a prebiotic food, but it does have several fibers gut bacteria like to feast on.  I like keeping bananas around for great smoothy recipes, but also as a snack.  You can also make banana pops by slicing bananas in half and coating them with melted chocolate chips and placing them in the freezer.  This way you can have a slightly healthier snack than those cookies you have been eyeing.

 

You can find some more prebiotic food choices at OneGreenPlanet.