Life is about food, living for it and through it. What I want, is to teach people how to use their cooking skills to get gut healthy. Having a healthy gut is no fleeting trend, and so many more of us are now appreciating the importance of gut health to our overall wellbeing.
Each person’s gut microbiome is like their own unique fingerprint. In simple terms, we need to cultivate and nurture our gut bugs because the more diverse our population of gut bugs, the better it is for our overall health.
Studies have shown that our risk of developing heart disease and stroke, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and even certain cancers is influenced by the composition of our gut microbiota.
While there are still many unknowns, as a gastroenterologist, there are certain things that I know we can all do, to foster a healthy internal ecosystem.
1 Eat more plants
A diet where over 30 different plants are eaten on average in the course of a week is probably the most beneficial action we can take to optimise gut health. That includes: fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, legumes, pulses, nuts, seeds, spices and herbs. The portions are as follows: a handful for fruit, veg, wholegrains, legumes and pulses; half a handful for nuts, seeds and herbs; a teaspoon for spices.
2 Eat prebiotic foods
These are the fertilisers which we apply to our gut. they are rich in fibre, which encourages the beneficial growth and proliferation of our gut microbes. Popular ones include: whole grains, apples, bananas, leeks, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, chicory, honey, garlic, seeds, nuts, lentils, peas, tomato and rye.
3 ... And probiotic foods
These are the seeds that we plant in our gut in the hope that new species will flourish. Probiotic foods actually contain live bugs and aim to restore bacterial balance, and eventually change the overall gut microbial composition for the better. I use probiotic foods like live yoghurt, kefir, kimchi and sauerkraut liberally. I also add olives fermented in brine and miso paste, or lacto-fermented turnips, carrots, cucumbers or jalapenos.
4 Add more fibre to your diet
Fibre really is the forgotten nutritional hero, yet it’s one which our classic Western diets have neglected, even though it has proven benefits to health. Eating more fibre can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer. It also helps to improve bowel function. Try and eat more of certain fruit (apples with skin, bananas, pears with skin, oranges, prunes, raspberries), vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, spinach) and beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
Dr Saliha’s three favourite 20-minute recipes
Crispy Seedy Fried Chicken with Gochujang Honey Sauce and Slaw
SERVES 4
Diversity points: 7 / Fibre: 7.9g
This is my version of a gut-healthy chicken schnitzel, crunchy, seedy and satisfying. It is drizzled with a sweet, sticky, spicy sauce of dreams made from a Korean spice paste called Gochujang. Well worth investing in a good Gochujang paste as it’s completely addictive and you will find yourself turning to it time and time again!
1. Start by putting the chicken into a bowl and seasoning generously with salt. Crack the eggs into the bowl and then add the cornflour. Give the mixture a really good stir so that the chicken is coated with a sticky eggy, cornflour paste.
2. Combine the breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, chia seeds and flaxseeds on a separate tray and stir well to combine.
3. Place a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add the oil to the pan. Carefully drop the chicken into the breadcrumb/seed mixture and turn to ensure that all of the chicken is coated in the crumbs. Transfer the breadcrumbed chicken to the frying pan and fry for about 4 minutes on each side, or until they are a deep golden colour and completely cooked through.
4. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the coleslaw by placing the mixed coleslaw vegetables in a bowl with the lime juice, sesame oil and salt to taste. Give the vegetables a good scrunch with your hands to help get the flavours all the way through the veg.
5. Put the gochujang paste, honey and 175ml (6fl oz/¾ cup) water into a small saucepan and bring it to the boil, then simmer until it is sticky and thick – this only takes a minute or two.
6. Serve the chicken with the coleslaw and gochujang honey sauce.
Time Saving Hack
Instead of doing a classic ‘pane’ where you have to coat chicken in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, I just make a sticky paste with the eggs and cornflour and dunk the coated chicken straight into the crumbs. This creates less washing up and is much quicker too.
Greek Salad Stuffed Peppers
SERVES 2
Diversity points: 7 / Fibre: 14g
1. Halve the peppers lengthways, remove the seeds and core and rub them with about a tablespoon of the olive oil. Transfer to the air fryer and roast for 5 minutes at 200°C (400°F). (Alternatively, roast for 10 minutes in a conventional oven preheated to the same temperature.)
2. While the peppers are roasting, combine the cooked rice, chickpeas, garlic, oregano, chilli flakes and the remaining olive oil and season with salt to taste.
3. Remove the tray holding the peppers from the air fryer and carefully spoon this rice mixture into the peppers. Stud the surface of the stuffed peppers with the diced red onion, parsley and tomatoes, then crumble over the feta and drizzle with a little extra olive oil. Return to the air fryer for 6–8 minutes at 200°C (400°F) for a perfect stuffed pepper (or 10 minutes in a conventional oven).
+ Bonus Diversity Points: Serve with a salad of rocket leaves and toasted pine nuts or seeds.
Time Saving Hack
I use roasted peppers a lot in my dishes and they are great to prep ahead. If you ever have a free afternoon and lots of peppers to hand, simply drizzle them in olive oil and roast them, either in the air fryer or oven. Once cool, you can then place them in a bowl, cover the peppers with clingfilm and slip off the skins. Transfer these peppers to a jar, top with olive oil and store in the fridge – they will keep well for about a fortnight.
Marry Me Red Pasta
1. Boil a kettle full of water, then pour the boiling water into a large saucepan and place over a high heat. Add the spaghetti and a generous amount of salt and cook until al dente, according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta, reserving a little pasta water.
2. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and some of the sun-dried tomato oil to a blender with the cherry tomatoes, black olives, roasted red peppers, pomegranate molasses, chilli flakes and garlic and top up with two ladles full of the pasta water. Blitz to a smooth purée.
3. Add the extra-virgin olive oil to the same pan that the pasta was cooked in and warm through the prawns for just a minute – you don’t want them to go chewy and tough. Pour the tomato sauce from the blender over the prawns and season with a little salt to taste. Stir well, then add the pasta and stir again until the sauce has coated the pasta. Transfer to bowls and drizzle over some extra olive oil and Parmesan cheese (if using). I like to serve alongside some rocket leaves dressed with lemon juice.
+ Bonus Diversity Points: You can brown a chopped onion to form the base of the tomato sauce or add a handful of herbs such as dill and parsley to the final dish.
The 20-minute gut health fix by Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed is out now (Hodder & Stoughton)
