Kiddipedia
Bianca Maree Harrington, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Microba Lead Microbiome Coach
Amidst everything going on in the world, many children (and big kids!) are looking forward to Easter. This means time for sweet treats, including chocolate and small family gatherings with those that are a part of your household. So, with health being at the forefront of our minds, what are some of the better choices we can make?
Deep inside your gut live trillions of bacteria aka ‘gut bugs’. These gut bugs are performing important functions that support important areas of health, such as regulating your appetite and blood sugar levels, maintaining a healthy gut barrier, suppressing inflammation and supporting your immune system1,2. To keep them functioning at their best, we need to feed them the foods they like to eat – fibre!
Our beneficial gut bacteria love fibre, a part of food that cannot be broken down by our body during digestion and makes its way to our lower gut to feed the bacteria living there.
What are some good sources of fibre?
Plants, plants and more plants! Plant-based foods are high in fibre and the preferred menu items for our gut bugs.
Some plant foods also contain beneficial compounds called ‘polyphenols’ which are also linked to health benefits like improving heart health and reducing inflammation and oxidative stress associated with chronic health conditions like cancer and diabetes3,4. In fact, more than 8,000 polyphenols have been found in everyday foods such as berries, vegetables, whole grains, cereal, legumes, tea, coffee and wine2. Perhaps the most interesting thing to know about polyphenols is that they are also found in cocoa – the main ingredient found in dark chocolate!
There have been several research studies looking at how cocoa may influence gut bacteria that observe consumption of cocoa at a concentration of 80% or higher is associated with an increase in helpful beneficial bacteria5,6 and a decrease of potentially harmful bacteria in the gut6. Other great things about cocoa-based foods is that they can assist in reducing blood pressure7 and have a positive impact on your blood sugar levels.8
It is important to keep in mind that these studies used larger amounts of cocoa that would be greater than the amount found in the suggested serving size of dark chocolate. Dark chocolate still contains refined sugars and saturated fats, so keep it gut friendly by choosing to eat in moderation!
So, what should you be looking for this Easter?
Choose dark chocolate: When chocolate bunnies and eggs are flying off the shelves, look for some dark chocolate options – particularly with 80% or more cocoa. You can also choose varieties that cover nuts or berries with dark chocolate for a boost of extra prebiotics!
Bake with your kids: While you’re at home with the kids, choose cocoa from the health food aisle NOT the baking aisle. The more cocoa solids, the leftover part of the cocoa bean after the fat has been removed, a chocolate contains the more beneficial the prebiotics are AND the less added nasties they contain.
Enjoy a chocolate boost to your smoothie: Add cocoa powder (the good stuff as above) to a smoothie packed with healthy ingredients such as rolled oats, banana and your favourite plant-based milk! This gives you a healthy dose of many good nutrients such as wholegrains and healthy fats!
Choose diversity for family lunch: For your household’s celebratory sit down lunch, choose a variety of foods such as roasted veggies, potato or pasta salad (cooking and cooling potato and pasta boosts the resistant starch content), lean meats over deli meats and salads packed with nuts and seeds!
Enjoy your Easter – wherever you may celebrate – and keep your families’ gut bugs satisfied with a diverse range of healthy and wholesome foods! As always, moderation with treat foods is key!
- Clemente, J. C., Ursell, L. K., Parfrey, L. W. & Knight, R. The impact of the gut microbiota on human health: an integrative view. Cell 148, 1258–1270 (2012)
- Singh, R. K. et al., Influence of diet on the gut microbiome and implications for human health. J. Transl. Med. 15, 73 (2017).
- Fraga CG, Croft KD, Kennedy DO, Tomas-Barberan FA (2019). The effects of polyphenols and other bioactives on human health. Food Funct.2019 Feb 20;10(2):514-528. doi: 10.1039/c8fo01997e
- Nour Yahfoufi,1 Nawal Alsadi,1 Majed Jambi,1 and Chantal Matar (2018) The Immunomodulatory and Anti-Inflammatory Role of Polyphenols. Nutrients. 2018 Nov; 10(11): 1618 doi: 10.3390/nu10111618
- Tzounis, X., Rodriguez-Mateos, A., Vulevic, J., Gibson, G. R., Kwik-Uribe, C., & Spencer, J. P. (2011). Prebiotic evaluation of cocoa-derived flavanols in healthy humans by using a randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover intervention study. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 93(1), 62-72.
- Duda-Chodak, A. (2012). The inhibitory effect of polyphenols on human gut microbiota. J Physiol Pharmacol, 63(5), 497-503.
- Pereira, T., Boas, M. V., & Conde, J. (2014). Dark chocolate intake improves endothelial function in young healthy people: a randomized and controlled trial. Cardiovascular System, 2(3).
- Farhat, G. (2014, March). Dark chocolate rich in polyphenols improves insulin sensitivity in the adult non-diabetic population. In Society for Endocrinology BES 2014 (Vol. 34). BioScientifica.D’Archivio, M., Filesi, C., Varì, R., Scazzocchio, B., & Masella, R. (2010). Bioavailability of the polyphenols: status and controversies. International journal of molecular sciences, 11(4), 1321-1342.
Bianca Maree Harrington
Accredited Practising Dietitian and Microba Lead Microbiome Coach
Bianca Maree is a specialist Accredited Dietitian and Lead Microbiome Coach at Microba, with an expertise in managing food intolerances associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). She is passionate about furthering our understanding of how the microbiome and other lifestyle factors can impact IBS sufferers, and how an integrative approach is required to better manage this condition.
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