Bold Bean Co

The microbiome is a collection of bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in our lower intestine. Any food that isn’t absorbed higher up in the small intestine arrives to feed our gut bacteria. When gut bacteria metabolises food, particularly fibre and bioactive plant components called polyphenols, they produce beneficial chemicals called metabolites. These metabolites are absorbed across the gastrointestinal barrier into the bloodstream. It’s these metabolites that in the last 20 years scientists have identified effects on all over our bodies - from our brain health, to our hearts and lungs. Our gut bacteria also help us to produce some vitamins, like vitamin K.

The gut microbiome plays a critical role in looking after your health throughout your lifespan. Looking after your gut bacteria helps to maintain a wide diversity of different gut bacteria, and prevents hostile bacteria getting a stronghold in your gut. In disease as well as later in life, we see that there can be an imbalance of bacteria, and less different types of bacteria present. Your gut microbiome also plays a critical role in the training and development of your immune system. The beneficial metabolites that the gut microbiome produce have a wide range of benefits for our health, particularly the main group of metabolites called short chain fatty acids. These short chain fatty acids are produced by the gut bacteria after breaking down fibre. They are involved in regulating blood sugar levels, supporting the gut barrier, and influencing gut-brain communication.

In the UK on average we eat about 18g of fibre a day. When we know how important fibre is, not only for our health, but how well our gut microbiome functions, we need to add some more high fibre foods like beans, as well as other plant foods like nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and wholegrains.

Beans are one of the top sources of fibre you can get. If you think we are meant to be aiming for at least 30g of fibre a day, adding some beans into your meals can be a really great way to get that extra fibre boost.

There are actually lots of different types of fibre - not all fibres are created equal! Some fibres are still great for our health, but have a minimal impact on our gut bacteria. Others, called prebiotic fibres that are found in beans, as well as garlic, onions and other plant foods, have a much bigger impact on our gut bacteria. Actually we know that these prebiotic fibres, compared to normal fibre, can lead to higher levels of ‘good’ bacteria like Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus.

The first thing when you add more fibre into your diet is to start low and go slow. Your microbiome produces gas when it metabolises fibre, so farting can be a side effect of well-fed gut bacteria. If you find that you tend to be a bit sensitive to beans, you can try rinsing them before cooking. Having canned or jarred beans, just like Bold Bean Co,  can also be less gassy than homemade as they’ve had more time to soak and break down with longer and more intense cooking processes.

 So if we're summing this up, the key to a healthy gut is TO EAT MORE BEANS. Increase your bean consumption slowly at first, let your gut get used to what's going on then BOOM you + your gut will be thriving. After all, a healthier gut = healthier + happier people!