How a Healthy Gut Can Improve Your Game

Many nutrition experts agree that plant-hearty diets can help keep picklers healthy on and off the court. Plant foods offer countless nutrients our bodies need for the endurance and focus it takes to play our best. But beyond the vitamins and minerals produce provides, the fiber in these foods can help keep our gut microbiomes balanced and well-fed.

What is the Gut Microbiome?

You’ve probably heard of the gut microbiome—the trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live inside our digestive systems. Each person’s microbiome is a unique blend of hundreds of microbe species transmitted from family, friends, environment, and diet since birth.

Most gut-bug species are completely harmless and seem to simply coexist with us. A few are hostile and could make us sick if they become overpopulated. The remainder are as symbiotic as a skilled doubles partner, providing us with benefits and immunity against our adversaries.

Balanced Gut-Bug Benefits

Microbes were discovered in the human digestive system hundreds of years ago, but it’s only been a few decades since Western medicine has recognized their health contributions. We now know that some of these little guys create essential nutrients and chemicals we can’t make ourselves, and block bad microbes from entering our bodies. A balanced gut may:

• Ward off bowel problems—no one needs those distractions during a match.

• Boost the immune system so we have the wellness to drill and play.

• Help maintain a healthy weight to keep us spry for those lobs. 

• Keep blood sugar stable and lower diabetes risk. 

• Increase production of neurotransmitters needed for fast hands.

• Stabilize mental health so we can keep our cool on the court.

• Contribute to heart health, allowing pickleball fun for years to come.

How to Boost Your Biome

Both prebiotic and probiotic foods can positively impact the health of our gut flora. “Probiotic” and “prebiotic” may be confusing words, but here are simplified definitions and examples of each.

Probiotic foods defined: Fermented foods containing live microorganisms that may offer benefits to human health.

While probiotic foods may seem like a new concept, they’ve been staples in many cultures for centuries. Including some of these in your diet regularly can increase the number of good bacteria in your gut. Following are some well-researched examples that can be found at major grocery stores. Look for words like “fermented” and “live cultures” on the labels.

• Pickles: Only fermented, unpasteurized pickles found in the refrigerated section of your grocery store contain probiotics. 

• Yogurt: Go for plain yogurt that says it contains live and active cultures.

• Kefir: It’s a sour, fermented milk drink found in the dairy section near the yogurt.

• Sauerkraut: Choose the kind found in the refrigerated section.

• Miso: This soybean paste used as a soup base is found in the grocer’s international aisle.

Prebiotic foods defined: Fiber-containing foods that the human digestive system cannot break down, which are instead used as food by our gut microbes.

Just like all living things, your gut microbiome needs food. There are up to a thousand different species in your belly, and many of them thrive on different kinds of fiber. This is one reason that eating a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes is so important.

As research progresses, the list of plant foods that support a healthy gut is growing as fast as an Augie Ge counterattack. Some examples include acai, agave, almonds, apples, artichoke, asparagus, avocado, bananas, barley, berries, broccoli, brown rice, cabbage, chard, chicory root, cocoa powder, corn, cranberries, dandelion greens, garlic, greens, ground flax seed, honey, Jerusalem artichokes, jicama root, kiwifruit, leeks, legumes (beans, lentils and peas), mushrooms, oats, onions, peanuts, pistachios, pomegranates, raisins, rye, seaweed, shallots, spinach, sweet potatoes, tea, walnuts, and whole wheat.

What About Supplements?

You may have noticed the overwhelming selection of probiotic supplements at your pharmacy, and wondered if you need one. Healthy people who eat balanced diets including many of the foods I’ve mentioned above generally don’t need supplements. If you have concerns like digestive problems, discuss the benefits of probiotic supplementation with your doctor. It’s important to ask for specific product recommendations because some brands are more reliable than others.

By eating a wide variety of plant foods and a few fermented favorites, you can help keep your gut microbiome balanced. Taking care of those little guys can help you maintain the health of your body and your game. See you on the courts, pickleball friends!  •

Sweet-Tart Autumn Salad

Here’s a colorful, prebiotic-filled salad inspired by the flavors of autumn. This recipe makes enough to share with your favorite pickleball partner!

Salad ingredients:

1 crispy apple like Braeburn, Honeycrisp, or Gala, chopped

2 cups raw baby spinach

1 cup raw, julienned sweet potato (not yams, which can be toxic raw)

½ cup raw walnut halves or almond slices

½ cup pomegranate arils

½ cup dried cranberries or tart cherries

½ cup raw purple onion, julienned (optional)

Dressing ingredients:

2 tablespoons pomegranate or tart cherry juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon ground flax seed (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Toss together salad ingredients in a large serving bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients in a small container. Drizzle desired amount of dressing over salad. Serves two hungry players.