With the Western diet that is heavy in processed foods, sugar, preservatives, alcohol, fast foods, etc, we are not exactly feeding the microbial species which outnumber our human cells by a long shot. We need to view the bacteria, virus, and fungi that colonize our gut along with our good bacteria as symbionts that we can feed with our particular diet choices geared towards more whole foods eating. Simply eating more fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains (black rice, brown rice, barley, oats, millet, teff, sorghum), and avoiding the processed foods will start to increase the generation of more anti-inflammatory compounds in the gut. Microbiota-accessible carbohydrates are the term given to these life sustaining foods for the gut. These are carbohydrates that are resistant to digestion but act as prebiotics for the gut microbiota which then metabolize MAC’s into beneficial compounds such as short chain fatty acids like butyrate, acetate, and propionate. Aiming for at least fifty grams of fiber will help you get these foods into your diet. Eating leafy greens like kale, chard, spinach, bok choy, romaine lettuce, etc will help you increase the fiber content in your diet. Eating more plant based foods in your diet in general will up your fiber content and help select for bacteria in your gut that will produce more anti-inflammatory compounds. Asparagus, broccoli, plantains, blueberries, sweet potatoes, tarot root, rutabagas, turnips, celery root, jicama, radish are just some foods to incorporate to make your gut bugs happy. Think less meat and more plant. Eating more of a meat based diet will generate more inflammatory compounds and toxic metabolites will be selected for. But it only takes a few days of eating plant based to shift your microbiota in the right direction. The microbiota produce a wide variety of compounds that influence the mucosal surface of the gut as well as distant organ health and function, not to mention neurotransmitters. The next time you get a craving for fast food as yourself if your gut bugs will be happy with your food choice. I think not.