Enjoy gut friendly festive foods this Christmas

Christmas just got a whole lot tastier! It’s almost time to celebrate this jolly time of year with friends and family. As a little treat, we are sharing a few of our favourite festive recipes for you and your gut.

Christmas Cocoa

When it is cold and dark outside what’s better than a cosy cup of hot chocolate? Well it turns out that our gut microbes love chocolate too. Cocoa beans are a good source of flavonoids – a large group of plant-based antioxidants. Flavonols lower blood pressure and cholesterol, improve glucose metabolism and maintain healthy blood vessels. Microbes merrily feast on flavonols to help them produce anti-inflammatory properties. Cocoa also contain stryptophan, an amino acid precursor to serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for positive moods and feeling happy.

So, grab yourself a hug in mug with @cookyourlife Anti-inflammatory Hot Vegan Cocoa Chocolate recipe.

 

Warming Apple Oats

Do you struggle to get out of bed in Winter? Looking forward to eating something warm and comforting might help. Oats are among the healthiest grains on earth. They are a great source of vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidant plant compounds. Oats can help to control blood sugar, lower cholesterol levels and relieve constipation so they really are the ultimate breakfast dish. But how about throwing some apples in the mix – the ultimate gut friendly fruit. Apples have multiple health benefits such as improving your digestion and heart health, lowering disease-causing inflammation and slowing down glucose absorption.

Mixing these two superfoods together creates the perfect start to a cold, wintery day and @thenourishednaturally has done just that with her Apple Pie Oats recipe.

 

Red Cabbage and Fennel SeedSauerkraut

Spice up your side dishes this year by including the gut friendly addition of sauerkraut. Cabbage (on its own) is packed with nutrients and is rich in digestive enzymes as well as sulforaphane, which supports the body’s production of detoxification enzymes. But, as cabbage ferments, to produce sauerkraut, it explodes into a diverse population of living bacteria to help replenish the good bacteria in the gut. Not only this but, fermentation increases the nutritional content of food by raising its levels of minerals and vitamins.

@lizearlewellbeing red cabbage and fennel seed sauerkraut recipe is a great gut-friendly substitute for boiled red cabbage to accompany your Christmas dinner.

 

Traditional Christmas Pudding

There’s nothing better than a Christmas pudding to finish off your festive feast and this can also be a treat for your gut too. The traditional Christmas pudding usually has raisins, sultanas, currants, nuts and mixed spices and each of these have some unexpected but welcomed health benefits. Raisins provide energy boosting iron and are rich in protective antioxidant. Sultanas are a great source of potassium, iron, calcium and magnesium. Currants are filled with immune-boosting vitamin C and can reduce inflammation. Nuts are rich in vitamin E and fibre and can help lower cholesterol levels. Mixed spices contain a number of aromatic antioxidants and can deliver a good health boost.

Stir up the wonderful Christmas scents and flavours of nutmeg, cinnamon, mixed spice, sweet fruits and nuts with @thebalancedkitchenblog traditional Christmas pudding recipe. Joanne has also used molasses instead of brown sugar which we also use in our Bio-Live Dark. 

The team at Microbz wishes you a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year

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