What the Potomac taught me about my gut

I spent some time out on the Potomac this week, with no agenda and my phone put away, except for the photos of course 😅, listening to the water move under the boat. Somewhere in that quiet I started thinking about how much of what I teach about gut health leaves this part out.

Let's talk about your microbiome, because the marketing around it has gotten out of hand. Probiotic sodas. Gut health gummies. Thirty-dollar powders promising to reset you. Kombucha at seven dollars a bottle, and I do love a good kombucha with no added sugar, but the price tag tells you who this industry is really serving. The message underneath all of it is that a healthy gut is something you purchase, one bottle at a time.

The thing that actually builds a strong microbiome is fiber. The bacteria living in your colon eat the parts of plants your body cannot digest, and when you feed them well they produce short-chain fatty acids that calm inflammation, strengthen your gut lining, and support your immune system. Over 90% of Americans are short on fiber, so most people are buying bacteria while starving the ones they already have. You cannot supplement your way past a diet with no plants in it.

Variety matters as much as quantity. Different plants feed different bacterial species, so a week with thirty different plants in it builds a more diverse gut than a week with ten. Beans, greens, berries, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, and fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and miso all count toward your number.

There is another piece to this that supplements (and I'm a supplement girlie) can't fix, and the water reminded me of it. Your digestion runs on the calm side of your nervous system, which physiologists named rest and digest for a reason. When you are stressed, your body pulls resources away from digestion and sends them out to your muscles, because it thinks you are in danger. Blood flow to your gut drops. Motility slows. The vagus nerve carries signals between your brain and your gut all day long, and that conversation runs in both directions.

If you live in that stressed state for years, your gut pays for it. We eat rushed, standing up, working through lunch, scrolling between bites. All of it asks your digestive system to do its job with the lights off.

The lighter side of truth for this week is that some of what your gut needs cannot be bought. Eat your plants, plenty of them, in variety. Then slow down long enough to actually digest them. Sit down for your meals. Put the phone somewhere else. Chew slowly. Get outside. A few deep breaths before you eat will do more for you than a probiotic gummy, and it costs nothing, which is exactly why nobody is advertising it.

The water gave me that reminder this week. Your version might be a porch, a park, or fifteen quiet minutes before dinner. Take it while you can.

Dr. Ruby 🌿 | With love and light