What Is the Best Vitamin for Gut Health?How Can You Improve Your Digestive System?

While probiotics are frequently the focus of the gut health industry, some vitamins can also help to maintain a healthy gut lining, promote bowel regularity, and reduce inflammation. 

In this post, we'll look at the greatest vitamins for gut health, as well as food sources and supplement dosing.

D vitamin

An estimated 40% of persons in certain areas of the United States are vitamin D deficient. This vitamin is well-known for its role in bone strength and immune function, but it is also required for good gut health. For example, taking vitamin D supplements may increase the diversity of your gut bacteria while decreasing blood inflammation levels (1, 2). While this is beneficial to everyone, it is especially critical for persons with inflammatory disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (3). At your yearly checkup, ask your doctor to check your vitamin D levels. Keep in mind, however, that a "normal level" does not always imply optimal. In our clinic, we recommend vitamin D levels of roughly 50 ng/mL for the optimum results.

2,000 to 5,000 units every day, depending on blood levels. To minimize calcium deposits in the blood, we recommend taking a vitamin D supplement along with vitamin K2. Purchase Vitamin D and K2 drops.

Vitamin D-rich foods include: Salmon, mushrooms, and calcium-fortified milk

vitamin D syringe

Liquid Vitamin D3/K2

Increased energy and a better mood are only a few drops away.

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Magnesium

While magnesium is essentially a mineral, it has over 300 functions in the body and is especially crucial for gut health. The most popular supplement form of this mineral is magnesium oxide; however, it is poorly absorbed and frequently causes diarrhea or GI upset. Magnesium citrate is the best option if you have constipation or firm stools. This type of magnesium works by drawing water into the intestines, softening and making bowel motions easier to pass. However, in order to get the other benefits of this mineral, such as aiding healthy sleep and blood sugar control, we typically recommend a combination supplement including magnesium citrate and glycinate.

Start with 200-250 mg of magnesium per day, gradually increasing to 450 mg as needed. Magnesium can be found at our Root Shop.

Magnesium-rich foods include pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds, spinach, cashews, and black beans.

magnesium combination

Magnesium Combination

One pill contains three kinds of highly absorbable magnesium.

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C vitamin

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that has been shown to reduce inflammation. Furthermore, it is required for your body to produce collagen, a protein necessary for the structure and function of skin, muscles, and tissue, such as that found in the gut lining. Some research suggests that vitamin C supplementation help improve the bacterial composition of your gut (4).

Dosage range: 500-1,000 mg per day. Begin slowly and gradually increase as tolerated. High dosages of vitamin C may cause diarrhea or other digestive pain in some persons. 

Vitamin C-rich foods include bell peppers, oranges, kiwi, broccoli, and strawberries.

Click here to read the detailed article about Best vitamins for gut health

Zinc

Zinc deficiency is one of the most common mineral deficits we see in our practice. This is sad because it is one of the most beneficial minerals for intestinal health. Zinc, for example, is necessary to keep your gut cells strong and functional. Larger food proteins or hazardous germs may enter the circulation if the integrity of your gut lining is damaged. This is known as a "leaky gut," and it can lead to food sensitivities and even autoimmune disease.

Dosage: 10 - 30 mg zinc picolinate, glycinate, or citrate per day. Zinc can be found at our Root Shop. Take a multivitamin that contains copper as well, as taking too much zinc for an extended length of time may result in a copper deficiency.

Zinc-rich foods include oysters, cattle, pumpkin seeds, and pork.

Zinc

One of the most common mineral deficits we encounter in practice...

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While not a vitamin, we would be negligent if we did not highlight one of our most popular and efficient probiotics for general gut health. Megaspore is a soil-based probiotic, which means it can survive the hostile environment of the gut, where probiotics are generally destroyed before reaching their objective. Soil-based probiotics have been demonstrated to balance gut flora, create antioxidants, improve leaky gut, and reduce overall inflammation. More information on Megaspore and soil-based probiotics may be found here. 

Dosage: Begin with one capsule every other day and gradually up to two capsules daily as tolerated over a few weeks. 

Gut Health: Fiber

While supplements can be an important part of a functional medicine treatment plan, they cannot compensate for a bad diet. A variety of entire meals, fiber, healthy fats, and protein are required by your gut. Make a point of including a decent source of fiber with each meal and snack. The finest sources of fiber for your healthy gut bacteria include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains. Do you need some motivation? Check out our Root Meal Plans, which are tailored to persons with general health issues, constipation, or sensations of gas and bloating.