Okay y’all… here we go.
So I did this 7-day gut-healing plant-based meal plan because my stomach has been acting like it personally hates me for the last six months. Bloating so bad I looked six months pregnant after eating literal salad, random cramps that would hit me in the grocery store like a sucker punch, and — TMI warning — poop that was either way too fast or basically nonexistent. I’m an American living in the land of DoorDash and infinite chipotle bowls, so yeah, my gut was screaming for help.
I figured a strict plant-based gut reset might fix me without having to pay a functional-medicine person $500 to tell me to stop eating gluten and dairy (which I already mostly don’t). Spoiler: it kinda worked. But it also kinda sucked. Here’s the raw, unfiltered, sometimes embarrassing play-by-play of my 7-day gut-healing plant-based meal plan.
Why I Even Bothered With a Gut-Healing Plant-Based Meal Plan 7-Day Gut-Healing Plant
I was tired of feeling like a human balloon animal. I read way too many Reddit threads and PubMed rabbit holes about how a plant-based diet for gut health can increase microbial diversity super fast if you load up on prebiotics and fermented stuff. Sources like this one from Harvard Health and this solid review on PMC convinced me it wasn’t total woo-woo.
Plus I was broke(ish) and didn’t want to buy $60 probiotic pills. So I went all in on real food.
🌴 Day 5 – The One Where My Wallet Filed for Divorce …
What the 7-Day Gut-Healing Plant-Based Meal Plan Actually Looked Like
I loosely followed a mash-up of a few free plans I found online (big shoutout to NutritionFacts.org and Dr. Michael Greger’s stuff) but made it dirtier and more realistic for someone who works from home in sweatpants. https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/gut-health/
Daily staples I ate every damn day:
- 1–2 Tbsp ground flax or chia (prebiotic fiber bomb)
- Huge handfuls of leafy greens
- 1–2 fermented things (sauerkraut, kimchi, or homemade water kefir that I prayed wouldn’t explode)
- Golden milk or turmeric-ginger tea (anti-inflammatory king)
- No added oil for the first three days because I read somewhere it feeds bad bugs (probably overkill)
Day 1–2: The “Oh God What Have I Done” Phase 7-Day Gut-Healing Plant
Breakfast was overnight oats with banana, ground flax, cinnamon, and a giant blob of sauerkraut juice I poured in like an idiot thinking “more fermentation = better.” Tasted like regret. https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/gut-health/
Lunch: giant bowl of steamed kale, sweet potato, black beans, and way too much raw garlic. My breath could’ve peeled paint.
Dinner: blended veggie soup that looked like Shrek threw up. Tasted… fine? But the gas. Oh lord the gas. I genuinely thought I was going to levitate off my couch from the pressure.
I lost like 3 lbs of water weight and my face looked less puffy, but emotionally I was hanging on by a thread.
The best Vegan Cooking courses on the web
Day 3–4: The Turning Point (and the Fermentation Smell) 7-Day Gut-Healing Plant
By day three the insane bloating started to calm down. Like… noticeably. I could button my jeans without performing an abdominal Heimlich on myself.
I got brave and made proper fermented pickles (cucumbers + dill + garlic + salt water in a jar left on the counter). My tiny Faridabad-style apartment (wait no — I mean my messy U.S. apartment) now permanently smells like a German deli basement and I’m weirdly proud of it.
Smoothies became my religion. Kale, frozen berries, half an avocado, ginger, spirulina, and oat milk. Drank one every morning while standing over the sink because spills were inevitable. https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/gut-health/
Day 5–7: I’m… Kinda Feeling Like a New Person? 7-Day Gut-Healing Plant
Energy was up. Skin was clearer. Poops were… regular. Like clockwork. I hadn’t seen that since probably 2019.
I did cheat once with a handful of tortilla chips on day 6 because I was losing my mind, and my stomach immediately reminded me who’s boss with a 20-minute cramp session. Lesson learned. https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/gut-health/
Biggest surprise: I stopped craving sugar. Like completely. That never happens to me.
ot/ – Dumbass Shit Thread #174: She’s right behind me, isn’t she …
Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To 7-Day Gut-Healing Plant
- Way too much raw cruciferous veggies at first → hello sulfur burps
- Didn’t drink enough water → constipation sabotage
- Got cocky and added too much cayenne → stomach lining said “no thank you”
- Forgot to wash the blender immediately → green smoothie cement is real
Final Thoughts After Finishing the 7-Day Gut-Healing Plant-Based Meal Plan
Listen. I’m not gonna sit here and tell you I’m a brand-new enlightened gut goddess who never eats pizza again. That’s cap.
But my baseline bloating is like 70% gone. My energy doesn’t crash at 3 p.m. I’m actually excited about eating giant salads now instead of treating them like punishment.
Would I do another 7-day gut-healing plant-based meal plan? Probably yes, but maybe with fewer rules and more tacos (plant-based ones, obviously).
If your gut is screaming at you like mine was, give it a shot. Start slow. Don’t be me and chug sauerkraut juice on day one.
Wanna try it? Grab some mason jars, stalk your local Asian market for cheap kimchi ingredients, and just start. Your intestines will either thank you or stage a full revolt — either way it’s character building.
Drop a comment if you’ve done a plant-based gut reset — I need moral support and horror stories.
Love y’all. Go heal that gut (or at least try).
— me, still slightly gassy but way happier about it
