What increases my risk for digestive diseases?

Gastroenterologist Robynne Chutkan, MD, discusses the factors that could increase an individual's risk for digestive diseases.

Transcript

00:00

You don't even have to be a vegetarian, but you have to eat lots and lots of fruits and vegetables at each meal. And your plate should be very colorful.

00:07

Nutrition 101 is really to eat a rainbow of colors.

00:25

The biggest risk factor for digestive diseases is diet, an unhealthy diet. And the best thing that you can do

00:31

is to eat a primarily plant based diet-- lots of whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables. The cells in our body, and particularly

00:38

our digestive tract, rely on the phytonutrients in food to keep them healthy. And those phytonutrients are found primarily

00:46

in deeply pigmented fruits and vegetables. So having a diet that's primarily plant based-- you don't have to be a vegan,

00:52

you don't even have to be a vegetarian-- but you have to eat lots and lots of fruits and vegetables at each meal. And your plate should be very colorful.

01:00

Nutrition 101 is really to eat a rainbow of colors so that you have reds, and greens, and yellows,

01:06

and purples and all these different colors on your plate. Because those colors represent really essential nutrients

01:13

and vitamins that are going to keep the cells in your entire body, as well as in your digestive tract, healthy.