The Gut Reset Guide

ZEN Eat Free · Free guide

The Gut Reset Guide

Six easy recipes, and how to bring foods back in without the guesswork.

If your gut has been unpredictable for a while, food starts to feel like a gamble. You cut things out, you feel a bit better, and then you are not sure what you are allowed to eat any more.

This guide is the simple version of what we walk people through. Part one is six meals that are easy to make and gentle on most guts. Part two is a step-by-step way to bring foods back, one at a time, so you learn what actually suits you.

It is about a ten-minute read. Keep it on your phone.

A quick, honest note. This is general information, not medical advice. Everyone's gut is different. If you are pregnant, on medication, have a diagnosed condition or are working with a dietitian, follow their advice first. If something feels new or severe, please see your doctor.

Part one

Six meals that are easy on your gut

These are built around simple foods many sensitive guts find easier: rice, oats, potatoes, eggs, chicken, fish, and well-cooked vegetables. No gluten, no dairy, nothing processed. We use garlic-infused oil instead of garlic and only the green tops of spring onions, because the oil and the greens carry the flavour without the parts that bother many people.

If you follow a low FODMAP diet, check portion sizes in the Monash University FODMAP app. It is the most trusted guide there is, and we would rather point you to it than pretend to replace it.

1. Warm ginger oats with blueberries

Breakfast · Serves 1 · 10 minutes

You need

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup water or unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
  • 1 tsp maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon

Method

  1. Simmer the oats, liquid and ginger for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until creamy.
  2. Stir through half the blueberries so they turn the oats purple.
  3. Top with the rest of the blueberries, the maple syrup and the cinnamon.

2. Soft scrambled eggs with spinach and chives

Breakfast or quick lunch · Serves 1 · 8 minutes

You need

  • 2 eggs
  • A big handful of baby spinach
  • 1 tbsp chopped chives
  • 1 tsp garlic-infused olive oil
  • 2 plain rice cakes or a small baked potato, salt and pepper

Method

  1. Wilt the spinach in the oil over a low heat, about a minute.
  2. Whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt, pour in and stir slowly until just set. Low and slow keeps them soft.
  3. Finish with chives and pepper. Serve on rice cakes or with the potato.

3. Turmeric chicken and rice bowl

Lunch or dinner · Serves 2 · 25 minutes

You need

  • 2 chicken thighs, skin off, sliced
  • 1 cup cooked jasmine or basmati rice
  • 1 carrot and 1 zucchini, diced small
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric and a good crack of black pepper
  • 1 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil, juice of half a lemon, salt
  • Green tops of 2 spring onions, sliced

Method

  1. Toss the chicken in the turmeric, pepper and a pinch of salt.
  2. Cook it in the oil over a medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes until cooked through. Add the carrot and zucchini for the last 4 minutes.
  3. Spoon over the rice, squeeze over the lemon and scatter the spring onion greens.

4. Baked salmon, crispy potatoes and green beans

Dinner · Serves 2 · 35 minutes

You need

  • 2 salmon fillets
  • 4 small potatoes, cut into chunks
  • 2 big handfuls of green beans, trimmed
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 lemon, a few sprigs of fresh dill or parsley, salt and pepper

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200°C. Toss the potatoes in half the oil and salt, then roast for 20 minutes.
  2. Push the potatoes to one side. Add the salmon and beans, drizzle with the rest of the oil and season.
  3. Roast 12 to 14 more minutes. Finish with lemon and the herbs.

5. Gentle ginger chicken soup

Any time you feel flat · Serves 3 · 30 minutes

You need

  • 2 chicken breasts or thighs
  • 1.5 litres of water, or a stock made without onion or garlic
  • A thumb of ginger, sliced
  • 1 carrot, sliced, and 2 heads of bok choy, chopped
  • 100 g rice noodles
  • Green tops of 2 spring onions, salt, a squeeze of lime

Method

  1. Gently simmer the chicken and ginger in the water or stock for 15 minutes. Lift out the chicken and shred it.
  2. Add the carrot for 5 minutes, then the bok choy and noodles for 3 more.
  3. Return the chicken, season, and finish with lime and spring onion greens.

6. Kiwifruit chia pot

Snack or dessert · Serves 2 · 5 minutes, plus overnight

You need

  • 4 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tsp maple syrup and a few drops of vanilla
  • 2 ripe kiwifruit, diced

Method

  1. Stir the chia, almond milk, maple and vanilla together. Stir again after 5 minutes so it doesn't clump.
  2. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.
  3. Top with the kiwifruit in the morning.

Part two

How to bring foods back in

Cutting foods out is the easy part. The part most people never get told is how to bring them back. Without a method, you end up avoiding more and more, never sure what actually causes the trouble.

When to start: once your gut has felt calmer for at least a couple of weeks. On the ZEN 90-Day Reset, that is usually from around day 40.

1
Pick one food. Start with the one you miss most. Just one. If you test two at once, you can't tell which one caused a reaction.
2
Test it over three days. Day 1, a small portion. Day 2, a medium portion. Day 3, a normal portion. Going up slowly shows you how much your gut is comfortable with, not just yes or no.
3
Keep everything else the same. Eat your usual calm meals around it. If lots changes at once, the result is noise.
4
Write down how you feel. Once a day: a gut score from 1 to 10, any bloating, and how your toilet trips were. Thirty seconds. The table below does the job.
5
Read the result. Felt fine? That food is back on your plate. Reacted? Stop, wait until you feel settled again (usually 2 to 3 days), then move on to the next food. You can try it again later in a smaller portion.
6
Leave a gap between foods. Give yourself a day or two of your usual calm eating before you start the next one.

Stress, poor sleep and your cycle can all change how your gut reacts on a given day. If a result looks odd, it is worth retesting that food in a calmer week.

Your 3-day test log

Screenshot it, print it, or copy it into your notes app.

Day Food and portion Gut score (1 to 10) Notes
Day 1 Small:
Day 2 Medium:
Day 3 Normal:

When you're ready

The ZEN 90-Day Gut Reset

Three jars, three phases: Calm, Rebalance, Resilience. The Reset Kit that comes with it includes our full food-by-food reintroduction plan and a Gut Tracker to follow you through all 90 days.

See how the reset works

Questions about any of this? Email hello@zeneatfree.com. A real person reads every one, and no question is too small or too awkward.