You are as healthier as your gut is. Pay attention to your gut health if you want to be as healthy as you could be. What you eat and drink has a big impact on your gut health. The food you eat not only impacts the health of the cells in your body but also affects the bacteria in your digestive tract.
More discoveries are made in recent times on just how important gut health is to overall health. Our body has roughly about 37.2 trillion body cells but there are far more bacteria in our body by about 10 times as many. We have more bacteria in our bodies than in human cells. These bacteria are predominately in your digestive tract.
These bacteria are necessary to digest and absorb nutrients, and the composition of these bacteria is pivotal to your overall health. They also harmonise vitamins and provide some immunity from the flu virus and other unwanted invaders.
What you choose to eat and drink has the greatest impact on the flora, or gut bacteria, in your body.
These strategies will help you heal your gut and your body:
1. Eating a healthy diet. Eating junk food is bad for every part of your body, including your gut. Maximise your health by choosing the healthiest diet.
2. Consider taking probiotics. Much of your digestive system consists of the flora, or bacteria, that live in your gut. There are foods that contain these healthy bacteria and some may be in pill form. Probiotics are a great way to improve your gut health.
3. Chew your food thoroughly. The more you chew your food, the easier it is to digest. When you chew your food thoroughly, you increase the amount of surface area your digestive juices are able to attack. This creates far less stress for your digestive system to deal with.
4. Eat fermented foods. Your gut will thank you when you eat more fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, miso, kefir, tempeh, pickles, and kimchi are other options. Fermented foods are essentially probiotics in food form.
5. Try a plant-based diet. Some people don't do well with meat and dairy products. Plant-based might help your digestive system to feel and behave better.
6. Adjust your fibre intake. The recommendation from the medical community is 25-35 grams per day. Most people need to eat more fibre to have a healthier gut compared to those with less fibre intact.
7. Reduce sugar intake. Artificial sweeteners aren’t a great substitute. Many scientists consider sugar to be a toxin that can damage the cells of your body. Certain types of bad bacteria in your gut feed on various artificial sweeteners and thrive in your body.
8. Consume bone broth. Although it can be time-consuming bone broth is very easy to make by boiling bones and connective tissues. Bone broths are also available in the store but nothing compares to a well-seasoned homemade broth. There are plenty of recipes available online.
9. Sleep. If you’re not getting at least seven hours each night, you need more sleep.
Not just overall health, your gut health can benefit from improves getting enough sleep. We can all stand to get another hour or two of sleep each night.
10. Reduce stress! Stress can impact your gut. Managing your stress can do wonders for your overall health. Either removing the sources of your stress or learning how to relax, breathe, meditate and walk in nature can help to reduce stress and restore gut health. When your bacteria are healthy, you’ll be much healthier, too!