How Can I Improve My Gut Health?

Gut is often referred to as the body’s “second brain,” because like the brain, the gut impacts virtually every bodily system in one way or another. Gut play an important role in transporting food from the mouth to the stomach, and then converts it into absorbable nutrients and stored energy, and shuttles waste back out of the body.

A healthy gut not only digests and absorbs nutrients and removes the waste in the form of stool but also act as defence system to  protects us against pathogens or infectious microorganisms.

On other hand a poor gut can be linked to a variety of chronic diseases, fatigue, skin conditions, inflammatory disease, and even mental health. Gut health is also linked to  anxiety  and  depression, and to neurological conditions like schizophrenia and dementia. 

If you’re looking for ways to foster a healthy gut,  here's few tips that you can implement into your everyday life to improve gut health and the diversity and overall health 

Why Gut Health Is Important

There are three main reasons why we need to think about our gut health. 

Firstly - our intestinal tract (bowel) contains trillions of microbes. These microbes are really essential for producing different hormones and vitamins. That are very important for survival.

Second - The majority of the cells that make up our immune system are found in our digestive tract which makes it clear that having a healthy gut will not only lower the risk of allergies and autoimmune conditions but will also help to maintain over-all health. A healthy gut also acts as a barrier by interacting with the immune cells of the host and preventing the growth of pathogens.

Lastly- You need a healthy intestinal lining to digest food that you eat. If you don't have a healthy digestive system you won’t get all the benefits of what you are eating. You probably need a healthy gut to digests foods like plant polysaccharides (a type of carbohydrate found in grains and fruits like apples, oranges etc).

Get Your Eight Hours Of Healthy Sleep

A best way to improve your gut health is by taking care of the gut microbes. These microorganisms can be considered as a part of your body as they stay forever with you. You can help them stay healthy just by getting a proper amount of sleep. Because there is no point of eating healthy food if you don’t take care of your body by night.  Studies have also found that the amount of sleep you get can potentially help treat your digestive symptoms,too!

Get Plenty Of Fibre

The best way to increase the diversity of the microbiome is to eat sufficient dietary fibre. These fibres are not only essential for you but also for your gut, as they are food to healthy bacteria in your gut. According to Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand  an average women should consume 28g of daily fibre, and an average men should consume 38g of fibre daily. Eat more of fruits and vegetables to complete your daily requirement of fibre. We recommend you to consume more of grains, legumes, nuts and seed, oats, bran, beans, apples, carrots and whole-wheat which are rich in fibre.

Limit Artificial Sweetener Intake 

Avoid any kind of sweet as these are nothing but calories. Sugar feeds the bad bacteria, that may  even suppress the growth of good bacteria. These artificial sweeteners are commonly found in low sugar or ‘diet foods’, such as diet soft drink, low energy desserts and weight loss products and this may prevent the body from healing by changing the gut microbiota. These sweeteners also contribute to metabolic syndrome and the obesity epidemic. If cutting out sugar feels overwhelming, start small.  You can start cutting down sugar with your morning coffee, try to take your coffee without sweetener.

Nourish Your Body With Pre-biotics

Prebiotics are a specific kind of fiber that act as food for the probiotics in your microbiome. This can be confusing but your body need both prebiotics and  probiotics  for good gut health. Pre-biotics fuel our probiotics, as they feed our good bacteria in our large intestine, helping to promote balanced gut flora and healthy bowel function. We recommend adding more green leafy vegetables, citrus, leeks, flaxseed, apples, bananas, asparagus, onion, and garlic in your daily diet, which are packed with natural prebiotics.

Add Fermented Foods To Your Diet

Foods that are fermented naturally  contain probiotics that may strengthen the microbiome. Probiotics are live microorganisms (good bacteria) that reside in the gut that play an integral role in maintaining healthy gut function by preventing the invasion of harmful microbes. We recommend you adding more of Yoghurt, dark chocolates, kefir, apples, pickles as these are loaded with good bacteria which will keep the bad bacteria under control, boosting your immune system and aiding in the process of digestion and maintain a gut functioning.

DRINK TEA

One of the best ways to start your day is by sipping some warm tea. Specially ginger tea. Ginger is a key ingredient to a healthy life and a tasty tea. Ginger in Ayurveda is known as the ‘universal remedy’ due to its many benefits for the body, and it has been used for more than 2000 years to treat digestive issues. In a study published in European Journal of Pharmacology it was found that, the caffeine in  green tea  and  Matcha Green Tea can act as a mild laxative to get the bowels moving in the morning. You can add these refreshing drink in your daily life and replace coffee as this contain less amount of caffeine as compared to coffee!

Which of these tips are you going to put into practice this week? Let us know in the comment section, If you are new to our blog and like our Information please subscribe us and follow us and you will be notified everytime when we post something new.

STAY HEALTHY

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