Improve Your Gut Health

Did you know, there are more microbes on one person’s hand than there are people on the planet? This means our bodies contain trillions of microbes, most of which are beneficial. Microbes play an important role in digestion, immune function and weight regulation.

It’s important to maintain a healthy gut so that our bodies continue to work. Feed your microbes the right kinds of food and they’ll keep happy!

What can I do to improve my gut health?

1. Prebiotic vs Probiotic

Make sure you’re introducing plenty of foods that contain pro- and prebiotics into your diet. Probiotics are live good bacteria, providing numerous health benefits while prebiotics comes from types of carbs and fibre, we can’t digest this but our bacteria does.

Foods that contain prebiotic fibre include:

• Garlic
• Bananas
• Asparagus
• Oats
• Onions

Fermented foods are a good source of probiotics, these include:

• Kefir
• Sauerktaut
• Kimchi
• Yoghurt

2. Slow down

Chew your food thoroughly and eat your meals slowly to promote full digestion and absorb all nutrients. This can keep your gut healthy and can ease digestive discomfort.

3. Change your diet

Eating processed, fatty and high-sugar foods have a negative effect on your gut, by reducing how much you eat of these foods can contribute to a happier, healthier gut.

4. Exercise

Exercising contributes to good heart health, weight loss and weight maintenance which in turn, can help control obesity. Working out increases the growth of good bacteria and various species. In 2014, a study found that athletes had a larger variety of gut flora than non-athletes.

5. Sleep

Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night, sleeping well is crucial to maintain good gut health. A lack of sleep decreases leptin, this is a hormone that makes us feel full, and a surge in ghrelin, which stops us feeling satisfied with the food we do eat. This all affects part in the brain responsible for impulse control, which can result in over-eating of the wrong foods.