How to Reset Digestive System Naturally
How to reset digestive system naturally is a well-searched google keyword. Many people, including yourself we presume are looking for answers. We have some here for you in this article, so read on.
You may be shocked to know that we have the same number of microbial cells as we do human cells. The gut alone contains trillions of bacteria, yet they only weigh 200g. These bacteria break down food, produce hormones, enzymes, and vitamins, and help the body absorb nutrients from food. The gut also supports and instructs the immune system to enable it to fight infections and the organisms that cause them. In other words, the gut is very important for many different aspects of health.
When the gut is healthy, it’s able to do all of these things efficiently. However, when the gut is damaged or unhealthy, it can lead to a number of problems. These can be as simple as digestive issues or as serious as conditions like autoimmune diseases and mental health disorders. That’s why it’s so important to take care of your gut health.
Signs that you need to reset your gut health include:
Feeling Bloated
If you’re feeling bloated on a regular basis, it’s likely that your gut health is out of balance. There are a number of things that can cause this, including eating too much processed food, not getting enough fibre or having a food intolerance. Whatever the cause, resetting your gut health naturally is essential for alleviating bloating and other digestive issues.
If you are bloated, there are a few simple steps you can take to reset your gut health. First, cut out processed foods and eat more whole foods. Second, make sure you’re getting enough fibre by eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. This will give your gut bacteria the nourishment they need to thrive. And finally, if you suspect you have food intolerances, avoid trigger foods such as those that contain gluten and dairy products.
Alternatively, speak to a doctor about getting a food intolerance test. Food intolerances can also manifest as skin conditions such as psoriasis, dermatitis, and eczema. If you start to develop these conditions, it may be a sign that you need to look at your diet and the specific foods that you are eating to reset your gut health.
Regular Diarrhoea or Constipation
Everyone has diarrhoea or constipation from time to time, but if you’re suffering from these digestive problems on a regular basis, it’s a sign that your gut health is out of balance and you need to reset your gut health. These symptoms can also be caused by conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
These conditions can be caused by stress, diet, and medication, which lead to something called dysbiosis. This is when the beneficial bacteria are depleted and the pathogenic bacteria and yeasts are too high in number.
Eat Nourishing Foods
To reset your gut naturally, focus on eating nourishing foods such as fermented foods, for example, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, tempeh, and kimchi. The “good” bacteria, also known as probiotics, provided by these fermented foods feed on prebiotics. Prebiotics are high fibre foods such as vegetables, oats, barley, mushrooms, and foods that contain inulin, such as chicory, asparagus, garlic, leeks, and Jerusalem artichokes.
You should also aim to reduce stress in your life as much as possible, as stress can lead to dysbiosis, inflammation, and imbalances in the gut that all cause diarrhoea or constipation.
Exercise Regularly
Stress is a normal physical and mental response to the demands of life. But when it’s constant or overwhelming, it can take a toll on your gut health, leading to dysbiosis, diarrhoea and constipation. Exercise is one of the best things you can do to help reduce stress and reset your gut naturally. It can help by providing a distraction from daily worries, releasing feel-good chemicals in the brain, improving sleep, and increasing energy levels.
If you’re not used to exercising or if you don’t have much time for it, there are other things you can do to manage stress. Deep breathing, for example, is a simple but effective way to relax and de-stress (16). Mindfulness meditation is another stress-reduction technique and a great way to help reset your gut health.
Poor Mental Health
Many people don’t realize that the health of their gut has a direct impact on their overall wellbeing. In fact, poor gut health can lead to a whole host of problems, including low energy levels, fatigue, mood swings, anxiety, and depression. But how exactly does gut health affect mood and energy levels?
The key lies in the gut-brain connection. This is a two-way relationship between the gut and the brain that allows them to communicate with each other. When the gut is healthy, it produces certain chemicals that help regulate mood and energy levels. However, when the gut is unhealthy, it produces different chemicals that can cause feelings of low energy, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, it’s essential to maintain a healthy gut in order to keep your mood and energy levels balanced.
To reset the gut naturally, follow the advice already given, such as eating fermented foods, prebiotics, and lots of vegetables to boost gut health.
Feeling Constantly Tired
Stress, anxiety, low mood, and poor gut health can also be caused by not getting enough sleep. When we sleep, any food still left in the gut is digested and absorbed, and all the hormones and enzymes necessary for those processes are broken down and removed. The gut itself is also repaired while we are sleeping. When we don’t get enough sleep, this daily (or nightly) reset cannot take place or is incomplete. The gut bacteria will react by producing toxins called lipopolysaccharides, which can cause inflammation and damage the gut.
Just a couple of days of poor sleep can cause changes to the bacteria in your gut and alter the balance between the “good” and “bad” bacteria.
Not Enough Sleep Leads to Hormone Issues
Not getting enough sleep causes stress, both of which cause a rise in the stress hormone cortisol. Lack of sleep also leads to a rise in leptin, which is a hormone that regulates our hunger. The result of this is that we then crave processed carbohydrates and sugary foods to give us the energy we are lacking from not getting enough sleep.
Eating too many processed carbohydrates and sugars can cause damage to our beneficial bacteria and increase pathogenic bacteria, which compounds the issue by damaging the gut itself.
Follow Good Sleep Hygiene Practices
To make sure you get plenty of good quality sleep, you need to follow good sleep hygiene practices. These include going to bed and getting up at the same time; not drinking caffeine or alcohol before bed; not eating within two hours of bedtime; sleeping in a cool bedroom with no electronic devices nearby; avoiding blue light from screens and devices at least an hour before bedtime; and getting exposure to natural daylight first thing in the morning.
To sum up, in order to reset your gut health naturally, you should not only eat a diet full of fresh vegetables and fermented foods, but also take regular exercise, manage your stress, and get plenty of sleep.
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Click here for an article on healthline.com , 9 Ways to Improve Your Gut Bacteria, Based on Science .