What is Gut Health (and How Can I Boost It) ?
What is gut health, and why is it important? Gut health is incredibly important for overall health and well-being, and is essential for a strong immune system. Yet, many people don’t realize it. The gut is home to trillions of bacteria, which play a crucial role in breaking down and digesting food, absorbing nutrients, and protecting the body from harmful bacteria. In fact, research has shown that gut bacteria can influence everything from mood and cognitive function to immunity and metabolism.
When the balance of microbes in the gut is disturbed, it can lead to inflammation and a weakened immune system. Therefore, it’s essential to keep the gut healthy by eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, exercising, and reducing stress. By taking care of your gut, you’ll be giving your body a strong foundation for good health. There are a few simple things you can do to boost your gut health.
Eat Probiotic-rich Foods
Probiotics are live microorganisms that are similar to the beneficial bacteria that live in your gut. They can help restore and boost the balance of microbes in the gut and promote a healthy immune system. Probiotics are found in fermented foods such as plain yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, tempeh and kimchi. By including probiotics in your diet, you can help keep your gut healthy and boost your immune system.
Kefir is a dairy product made by adding kefir grains to milk. The grains contain beneficial bacteria that help to balance the digestive system. You can also add kefir grains to water which produces a drink with a taste similar to weak vinegar. Sauerkraut, meaning “sour cabbage” is made by fermenting cabbage in salt water. Kimchi is a Korean dish, also made from fermented cabbage and other vegetables. It is rich in vitamins and minerals, and the fermentation process helps to make the nutrients more easily absorbed by the body.
When you eat probiotic-rich foods or take a probiotic supplement, you are increasing the number of beneficial bacteria in your gut, which can have a positive impact on your overall health. Consuming probiotic-rich foods not only boosts gut health but can also aid weight loss and improve skin health.
Foods to Avoid
Another way to boost your gut health is to avoid processed foods, sugar, and refined carbs. You are what you eat, or so the saying goes. And while there’s some truth to that phrase, it’s actually more accurate to say that you are what you absorb. That’s because the foods you eat have a direct impact on the health of your gut, which is responsible for digesting food and absorbing nutrients. Processed foods, especially those that contain fructose syrup, sugar, and refined carbs, can all promote the growth of harmful bacteria in the gut and lead to inflammation.
Eat Prebiotic Foods
In contrast, eating fibre-rich fruits and vegetables and whole grains helps to keep the gut healthy and support the immune system. Fibre helps keep the digestive system regular and prevents constipation by adding bulk to the faeces. In addition, fibre promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut. This is because the bacteria feed on the fibre in these foods.
Humans are not able to digest cellulose, inulin, and starch in some of the foods that we eat, but the bacteria not only feed on them and break them down, but it also helps them produce some of the enzymes that we then use to digest our food. These foods are called prebiotics. The ones that the gut bacteria prefer and that boost gut health are garlic, leeks, onions, asparagus, oats, and barley.
Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
As well as avoiding sugar, to boost gut health, it is good advice to avoid artificial sweeteners. Our gut is home to a vast community of microbes. However, the composition of this microbial community can be easily upset, leading to a condition known as dysbiosis. Dysbiosis has been linked to a number of health problems, including gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, and obesity.
Artificial sweeteners are one type of ingredient that has been shown to disrupt the gut microbiome and alter the abundance and activity of certain bacterial species. With that being said, some natural sweeteners, such as Xylitol and Erythritol can also act as prebiotics and boost the number and variety of gut bacteria. As a result, it’s important to avoid artificial sweeteners if you’re looking to boost gut health.
Drink Water
There’s no doubt that water is essential for good health. It keeps our bodies hydrated and flushes out toxins. But did you know that water is also an important way to boost gut health? The microbes that live in the digestive tract rely on water to function properly. The best type of water for gut health is fresh, unfiltered water and the more you drink the better.
Exercise Regularly
Most people know that exercise is good for their health, but not everyone realizes that it can also have a positive impact on gut health. Exercise helps to keep the digestive system healthy by keeping things moving along the digestive tract. This helps to prevent constipation and also prevents partially digested food from fermenting in the gut, causing inflammation and the introduction of harmful bacteria.
Physical exercise also helps to increase the production of healthy bacteria in the gut. This is due to the link between exercise and appetite and the effect appetite-regulating hormones have on the gut bacteria. As a result, regular exercise is one of the best things you can do to boost gut health, as well as your overall physical and mental health.
Manage Stress Levels
When we are stressed or feeling low, our hormones can get out of balance which can cause cortisol to rise. Increased levels of this stress hormone can contribute to “leaky gut”. This means that bits of partially digested food along with toxins manage to get through gaps in cells that line the gut, into the blood. This can affect our gut by causing painful bloating, food sensitivities, and changes to the gut bacteria.
For this reason, managing your stress levels and taking care of your mental health is another way to boost your gut health. In addition, it is important to boost gut health as the bacteria play a part in improving our mental health. This is due to their involvement in the production of serotonin, which helps boost mood.
Get Enough Sleep
Most people know that getting enough sleep is important for their overall health, as well as helping to manage stress levels. However, few realize that sleep is also essential for gut health. During sleep, the body produces more of the hormones that help regulate digestion, including gastrin and ghrelin.
Lack of sleep can also increase levels of the hunger hormone, leptin and the stress hormone, cortisol. Higher levels of these hormones, along with feeling tired, causes us to crave processed, carbohydrate, or sugary foods because we lack energy. As we have already discussed, these foods are not beneficial when looking to boost gut health. In addition, these foods lead to inflammation and obesity, both of which also damage our gut bacteria.
In addition, sleep helps to repair the lining of the gut, which can be damaged by inflammation and stress. As a result, getting enough sleep is essential for keeping the digestive system functioning properly. Furthermore, research has shown that people who get less than seven hours of sleep per night are more likely to experience GI problems, including constipation, diarrhoea, and bloating. Therefore, if you want to boost your gut health, make sure to get enough sleep.
As you can see, there are many ways to boost your gut health. Whether eating the right foods, not eating the wrong foods, or getting plenty of sleep, exercise, and water, making a few healthy behaviour changes could have a huge impact on the health of your gut.
Click here for an article from health.harvard.edu , Can gut bacteria improve your health?
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