‘5 Steps to a Happy Gut’
Gut health is trending and is now one of the top global health concerns. There’s a lot of misleading messages and misinformation out there, read on to learn how to take control of your health from the inside out!
1. Prioritise Sleep
Just like you, the microbes in your digestive tract (known as your gut microbiota) have a circadian rhythm. This means that disturbed sleep can throw off its natural cycle. Just two days of poor sleep can negatively impact on your gut health. To maintain your equilibrium, try to get 7-9 hours of sleep every night – and you’ll get bonus points from your gut if you can wake up and go to sleep around the same time every day.
It might be worth checking in with your sleep hygiene too (read a previous blog titled ‘Why Sleep Matters’ for more information). Keep a dark, quiet and cool bedroom, stay away from screens in the hours before bedtime and avoid caffeine in the PM.
2. Stress Less
Our bodies aren’t designed to be constantly on-the-go. If your stress levels are high, the chances are that your gut health is paying for it. Our brain has a big impact on our gut. Several trials show that non-diet approaches designed to target the gut-brain axis, including breathing exercises, hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can improve the symptoms of IBS to the same degree as following a low-FODMAP diet.
3. Cut Down on Unnecessary Medication
Antibiotics are life saving BUT unless your doctor really insists that you need them, they’re best avoided. Research shows that a course of antibiotics can wipe out many of your good bacteria, as well as the bad ones that they’re trying to kill. This has big implications for your gut microbiota long-term, especially with repeat prescriptions. Other medications can impact on our gut health too. If you can work on your sleep quality instead of relying on a sleeping pill, or reduce your alcohol intake instead of taking acid reflux medication then your gut will thank you.
PS. Please, please speak to your GP or Healthcare Professional before coming off and medication!
4. Reduce Your Alcohol & Additive Intake
Food additives, including artificial sweeteners and emulsifiers found in lots of processed foods and drinks have been implicated in negatively impacting on the gut microbiota in animal studies. Yes, we humans can hardly be compared to mice, its still best to limit these where you can.
Large quantities of alcohol can make your gut ‘leaky’, even just temporarily. Although our gut might enjoy the plant chemicals found in a glass of red wine, it’s worth being sensible with alcohol, for more reasons than just gut health.
5. Move More
I’ve given you a million and one reasons to exercise regularly in previous blog posts, but allow me to throw a fresh one into the mix.
As well as helping with issues like constipation, moving your body is linked to having a more diverse gut microbiota.
And a more diverse gut microbiota is more equipped to look after us – from balancing our blood sugar to fighting disease. Elevate your heart rate for at least 30 minutes most days, whether its running, HIIT, yoga, dancing, cycling, swimming, rock climbing, walking or whatever you like best, and reap the gastrointestinal benefits.
written by Nicky Marie