Gut Health: Where to Start?
We now know that poor gut health is linked to far more illnesses than what you would typically associate with poor digestion. An unhealthy bicrobiome in the gut can kick off a number of nasty things like skin conditions and even mood disorders like depression, just to name a few.
But where do we start to get a healthy gut?
1. Stress Management: High cortisol levels can reap havoc on the bicrobiome in the gut. Aside from doing activities that can help reduce stress like, better work management and exercise, I highly recommend Ashwaghanda. Ashwaghanda is one of the only vitamins I've ever taken that I can say I genuinely noticed an almost immediate impact. It does a fantastic job of lessening the impact of stress on the body, and you'll find yourself feeling lighter and calmer.
2. Cut the sugar and highly processed foods: Not only is sugar a killer and linked to cancer, it causes huge disruption in the gut by killing off the good bacteria. The same goes for any highly processed foods and the chemical substances that come with them.
3.Get good quality sleep: Poor sleeping patterns plays havoc on the gut and serotonin levels in the gut. Good quality rest & a deep sleep is impacted by a number of factors. That means not just going to bed early; but not being on your phone before bed, managing light sources coming into your bedroom, and making sure you didn't drink caffeine late into the day. Sleeping long hours isn't the same as good quality sleep.
4. Take a Probiotic or Pre-biotic: Pre-biotics provide "food" for the good bacteria to feed on and grow. Probiotics are live good bacteria. For probiotics, look for ones that say "live cultures" on the bottle. This means that the healthy bacteria is still live and make sure you take it in a form with a hard-shell otherwise that good bacteria will be killed off by the acid in the stomach and never make it into the digestive tract.
5. Hydration: So many people fail to understand how vital water is for the functioning of every organism in the human body. Drinking the bare minimum each day & filling up on sodas will destroy gut health. Make a habit of carrying a water bottle with you everywhere you go.
Hope this helps! There's so much we can discuss on this topic - feel free to drop a question in the comments anytime
Nicky x