The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, was correct nearly 2000 years ago when he wrote “All disease begins in the gut.”
What’s the deal?
Your gut is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes—both good and bad. The key is to balance the ratio of good to bad bacteria to ensure good health. A healthy gut helps keep chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer at bay, reduces inflammation, and keeps brains sharp, and weight healthy. A healthy gut can even reduce depression, stress, fatigue, insomnia, and brain fog.
How to improve gut health?
What you eat and drink directly influences the makeup of bacteria in your gut. Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains for prebiotics (food for bacteria) is essential. Also, eat fermented food which contains probiotics (good bacteria). These include sauerkraut (fermented cabbage and salt), unsweetened yoghurt, kefir (a form of plain drinking yoghurt), and kombucha (fermented tea).
If you don’t normally include these foods in your diet, adding them all at once might cause some unwanted gas and bloating. Start with small portions, and increase the amount weekly. It’s also important to reduce your intake of processed foods, added sugars, salt, artificial sweeteners, red meat, and alcohol to keep your gut happy and your risk of chronic diseases low.
Create spaces between eating: Constantly eating and overeating gives our guts no time to rest and repair. Avoid eating late at night which is when our livers and gut lining restore. People suffering from Diabetes Type I and Type II, hypoglycemia, anaemia, stomach ulcers, and hiatus hernia, need to eat at regular intervals during the day.
Rest and digest: Gulping food down in a rush causes indigestion, acid reflux, gas, constipation or diarrhoea. A short walk in nature or breathing slowly into the belly for a few minutes before eating, prepares the digestive system for food.
Avoid bad posture or tight clothing which constricts the digestive tract and hampers digestion. Sit upright in an elongated position to eat.
The bottom line: Watch what you eat and how you eat to keep your gut (and you) happy and healthy.
Call LifeAssist to connect with a professional dietician to help you with a personalised eating plan to keep your gut healthy.