As I continue my nutrition training, one topic keeps coming up.. GUT HEALTH. There are so many people out there with chronic health issues that have no idea that focusing on their gut health could make all the difference!
Do you struggle with Hormone imbalances, Acne, Auto Immunity, Headaches & Migraines, Skin Rashes, Weight Gain, Allergies, Fatigue/Lack of Energey, Food Intollerances, or Brain Frog? These could be signals from your body that you need to focus on your Gut Health.
When symptoms like these happen, it is our body giving us a signal that something is not right. Rather than treat the symptom, wouldn’t you like to get to the root cause and fix it? So let’s talk about our gut health and why it plays such an important role
Your gut is full of a bunch of little microbes or bacteria, good and bad. The key to gut health is keeping hour gut flora (bacteria) balanced. And did you know that 70% of your immune system is in your gut?!?! So if that balance is off, guess what else if off! Yup, your immune system!
Another amazing fact about the gut is the Brain-Gut Connection. Serotonin is our bodies “feel-good” neurotransmitter and 95% of Serotonin is produced in the gut! Can you see why an off balanced gut can cause things like anxiety and depression?
Let’s switch gears and talk about what disrupts your gut health.
- Processed foods
- Stress
- Infections
- Inflamation
- Low Stomach acid
- Environmental Toxins
- Nsaids (Advil, Ibuprofen, Aspirin)
- Antibiotics
- Herbicides & GMO’s
- Artificial Sweeteners
- Steroids
Now that we know what to avoid, how to we repair our gut health?
- Probiotics - getting those good microbes is so important! EVERYONE should be taking a daily probiotic! Your kids too! Fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir, and yogurt are some ways to get probiotics into your diet too.
- Digestive Enzymes - Many people do not have enough digestive enzymes that are necessary to help metabolize and digest their food. These are essential for those with minor food sensitivities (lactose, gluten, etc) to aid in digestion, reduce bloating, and other symptoms .
- Prebiotics - These are what your good guy gut bacteria feed on, so super important! Some supplements have prebiotics and here are some great foods to add to your diet to get prebiotics - Banana, asparagus, garlic, onion, leeks, Barley.
- Antioxidants - antioxidant rich foods are a huge part of fighting oxidative stress and inflammation in our body! Things like wolf berries, pomegranates, blueberries, green tea, cacao are all great sources of antioxidants. We drink a wolf berry antioxidant drink everyday that makes this step so easy.
- Reduce Stress - This can seem like the hardest thing to do, but taking a few minutes to get on top of your stress when you feel it creeping up can make all the difference. These are some of my favorite quick de-stressors - Take a few deep breaths, stop and write down three things that I am thankful for, listen to a quick guided meditation, put my phone down and read a chapter of a book, go for a walk.
If you read through this and are serious about improving your gut health, let’s do it together! Rather than starting the year off with fad diets we are getting to the core of the problem, fixing our gut to be healthier and feel our best!
I’ll be sharing specific steps to finally get your Gut health in check.
