5 Nutritional Practices to improve your gut health
I’m sure you’ve heard that your gut is the second brain of your body and not only is it true, but when your gut is imbalanced, the rest of your body is too. Your gut is a command center and in charge of much more than digestion. When it is functioning properly, it helps to regulate your appetite, fight off pathogens, regulate your hormone levels, as well as create many of your body’s hormones like serotonin (the “feel-good” hormone). A healthy gut also helps you focus and stay alert, it regulates your metabolism and processes like detoxification and fat burning, and it’s connected to all of your organs too.
Needless to say, your gut health is extremely important. So regardless if you feel you have gut health concerns, taking care of your gut is crucial to your health. If you do have gut health concerns, please reach out to me. I would love to walk you through a whole-foods approach to feeling better and getting to the heart of the problem. Not only have I been able to do this myself and feel better without millions of doctors’ appointments, medications, and stress, but I’ve helped my clients achieve the same. You can schedule your complimentary consultation here. Just mention “GUT HEALTH” in the subject line.
It’s likely though, that you are hoping to find some simple practices that will allow you to improve your overall health without drastic measures and I have 5 top practices that I include DAILY into my health routine that help me feel my best and I want the same for you.
Chew your food!
Sounds almost silly to say, but we live in a fast-paced world where sitting down for meals is almost a thing of the past. Just taking time to slow down and chew your food will help you feel fuller faster and create less gas, bloating, and digestion issues all around. When you chew your food, aim for 20-30 chews per bite, it breaks your food into smaller particles and aids in better digestion. BONUS: it takes you longer to eat so you will give your brain and stomach time to catch up and discover your fullness cues.
Eat mostly minimally processed & whole foods.
As a general rule, whole foods create less of an inflammatory response and help your gut function better. It knows what to do with whole foods as our bodies were designed to process them. The more additives and artificial ingredients you consume, the more your gut feels under attack and therefore sends out an army to defend and protect. Since your gut is in battle mode, it has less time to heal, create hormones, fight off pathogens, and ultimately more inflammation is created, leaving you feeling more tired, moody, hangry, stiff, sore, and just grumpy.
Please note that my food philosophy is one of balance. I don’t eat 100% whole foods. But I do limit the number of processed foods I consume for the reasons stated above. The best part of learning to choose better brands and eat more whole foods is that I find I don’t crave processed foods if I don’t eat them very often. It’s a win-win situation!
Eat fiber-rich foods.
Fiber helps your body absorb nutrients, and decrease blood sugar spikes. When you enjoy fiber-rich foods like avocados, apples, oats, beets, etc, the fiber fills your stomach lining and helps you feel fuller faster. You can get the skinny on fiber along with a list of the best fiber-rich foods in this post from my blog.
Add good bacteria into your diet with a probiotic and prebiotic foods.
Give your gut what it craves with a diverse group of prebiotic foods- found mostly in a rich whole-food diet.
Prebiotics are food for the good guys of your gut. So many fiber-rich foods are prebiotics in nature. You can also enjoy fermented foods that act as prebiotics as well.
I personally use a daily probiotic to help my gut get the balance of bacteria it needs to do its daily job. Right now I love SEED and Arbonne’s Digestion Plus.
Move your body daily!
When you move your body, the movement alone helps to move things THROUGH your digestive tract. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown intense workout either. Walking still is one of the best fat-burning exercises out there. You’ll have better elimination and yes, you should be going at least once a day. If not, let’s talk!!!
When you move, there are more endorphins pumping through your body (and those endorphins are created in your gut) Happy Gut = Happy You!
If any of these steps feel too much of a giant leap to begin, choose 1 and start incorporating that practice into your daily routine. Try it for a week or 2 and then add in another. You would be surprised at how these seemingly small steps can truly make a huge impact on your overall health, digestion, and longevity.
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Cheers to a life.simply.balanced,
Jenni Sills
