Top tips to improve your gut health
Maintaining a healthy gut is an essential part of our daily diets – here’s what you can do
Research has found that an unhealthy gut can negatively impact our health and contribute towards a number of problems including obesity, chronic fatigue and depression.
There are a number of ways an unhealthy gut might manifest itself including an upset stomach, skin irritation and weight fluctuation. Thankfully there are a number of simple steps people can take to improve their gut health.
Prebiotics and probiotics
The most effective way of improving your gut health. Probiotics and prebiotics are something everyone should get a healthy dose of as it helps to restore the natural balance of gut bacteria in our digestive system.
Prebiotics provide ‘food’ meant to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut, while probiotics are live good bacteria. Probiotics are usually found as supplements or in fermented foods such as miso, sauerkraut and tempeh. They can also help keep your heart healthy by lowering bad cholesterol and blood pressure.
Maintain a healthy diet
Keeping an eye on your diet and avoiding certain types of foods is a simple and effective way to maintain gut health. Stay away from processed and high fat foods as they destroy good bacteria and promote the growth of damaging bacteria. Instead opt for high-fibre foods such as beans, oats, and bananas which are proven to help boost gut health.
Slow down
Chewing your food thoroughly and eating your meals more slowly is a simple and effective way to help promote full digestion and absorption of nutrients. This may help you reduce digestive discomfort and maintain a healthy gut. Slow eating also has a number of other health benefits including better hydration, easier weight loss, and a greater satisfaction with our meals.
