You have probably heard here and there how important your gut health is to your overall health. Did you know that close to 80% of your immune system is found in your gut microbiome?
Your body’s bacteria supports almost every physiological process in the body – from digesting food to thinking clearly and balancing mood, it even helps with supporting hormones and maintaining a healthy weight!
Your microbiome is not just in your gut. It is also housed in other openings of your body, like your mouth, your genitals, and your nose. When your microbiome is balanced, you are balanced – you are more likely to stay healthy, happy, and experience healthy energy levels. So it should come as no surprise that when your microbiome is out of balance, your health can end up out of balance, too.
Short lifespan
Did you know that the average lifespan of a bacterium in your microbiome is only 12 hours? This means that you have the opportunity to change the population of your gut microbiome every time you eat. When you change your gut bacteria, you change how your body produces and metabolises energy as well.
We have outlined some of our favourite tips for supporting your microbiome.
Eat like your ancestors, including foods like yoghurt or skyr, whole-grain rye bread, herbs, greens, nuts and berries in your diet can all have a positive impact on your microbiome. Oily fish or seafood like salmon, mackerel, clams, sardines, mussels and seaweed can also support healthy gut flora by modulating the abundance and type of gut microbes and regulating levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).
SCFAs have an important role in the support and maintenance of gut and metabolic health and support the maintenance of intestinal barrier integrity. Not a fan of seafood? A good quality fish oil like Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega will also help support your microbiome by supporting diverse gut bacteria.
Your favourite fruits and vegetables
Get your carbohydrates from Low Glycaemic (GI) fruits and vegetables. Including leafy green vegetables with every meal can help support your gut with healthy and diverse bacteria. Some of our favourite fruits and vegetables have a lot of other health benefits, too! To load up on prebiotics and fibre that support a healthy gut microbiome, foods like Jerusalem artichokes, radishes, garlic, turmeric, radishes, leeks, jicama, carrots and asparagus will have you covered. Don’t forget to include a balance of healthy fats and protein with each meal as well!
Embrace fermented foods in your diet. Fermented foods are known to seed your gut with healthy bacteria. Eat sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, unprocessed yoghurt, kefir and kombucha, which are also rich in prebiotics! If you are sensitive to histamines and experience issues after consuming traditional fermented foods, this may be due to how they have fermented and the strains of bacteria involved.
Did you know that you can ferment your foods with spores which can make consuming these types of foods easier?
Spore-based probiotic
Have a spore-based probiotic daily. While fermented foods are great and should certainly feature as part of a healthy diet to introduce live cultures to the body, there are some limitations. Cultures in fermented foods may vary; hence, it is the best way to find well-researched strains of bacteria with known associated benefits. We love Gutsi SporeBiotic because it is a microbiologist-formulated, broad-spectrum, spore-based probiotic and antioxidant that supports gut reconditioning and an increase in microbial diversity.
It is perfect as a daily supplement and for those experiencing gut challenges or who haven’t responded to other probiotic formulas.
Remove the sugar and processed foods from your diet. Refined carbohydrates, sugar, alcohol and processed foods all get absorbed quickly into your small intestine, without any help from your microbes! This means that your gut microbes stay hungry – they may begin snacking on cells that line your intestines and impact your intestinal lining, which is meant to be a strong barrier between your gut and the rest of your body.
This can lead to a whole cascade of digestive conditions. In addition, sugar feeds various organisms found in the gut and can lead to overgrowths of yeast.
A ritual meal
Make preparing your meals a ritual. Every culture has rituals around food, but sometimes we forget to include them or feel that we do not have time in our busy lives. Turning your routine meal prep and mealtimes into a ritual helps to bring awareness and intention to our meal and mealtime. This can both serve to relax you and set you up for better digestion.
Find time to relax and de-stress. Did you know that prolonged periods of stress may impair your gut bacteria and make you susceptible to becoming unwell? Practising mindfulness meditation, cultivating a gratitude practice, or doing some restorative yoga can help support your nervous system in times of stress and support a healthy response to stress between the gut and the brain.
Drink tea. Research shows that polyphenols increase healthy microbes (probiotics), which keeps your microbiome in optimal balance. Tea is a rich source of polyphenols, which are healthy prebiotics that feeds the healthy bugs in your gut. The polyphenols in tea also help you digest your food faster, support hunger cravings and allow you to poop more. Research shows that the polyphenols in black tea decrease your gut’s ability to absorb fats and sugar and green tea supports the body’s ability to excrete fat by preventing the absorption of triglycerides and cholesterol.
Sweat it out
Sweat every day. Your gut bacteria are healthiest when you exercise regularly. Daily exercise supports the biodiversity of your gut flora and research shows that physical activity increases the good bacteria in your gut. Incorporating an appropriate exercise programme into your daily routine can help support an increase in enteric microbial species as well as metabolites that have stress-supportive properties.
Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep has been associated with a number of health conditions and can impact weight. However, your gut flora can also affect your sleep patterns. Gut bacteria may influence normal sleep patterns by supporting the creation of serotonin and dopamine – important chemical messengers in the brain. This means that you must support healthy gut flora to get a good night’s sleep.
The products mentioned in this article are available to order on www.therastore.co.nz. Use the coupon code INL20 for 20% off your purchase! TheraStore also offers free mini consultations with their in-house naturopaths, email hello@therastore.co.nz to book a time.
Gutsi https://gutsi.co.nz/shop/gutsi
Nordic Naturals https://therastore.co.nz/buy-supplement/nordic-naturals/ultimate-omega/
