My aim with this blog is to raise awareness about the link between mental health and lifestyle choices such as what we eat. The gut is the main factor in this link, due to how strong the gut brain axis is. I spoke about this in my recent post – how to boost mental health with these nutrition hacks.
There are some great tips in this post (if I do say so myself). It is about slowly incorporating lifestyle factors so that you can make them a sustainable habit. But, if you implement just one, I recommend #1 the most to kick start your gut health journey. You will really start to notice the difference.
Take probiotics
Probiotics feed our guts billions of good bacteria each time. Our guts can be void of good bacteria due to many things but mainly the use of antibiotics and a poor diet, or simply too much processed food. Antibiotics don’t discriminate between the good and bad bacteria so when trying to treat a bacterial infection or remove bad bacteria, it will also remove the god bacteria.
I personally LOVE Symprove your life (link here) because it is a water-based bacteria. You just take a shot of it every morning so it is super easy and much more pleasant than taking pills. Water based bacteria also has the benefit of reaching your gut better – there is research to show that water based probiotics feed the gut more bacteria than probiotics in tablet form.
I first saw this product on Deliciously Ella’s social media – I knew she had gone through a health journey and really swore by these so I decided to give them a go. They are a little expensive but I would recommend signing up for the 12 week plan so that you can really see the difference (plus you get a great discount if you buy in bulk). Despite the price, they were SO worth it. My bloating went away and I felt much lighter mentally and physically.
Note: if you are on a budget and really cannot afford it, look on Amazon at these pill versions. You could also get digestive enzymes.
Eat gut-loving foods
Think of them as the 3 Ks: Kombucha, Kefir, Kimchi. I have never tried Kefir because I don’t really like milk/dairy (although I am curious) but I love both Kombucha and Kimchi. Kombucha is a drink made of fermented tea and at first, it can taste kind of strange. I had it a couple of times and now I love it! It feels refreshing, like a soda, but it is super healthy and doesn’t have all the chemicals and sugar.
Kimchi is a great Korean side dish and I love getting it in a restaurant with noodles or rice. I think Kimchi is nice with sushi too! They can be trickier to get your hands on in some countries, but in the UK I think you can pick it up in most supermarkets and if all else fails, Waitrose will do the job! If you are living internationally, you can buy from a site called iHerb - they sell a lot of health products at great prices. They ship to 150 different countries!!
Note: if you decide to sign up using this link you get $10 off!
Eat more fibre
Fibre makes you regular in the bathroom and that is so important for your gut health, and your brain. There is nothing worse than needing the toilet or being constipated – it can definitely affect your mental health and make you feel groggy and there is evidence to show that this can give you low mood including depression and anxiety. Additionally, studies show that eating a lot of fibre reduces your risk of colon cancer. It makes sense if we think about it: regular bowel movements prohibits toxins building up in the bowel area.
Fibre is contained in almost every plant-based food but great sources of fibre include: wholegrains, fruit (berries specifically), beans and pulses, potatoes with their skin and vegetables such as broccoli, carrots and sweetcorn. Tip: remember to eat the brown or wholegrain version of a grain for extra fibre and eating the skin on fruits and vegetables will give you that extra kick of fibre!
Eat slowly
The more you chew your food, the better it will digest. Your stomach will have to do less work and will produce more digestive enzymes.
Don’t drink water with your meal (only small sips if you have to!)
Drinking water can dampen the digestive fire in your body. This is a big part of Ayurveda but modern medicine also recognises this fact. It doesn’t allow your food to digest naturally. Once you start doing this, you will feel like you need less and less water in your meals. Soon, you won’t need any drinks with your meals and you won’t even think about it.
If you have to drink, try taking small sips of room temperature/warm or even hot water.
Eat a variety of plant-based foods
I spoke about this in my post – the 5 pillars of health. One of the tips for ultimate health is to eat a variety of foods. A variety of plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes are essential for obtaining all of the micronutrients that your body needs to function correctly. All the different foods feed your healthy gut bacteria and make your gut more diverse. The more bacteria and the more diverse the bacteria, the better your gut health will be.
The guidance is to aim for 30 different types of plant-based foods a week. Tis sounds like a lot but it is surprisingly easy to do. A sprinkling of seeds on your food will count as one – it doesn’t have to be a full portion. It is just about exposing your gut to all the different foods.
These points are pretty obvious because they are important for general health and can apply to almost anything but they are still really important so I wanted to include them.
Drink plenty of water (extra tip: make it warm/room
temperature!)
This was the second pillar of health in this post but I am definitely guilty of missing this one. When we are thirsty, we will draw water from our bodies and this can cause bloating. Our bodies are made up of a LOT of water so we really need to replenish our bodies with this essential element of life. It’s no surprise that this extends to gut health too.
Sleep
You
can see a pattern here: again, this was one of the tips from the 5 pillars of
health. When the body is rested, it will detox and rejuvenate.
Lack of sleep increases stress, which is shown to affect the gut. Also when tired, you will make poorer choices around food. Lack of the sleep hormone, melatonin, may be related to gastroesophageal reflux disorder. Also, if you stay up too late, you might eat close to bedtime, which can negatively impact your digestive health.
I hope these were some helpful tips. Let me know in the comments if you incorporate any of these.
Lots of love,
Alice
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