Lifestyle Habits for a Healthy Gut

Welcome back! Now that you know how to nourish your microbiome with food, let’s discus how you can support your microbiome through lifestyle. Research shows that our microbiome is influenced by many factors including sleep, exercise, stress, environmental toxins and medication use. These simple recommendations not only support gut health, but overall physical, mental & emotional health. I don't know about you but I could use a boost this time of year, so let's get started!

1. Prioritize Sleep While we are just beginning to understand the dynamic relationship between sleep and our microbiome, our microbiome seems to have an effect on how we sleep and in turn our sleep appears to have an effect on the composition of our gut bacteria. While more research is required in this field we do know that good quality sleep is necessary for overall health including mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. Prioritizing your sleep is one of the best things you can do for your health! Getting 7+ hours of good quality, uninterrupted sleep per night does not make you lazy, it does however increase your cognitive ability, efficiency, energy, focus and improve your immunity. I will do a post on the importance of sleep and how you can improve yours- I take my sleep very seriously ;).

2. Move Your Body

By now we are all well aware that exercise is good for our health. Studies have shown benefits such as improved mood, cognitive function & circulation, stronger bones & muscles, reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, reduced pain, increased sex drive and lowered body fat composition. Studies on both mice and humans have determined that exercise alters the composition of the gut microbiome and increases the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which are beneficial for health. Exercise also helps to prevent constipation which is imperative for a healthy gut- if you have less than one bowel movement per day, you are constipated. I recommend you exercise 30-45 minutes every day, and include resistance training 2-3 times per week. Your daily exercise can consist of any movement that feels good for you- a brisk walk, taking the stairs, parking father away, biking, swimming, dancing, yoga, Pilates, rebounding (jumping on a mini trampoline) or weight training to name a few.

3. Manage Stress

Our gut is highly sensitive to stress, especially chronic (long-term) stress. Stress activates our sympathetic nervous system and our “fight or flight” response- this reduces blood flow & GI secretions to the gut slowing digestion and motility which can lead to constipation, overgrowth of “bad” bacteria and a compromised intestinal barrier (“leaky-gut”). Managing stress – real or perceived (more on that in another post) - is key for optimal health and mental & emotional well-being. Try out different strategies and see what works for you, here are some ideas:

• Mediation

• Deep breathing (take at least 3 deep belly breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth several times throughout the day)

• Yoga or Tai chi

• Journaling

• Reiki (nothing relaxes me more!)

• Massage

• Epsom salt bath

• Reading

• Walking

• Painting

• Dancing

• Cuddle with a pet or human ;)

• Hug for at least 30 seconds

• Practice mindfulness

• Laugh

• Spend quality time with friends & family you adore (adore being key here)

• Cooking or baking (if that’s what you enjoy of course)

• Try an adaptogenic herb like rhodiola, ashwagandha or holy basil (there are lots of options, check out your local health food store and talk to an employee)

4. Take a Probiotic

Now, you may be wondering if this is necessary if you are eating fermented foods daily. Not all probiotics are equal, just like any other supplement out there. You want a high quality probiotic that has been tested to ensure they are delivering the potency advertised, with a time-released capsule to ensure the probiotics make it to your intestinal tract and is free from soy, gluten and other fillers. Fermented foods don’t carry the same therapeutic dose of probiotics as a capsule – there are generally fewer strains and since we have so many different strains in our body, it is important to consume a wide variety. You also have no way of guaranteeing the amount of living organisms in fermented foods, and it hasn’t been proven that the good bacteria in fermented foods actually colonize in your gut. With that being said, fermented foods are definitely a health super food that nourish the microbiome so I recommend consuming probiotics from foods as well as a supplement. Some great brands are Genuine Health, Genestra and Progressive.

5. Support Digestion

This step is so simple it is often over looked - chew your food! Thoroughly chew your food, take time to eat and avoid eating on the go or while multi-tasking. Take a couple of deep belly breaths before you begin to help shift you into the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest state) and notice how the food smells and looks, when you take your first bite notice how it tastes and feels. If you experience symptoms like gas, bloating, indigestion or heartburn try taking a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar with a little water before meals, and drink warm water with fresh lemon juice in the morning prior to eating breakfast. Avoid taking antacids when heartburn strikes, try eating raw almonds, apple cider vinegar and water or herbals teas like ginger, fennel or licorice root. Reflux is often caused by low stomach acid rather than high stomach acid, if you suffer regularly you should see your doctor to rule out H Pylori. Lastly, drink at least 2L of pure filtered water daily to keep you hydrated, support detoxification and help prevent constipation.

Which of these recommendations do you struggle with the most? Leave a comment below or reach out on social/email, I'd love to chat and offer further guidance :).