7 Steps to Enhance Your Gut Health
Gut health is crucial for overall wellbeing and immune functioning.
Our guts contain over 100 trillion microbial cells, which is more than the number of human cells in a body.
The gut microbiota influences the function of our bodies way beyond just the digestive system, including hormone production, immune responses, mood, and sleep.
In the digestive system, a healthy gut microbiome regulates our metabolism, increases the absorption of nutrients, ensures optimal elimination, and so much more.
It’s becoming more apparent that to support our immune functioning we need to focus on gut health, for 70% of our immune system is located in the gut.
Gut dysbiosis is the condition in which there is a microbial imbalance in the gut, and it can lead to a variety of complications from indigestion and bloating, to long-term conditions including autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases.
The gut microbiome is a complex bacterial community that may be affected by a variety of lifestyle factors and environmental influences.
Common harmful influences on gut diversity include antibiotic usage, excess alcohol, cigarette smoking, lack of prebiotic fiber in the diet, inactivity, high levels of stress, and lack of sleep.
7 Steps For Gut Health
1. Diversify Your Diet
Gut flora needs a rich variety of microbiota to thrive, therefore the most important factor in supporting a healthy gut microbiome is to eat a diverse diet of whole foods.
Especially important are a plentiful variety of vegetables, legumes, and fruits, which are high in fiber which is essential for optimal gut health.
Research shows that a Mediterranean-style diet is shown to support healthy gut flora.
It is also beneficial for anti-aging and reproductive health.
Mediterranean diets are typically focused on abundant portions of fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, fish, olive oil, nuts, and wine (well, maybe not an abundant amount of wine, but abundant vegetables for sure).
It’s inspired by the traditional cuisine of the peoples who live in the fertile land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
2. Stay Hydrated
Drinking ample water daily is vital to keep the digestion moving properly.
This next part may not be the most appealing topic, but it’s very important.
There is a mucosal layer that lines our intestines and helps to move food and electrolytes through our guts.
It is important to drink water throughout the day to keep this mucus layer hydrated so as to lubricate the digestive tract.
See what I mean about not so appealing? But if this part of your digestion isn’t working right, the consequences are even less appealing.
This hydrated layer of the intestines creates a protective barrier that is important for the transportation of food and nutrients, as well as being involved in immune function.
Environmental chemicals in our water supply can also affect the gut microbiome.
It’s ideal to filter tap water or drink pure spring water, to avoid and reduce chlorine, pollutants, and pesticides, for optimal gut health benefits.
Keeping well hydrated with filtered water daily helps to support healthy gut microbiome function.
3. Eat Prebiotic Fiber
Prebiotics are a kind of indigestible fiber in food that the body does not break down.
Prebiotic fiber instead passes through the digestive tract and becomes food to nourish the microbes in the gut.
Nourishing a healthy gut microbiome involves consuming foods with both prebiotic and probiotic properties.
While probiotics add good bacteria to the gut, prebiotics will nourish the already existing microbes.
Prebiotics are an important dietary fiber found in many natural food sources, including vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
Food sources for prebiotics include:
Jerusalem artichokes
Onions
Garlic
Leeks
Green Bananas
Barley
Oats
Apples
Cacao
Burdock root
Flaxseeds
Jicama root
Wheat bran
Seaweed
4. Eat Probiotic Foods
Probiotic food sources are those with live active microorganisms in them that add good microbes to the gut and enhance digestion.
Fermentation naturally creates active bacteria in foods and has been an important part of culinary traditions for thousands of years.
Probiotic supplements are widely available, though there are many foods that provide ample probiotics to support the gut microbiome.
Food sources for probiotics include:
Sauerkraut
Kimchi
Yogurt
Kefir
Miso
Tempeh
Kombucha
Raw pickles
There are many traditional recipes available for making your own fermented foods and condiments, which naturally preserve the food as well as adding helpful live microbes to your diet.
5. Enhance Your Enzymes
Digestive enzymes are naturally occurring proteins in foods, as well as in our own bodies, that help to breakdown food and make nutrients more accessible.
Enzymes have many important roles in digestion and supporting the gut microbiome, from helping us to absorb more nutrients from our foods, protecting us from pathogens, and also reducing irritation from food particles in the digestion.
There are natural food sources that are rich in digestive enzymes, as well as ways to enhance the digestive enzymes produced in your saliva, organs, and intestines.
Natural food sources of digestive enzymes are:
Papaya
Pineapple
Honey
Sauerkraut
Mangos
Bananas
Avocados
The best way to support enzyme activity during eating and digestion is to slow down and sit down while eating.
Take your time to eat your food peacefully and chew every bite thoroughly before swallowing.
Try to limit the amount of liquid that you drink before, during, and immediately after eating a meal, as too much liquid will dilute the enzymes and cold liquid can slow down digestion.
Also, taking digestive enzyme supplements prior to eating a meal, especially with foods high in protein, can help to increase digestion.
6. Nourish Your Gut Lining
The lining of the gut is made of millions of cells that together form a tight barrier to prevent digesting food from permeating into our bloodstream.
However, due to dysbiosis the gut lining can weaken and create small gaps where toxins and bacteria can leak into the body.
This is often referred to as “leaky gut” syndrome and causes inflammation and digestive complaints such as indigestion, gas, bloating, cramping, food sensitivities, headaches, joint aches, and more.
In addition to eating a healthy diverse diet rich with prebiotics, probiotics, and enzymes, there are specific supplements that can support a healthy gut lining, particularly collagen and colostrum.
Collagen from grass-fed cows helps to nourish the connective tissue that makes up the walls of the gut.
In research studies, patients with gut inflammation and inflammatory bowel diseases were found to have low levels of collagen.
Colostrum is the very first milk that babies get from their mothers, and is referred to as “liquid gold”.
It is rich with immune-supporting factors that help to inoculate babies’ gut microbiome with the important nutrients for lifelong health.
There is ample research that colostrum supplementation can dramatically support gut microbiome health and restore the gut lining to a normal level.
7. Managing Stress
The brain and the gut have two-way communication.
Digestive issues and gut dysbiosis can affect one’s sleep and mood.
Likewise, stress can also disrupt gut health and the microbiome.
It’s important to find ways to manage stress, and particularly to avoid emotional eating when under duress, as that can further disrupt digestion.
Being calm while eating our food and focusing on the people sitting around the table with us is an important practice to help us to slow down while eating.
Make an effort to turn off screens, set aside distractions, and appreciate eating peacefully.
Cultures around the world have traditions of saying a prayer or blessing and expressing gratitude for their food and meal before eating.
I believe there are multiple important reasons for such practices.
Prayerfully giving thanks for our daily meals causes us to appreciate the food we are eating and all that went into its creation.
Blessing our meals also causes us to slow down, become present, and prepares us to physically be able to digest our food for greater health and vitality.
Cultivating practices that help us to slow down, be present, and in a state of gratitude, while eating can not only uplift our mood and emotions, it can enhance our digestion and health.
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Gut Health Takes Time
Gut health is something that can take time to develop.
However, you may start noticing feeling more energized and lighter soon after actively enhancing your gut health.
The studies on people eating a Mediterranean diet showed that it significantly improved their gut microbiome health when eating in this manner consistently for one year.
Many digestive complaints develop because of long exposure to stress that builds up over time until creating noticeable symptoms.
Many people struggle with gut dysbiosis, especially because we live in a world today that has a dramatically diminished variety of foods commonly served for meals in the past 50 years.
There are also fewer nutrients and minerals present in the topsoil that the majority of our food supply is grown in compared to several decades ago.
Plus, there is an increasing amount of environmental factors and chemicals that we are exposed to through our modern lifestyles.
Add to that the stress of daily living, and it’s no wonder that gut health is a growing challenge for many people, even those who eat all organic and exercise regularly.
While changing our lifestyle and diets may create some noticeable effects within days, weeks, or months, nourishing our gut health is really a lifestyle practice that we should aspire to maintain for the rest of our lives.
The more we know and learn about the healthy gut microbiome, the more we can work to protect the health of the generations to come and the quality of our soil, air, and water, which healthy food and life depend upon.
Wishing you abundant wellness!
Kara Maria