9 Ways To Take Care Of Your Gut

Your body is composed of systems that work together for you to be able to perform daily actions and processes. This means that you have to embrace a holistic approach when taking care of your health since issues with one part or organ can affect your entire wellbeing.

For instance, experiencing digestive problems, like a leaky gut, can lead to toxins entering the bloodstream and causing widespread inflammation, as well as autoimmune disorders. This is why you should prevent issues in your stomach and intestines as much as you can to keep your body healthy.

Here are nine ways to take care of your gut:

1. Have A Balanced Diet

The primary habit that you should develop for the wellbeing of your digestive system is to have a balanced diet daily. This means eating the proper amount of proteins, vegetables, and fruits in every meal.

Vegetables and fruits are rich in fiber and enzymes that promote digestion. Legumes and beans are food for the good bacteria residing in your stomach. If they’re well-fed, their growth is stimulated, thus preventing the growth of disease-causing bacteria.

Moreover, different species of good bacteria have different functions. If you have a diverse microbial ecosystem in your tummy, you get to enjoy the health benefits they offer. A balanced diet can help you achieve this.

2. Reduce Sugar Intake

Sugar is one of the most dangerous enemies of your body. It’s considered treacherous because it can make you put your guard down due to its sweet taste and lead you to eat more than the healthy amount.

You must be particularly wary of artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, which are typically used to replace sugar. These replacements may do more harm than good by increasing the glucose levels in your blood and impairing insulin response. Moreover, aspartame can lead to a microbial imbalance in your stomach. It can facilitate the growth of disease-causing bacteria, such as Clostridium and Enterobacteriaceae.

To avoid gut problems, reduce your sugar consumption. You should also check the label of processed food and be mindful of the hidden sources of sugar.

3. Drink Lots Of Water

You may have heard about how drinking lots of fluids, especially water, can help you when you’re having bowel movement difficulties, whether diarrhea or constipation. This is a sound advice since water can replace the electrolytes that you lose when suffering from loose stool. Plus, it can soften your feces when you’re experiencing the latter.

Water can also have a positive effect on the mucosal lining of your intestines, as well as facilitate the balance of good bacteria in your gut. Drinking the recommended dosage of eight glasses or more a day is an effortless way to take care of your digestive system.

4. Consume Alcohol Moderately

While drinking alcohol, especially wine, has its own health benefits, you should be mindful of the frequency and amount that you drink each day. As with everything else, keep your consumption in moderation.

Alcohol abuse not only leads to cognitive impairment. It can lead to the overgrowth of disease-causing bacteria that can result in inflammation. You may also develop a leaky gut, which, as mentioned above, can allow toxins to enter your bloodstream and cause even more problems.

5. Try Fermented Foods

Yogurt is probably the most renowned fermented food today. Other similar types that you might have tried or heard of are kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, and tempeh.

Fermentation is a naturally occurring process that breaks down food. It converts carbohydrates into organic acids or alcohol using microorganisms.

Your gut performs this type of fermentation process regularly, so eating this type of food can aid the growth of good bacteria in your tummy. A lot of these foods are enriched with lactobacilli, which is a probiotic that aids in digestion.

6. Know how To Manage Stress

Since maintaining your health takes a holistic approach, it makes sense for you to manage your mental wellbeing to protect your gut. This is because your brain serves as the command center of your body. If your mind is distracted or overwhelmed, it’s highly likely that other organs will suffer as well.

This is why you should learn how to manage stress properly. Having frequent panic attacks due to stress can affect your digestion by interfering with the brain-gut communication and triggering discomfort, bloating, as well as pain.

Similarly, microbial imbalance in your digestive system can affect your cognitive abilities. It can also affect your mood and emotions.

7. Exercise Regularly

Exercising is a great way of getting rid of bloating and facilitating the expulsion of gas from your gut. Undergoing regular physical training can also help control obesity.

Moreover, research has shown that exercise can alter the composition of a person’s gut microbiome in a positive way. One study found that regular movement, even for as short as six weeks, led to a significant change in the number of microbes in the participants’ digestive systems.

Several individuals experienced an increase in good bacteria. Specifically, these microbes play a role in the production of short-chain fatty acids, which reduces the risk of developing inflammatory diseases, type 2 diabetes, and heart illnesses.

The researchers also took samples of the participants’ gut microbiome after they returned to their normal, sedentary lifestyle after the six-week program. They found that the bacteria in the gut reverted to their composition before the exercise period.

8. Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is your body’s way of recharging and repairing itself after working hard for several hours. Getting ample sleep each day can promote gut health because the fast gives your digestive system time to heal since digestion can be abrasive with all the acids and fermentation going on.

9. Avoid Unnecessary Antibiotics

Antibiotics are valuable for combating bacterial infections. However, a lot of people drink this type of drug without proper consultation with their doctors. This leads to overuse and, in turn, can lead to your body developing antibiotic resistance.

It poses a problem because these drugs can kill good bacteria in your gut. With this in mind, make sure that you only consume antibiotics when your doctor recommends it.

Conclusion

Taking care of your gut is one way to promote overall well-being. It’s primarily about developing healthy habits, such as having a balanced diet, reducing sugar and alcohol intake, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep.