Are you always tired, feel lethargic, crave sugary foods or simply don’t feel 100%?

Research shows ever-increasing evidence that your levels of general health are dependent on the health of your gut. This means it is absolutely vital to treat your gut well. Poor gut function has been linked to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and various cancers.

Scientists tell us that it is now an established fact that health and illness begin in the gut. If this is important to you and why would it not be if you want to feel good about yourself and your life, how can you improve your gut health naturally and easily.

It all begins with food

Evidence shows the most powerful way to improve and impact your gut health is your daily diet. Focus on fibre rich food when you are selecting your meals. Fibre is loved by your gut bacteria or gut microbiome. Your microbiome is made up of lots of different kinds of microbes that reside in your colon. The best way to get your fill of fibre is to aim for 30-40 different types of fruits and vegetables every week.

In addition, a positive influence on your gut health can be supported by consuming ‘probiotic type foods’ which could include:

• Kimchi – this is a beneficial, gut friendly, delicious yoghurt style drink.
• Sauerkraut – a fermented shredded cabbage with a salty, tangy type of flavour to it, (its super easy to make with just two ingredients, cabbage and salt).
• Kombucha – this is a fermented green or black tea, sugar, bacteria and yeast. To make this drink, bacteria and yeast are added together to create a culture. It is this culture that is then added to the tea and the sugar which then needs time to ferment.

As food manufacturers are cottoning on to this current health trend, you will be able to find these items more readily available in your local supermarkets.

How do you know if you have a healthy gut?

Over 19 years of performing Colon Hydrotherapy treatments, Deborah Davison, Homefield Grange’s Health & Wellness Colonic Practitioner says, “the stools shape, size, colour and consistency is an important indication of a healthy gut. A movement at least once a day of a well-formed and easy to pass stool is an indication that all is well with the gut. Generally, we should not be experiencing frequent bloating, gas, or any abdominal pains. The body should find it relatively easy to digest meals. If, however a client is suffering with frequent flatulence, constipation, loose stools, needs to strain to pass a motion, or has diarrhoea – these are all signs of poor gut function and health.”

Deborah’s 5 top tips for improving your gut health fast are as follows:

1.Ensure that you have variety in your diet. Eating the same cereal every day for breakfast does not provide your gut with the biodiversity it needs to stay healthy.

2. Fruit is a great cleanser for the gut. Try to eat fibre rich fruits such as berries, apples and pears.

3. Limit processed foods. Sugary confectionery, biscuits, white breads and pasta, cured meats, fizzy drinks, baked goods etc will simply rob your gut of its good health. These foods do not feed the good bacteria in your gut and lower the diversity of healthy bacteria in the colon. In addition, what these foods do is raise blood sugar levels causing inflammation and gut dysbiosis.

4. Eat more plant food. Going vegan for a couple of days a week and ensuring that every day you are having plenty of plant-based foods is a key indicator of good gut health. Plant based foods are consumed by all of the Blue Zone areas in the world, (take a look at the book ‘The Blue Zone’ by Dan Buettner and learn the secrets of how the longest living and healthiest people in the world manage their lives).

5. Eat Fermented Foods. Again, try to include fermented foods in your diet as these are a powerful and natural source of probiotics which your gut flora love. Look out for kimchi, kefir, miso, sauerkraut and kombucha in your local supermarket.

Lifestyle Factors in Improving Gut Health

There is nothing better than experiencing a good nights’ sleep. Restful shut eye is so important for our health. Research is now showing that good quality sleep is also essential to support a balanced microbiome diversity. Try to get to bed a couple of nights a week at 10pm, keeping the bedroom cool and comfortable. Remove mobile devices, don’t take work or the office to bed with you and develop a night time ritual that prepares you for a great nights’ sleep.

Avoid artificial sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners such as saccharine have been found to disrupt the colonies of our gut microbiota. Do yourself a favour and avoid artificial sweeteners in any form. Also try to remove as much processed sugars from your diet as you can. Processed foods do nothing but rob you of your energy as well as your general health. Sugars simply put, cause chaos to your gut and allow the bad bacteria to grow.

Unhealthy Habits – Alcohol & Smoking

Both alcohol and smoking change the microbiome and it’s probably no surprise that alcohol will not do much to promote gut health. Studies show that alcohol actually disturbs the gut microbiome by promoting bacterial overgrowth. Amazingly, just by abstaining from alcohol for a short period, (three weeks), studies showed a complete recovery of the gut barrier function. Homefield Grange says that if you are going to drink, take a probiotic with prebiotics present as soon as you have consumed alcohol.

Smoking raises the pH balance of your intestinal environment. Cigarettes also promote oxidative stress and induce chronic low-grade inflammation in the gut. People often wonder why they gain weight after quitting smoking, with research now suggesting that one of the reasons for the weight gain is that the gut cannot digest food properly due to the damage that smoking creates. If there is a powerful reason to stop smoking, this is it – if your gut is not working correctly, you are more likely to develop a whole number of illnesses, including type 2 diabetes.

Stop Stressing

It’s amazing to think that how we feel can affect our gut health. Chronic stress raises levels of the hormone cortisol and this fight or flight response can damage our microbiome. A study published in the Journal of Physiology showed that certain strains of bacteria in the Lactobacilli and Bifidobacterium genera actually exert anti-stress, anti-anxiety and mood protective effects when they are present in good amounts. Top tips for managing your stress levels therefore would be looking after your diet and spending the time on activities that relax your mind. Try meditation, deep breathing, getting back to nature, doing something that makes you laugh/smile, or listening to your favourite music.