Do you know how important gut health is to your general health and well-being? The gut is known as our bodies second brain and gastrointestinal health can play a major role in our physical and mental health. Having a healthy gut and gastrointestinal health allows our gut to heal and produce the right kind of bacteria which tells your brain to feel good.
There have been studies that show a connection between gut health and mood for a long time. Those who suffer from celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome or leaky gut are more likely to suffer from mental health. Some of the symptoms are depression, anxiety, headaches, fatigue, joint pain (due to in inflammation) and a lower immune system. Gut health comes down to the level of imbalance between good and bad bacteria. The imbalance causes damage to the surface layer of your GI tract allowing food proteins to enter your blood stream. This causes in inflammation and food sensitivities and these sensitivities can affect the body’s ability to absorb nutrients.
On the other hand, good gut health can have many positive effects on the brain allowing us to feel great and our bodies to function at full capacity. If you feel you may have food sensitivities seek expert help from a certified nutrition expert as your problems can be resolved allowing you to return to optimal gut health. With the addition of probiotics to help restore ideal balance of gut bacteria and digestive enzymes you can maintain your new optimal levels and promote healthy digestion.
I don’t think some people fully comprehend or are aware of how important our digestive system is to our over-all well-being and how much it can affect our life. Those with poor digestive systems would suffer or have suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, heartburn, reflux, gas and a few other unpleasant conditions. Digestive issues are a major health issue today, with hundreds of millions of people world-wide suffering at one time or another. Imagine the billions of dollars spent on over the counter products which at times don’t fix the problem but create additional digestive issues.
Poor diet choices from choosing to eat too much processed food, excessive meat products, drinking too much caffeine/ alcohol has led to many people having gut complaints. It is important we stay on top of our gut health as poor health can lead to poor digestion, and many other stomach complaints which has a major impact on our health and training results. I recommend taking digestive enzymes and a good probiotic as they can help to maintain healthy digestive function.
Here are some tips on how to give your gut some love;
- Drink plenty of filtered water between meals. Water helps remove the excess toxins and keeps the bowels healthy.
- Eliminate foods that don’t energise you and those that set off bloating and tiredness. Try cutting them out for 1-2 weeks and then slowly reintroduce them to see if they make a difference to how you feel.
- Maintain good amounts of acetic acid and digestive enzymes. The easiest way to do this is to have one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon in water each morning.
- Chew every mouth full for at least 20 chews.
- Eat and drink prebiotic and probiotic foods or take a supplement to support good gut bacteria.
You can find more information on nutrition, training tips etc in my Health & Fitness Bible.
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