The gut is commonly referred to as our second brain.
It can both affect and be affected by our moods. Its importance to our health and happiness is tremendous.
But what is your “gut feeling”? If you’re experiencing gut health issues, it’s time to take some steps towards improving your digestive system.
Read on to discover 5 ideas for how to heal your gut.
5 Suggestions for How to Heal Your Gut
If you’re looking for what to do to make your gut health better, take a look at these 5 tips to improve the health of your gut.
1. Take a Microbiome Test
If you’ve got long-standing gut health issues, you may want to consider microbiome tests. They provide a snapshot of the different bacteria you have in your gut – both good and bad.
Having a healthy microbiome is indicative of a strong immune system, a good metabolism, and an overall healthy gut. However, an unhealthy microbiome could suggest a host of serious problems such as IBS, cancer, or diabetes.
2. Reduce Your Sugar Intake
Modern, western diets are often full of processed and ultra-processed foods that have high sugar content. As well as the well-known links to obesity, this diet can also have a huge impact on your gut.
Try reducing your sugar intake in order to increase the good bacteria in your gut and to avoid sugar cravings and inflammation, both of which can damage your gut.
Healthier alternatives to sugar that you could try are honey, coconut sugar, and agave nectar.
3. Regulate Your Sleep Pattern
Having a regular sleep pattern is crucial to maintaining a healthy gut. Not doing so can cause imbalances in your gut bacteria, and also weakens the intestinal barrier.
Managing your circadian rhythm to ensure 6-8 hours of high-quality sleep per night is a good start to healing your gut. Try to also reduce blue light exposure (such as from LED lighting and flat-screen televisions) from the evening onwards as you’re preparing to sleep.
4. Add Fermented Foods to Your Diet
Fermented foods have high concentrations of probiotics. This means they contain the “good” bacteria that we need to fight off infections. They can also help with IBS, weight loss, allergic reactions, and preventing diarrhea.
Some examples of fermented foods are yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, and miso.
5. Stay Hydrated
We’ve been told time and time again the importance of good hydration for our health. Once again, this applies to maintaining a healthy gut.
Drinking lots of water (you should aim for about 2 liters per day) can strengthen the lining of your intestines and has a positive impact on the balance of bacteria in your gut.
Improve the Health of Your Gut Today
Now we’ve learned 5 ways for how to heal your gut.
From adjusting your diet to improving your sleep pattern, or even trying a microbiome test, there are lots of steps you can take to improve your gut health – and your happiness. Which of these gut health tips are you going to try first?
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