Gut Health - 5 easy ways to support your gut
Tools to support your gut and create a vibrant, glowing and healthy, body + mind.
before there was medicine there was food
The gut is a beautiful, yet complicated operating system that is responsible for most of your bodily functions. Through your gut you take in the world around you, literally through the food you eat and figuratively, through your senses and gut instincts.
In conjunction with your brain, the gut is your processing centre, it’s where you take in the nutrients from food, build your immune system, influence your hormones and endocrine system, impact your mood and happiness levels, influence your state of being and how you show up in the world, not to mention being the first step in your beauty regime. At High Health Club, we are big believers in the power of beauty from the inside out, as the glow of your skin and the light in your eyes comes predominantly through what you put on the inside first.
What is often missed however, is that in order to absorb the most nutrients from our foods and positively influence each of these systems, our gut has to be in good working order and able to actually get the most nutrients from everything we consume.
Unfortunately the way we live our lives today, reaching for conventional fruits and vegetables that can be heavily sprayed and often devoid of essential nutrients through soil and farming practices, packaged convenience foods, the stresses of modern living and the toxins we are exposed to each day, from chemicals in body products, toothpaste, hair products, toxic cleaning products, air pollution and the impact of stress from daily living, the gut can be compromised and in turn, compromise our overall health and well-being.
There are so many ways you can support your gut through nutrition, supplements and lifestyle practices, however we find it’s simplest to start with the things we do each and every day that add up to have a huge impact; whether that impact is positive or negative comes down to your choices everyday.
“Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” - Michael Pollan
5 easy ways to support your gut
EAT YOUR GREENS: I know we all want it to be a little sexier than this, however organic or spray free leafy greens, (think salad, baby spinach, kale) are the foundation for a healthy gut. Your body loves the nutrients they provide, leafy greens are full of fibre that feed and support healthy gut bacteria and support healthy bowel movements, they have a high water content so help with your daily water requirements, keeping you hydrated throughout the day and chlorophyll in leafy greens helps give us energy and support detoxification.
EAT A VARIETY OF FOOD: especially fruits + vegetables. We all get stuck in the habit of eating the same things on repeat, however variety really is key. A variety of healthy foods, offer varying types of fibre, prebiotics to feed the good gut bacteria, an array of antioxidants, vitamins and nutrients, carbohydrates and proteins as it’s this variety that gives us ALL of the building blocks needed to create a healthy gut, a diverse microbiome and thriving body and mind.
DON’T DRINK WITH MEALS: try not to drink around 30 mins either side of eating as this impacts our digestive fire and makes it difficult for our digestive system to break down the food we are eating and can lead to bloating, gas and sluggishness in the gut.
DON’T EAT WHILE STRESSED OR UPSET: eating while stressed or upset essentially turns off your digestive system, as we can only ever be in a state of ‘rest / digest’ or ‘fight / flight’ and if we’re upset or stressed, we’re signalling to our body that we are not safe to digest our food right now and we need to direct this energy that would normally be used for digestion, elsewhere, as there is a more immediate ‘threat’ that needs our attention. Next time you’re rushing through breakfast to get to work or drop the kids at school or sitting at your desk, stressed and rushing through your lunch, remember to just take a beat, inhale, exhale and then eat.
CHEW WELL: it’s important to chew your food, breaking it down into smaller pieces that are easier to digest and turn on your salivary glands. The saliva you create turns on your digestive enzymes, kick starting the process of digestion and the smaller particles of food are easier for your body to use. Slowing down and giving your body time to fully DIGEST also creates an awareness of the process and helps your gut to register when it’s full, signalling your brain to stop eating, instead of rushing through your food, swallowing whole and eating more than you need.