How to Improve Gut Health: 10 Effective Tips

2024-02-26

Content

Your gut health is dependent on a delicate balance between the helpful and harmful microbes in your gut.

There is a complex ecosystem of microorganisms living in your gut or the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Trillions of bacteria, along with other micro-organisms such as viruses and fungi together form what is known as your gut microbiome or gut flora.

Your gut flora influences numerous functions in your body including the synthesis of certain vitamins such as vitamin K and biotin. They have a powerful impact on your immunity, metabolism, and even your mood.

Here are 10 effective tips on how to improve your gut health naturally.

10 Tips on How to Improve Your Gut Health

1. Eat a Diverse Diet

Eating a wide range of foods helps create a thriving and balanced gut microbiome. Incorporating various foods into your diet promotes a more diverse microflora in your gut. This includes whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

Each type of food offers different nutrients. And they help feed different strains of bacteria in your gut. Plant-based foods are high in fibre, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that support gut health.

2. Include Probiotic Foods

The simplest way to create a colony of thriving microorganisms in your gut is to eat them alive! Eating live microbugs may sound strange, but thats exactly what we do when we eat a cup of curd or yoghurt. Other popular probiotics include kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha. These help introduce beneficial bacteria to your gut. All of these probiotics can be easily made at home.

Kefir starter grains are easily variable online. To ferment, you can add these to a cup of milk and keep them in a warm, dark place for about 8 hours. Refrigerate till needed. Strain the kefir grains before having the kefir and use it to make your next batch of kefir.

Sauerkraut can be made using regular cabbage or Chinese cabbage, salt, and water. You can find plenty of videos online on how to make these at home.

3. Eat Fermented Foods

This includes a broader category of foods that have undergone fermentation. Their end result may or may not contain live beneficial bacteria. Traditional pickles generally fall into this category. Probiotic foods are a subset of fermented foods and will contain live beneficial bacteria.

Miso, a fermented soybean paste, is typically pasteurized after fermentation, which kills off the live organisms. Miso paste is commonly used in Japanese cuisine, in soups, stews, and marinades. Appam, dosa, and idli are all popular South Indian foods that require fermentation. But the cooking process kills the beneficial organisms in it. So they are not considered probiotics.

Yet the fermentation process itself offers numerous health benefits. Fermentation breaks down complex carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in food, making them easier for the body to digest. It can enhance the bioavailability of certain nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

4. High Fiber Prebiotic Foods

Probiotic (or prebiotic) rich foods including pulses, nuts, fruit and milk products, good for immunity and the gut

Prebiotics are the foods eaten by the probiotics. If you want a thriving microflora, you need to feed them right. The non-digestible fibres found in certain foods can fuel the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.

Foods such as bananas, apples, flax seeds, oats, garlic, onions, and asparagus are excellent sources of prebiotics. The gut bacteria ferment the undigested fibre in these foods.

5 Stay Hydrated

Drinking plenty of water throughout the day supports digestion. This supports healthy bowel function by keeping the digestive system hydrated and lubricated. Water is essential for breaking down food and making the nutrients more available for absorption in the gastrointestinal tract.

Lack of water can slow down digestion. Dehydration can lead to harder stools, bloating, and constipation. This can disrupt your gut health and increase the risk of conditions such as haemorrhoids. Drinking plenty of water helps keep your stool soft and easy to pass.

Intresting Read: 10 Amazing Health Benefits of Drinking Coconut Water

Water intake is also vital for maintaining the mucosal lining of your gut. This gut lining acts as the barrier between the intestines and the rest of your body. It prevents harmful substances from entering your bloodstream.

These intestinal walls have a layer of mucus on them to protect them from acidic digestive juices and harmful bacteria. Water is needed for the production and maintenance of the mucus layer.

6. Limit Processed Foods & Alcohol

Now that we have covered the foods you should eat for improved gut health, let’s take a look at what you should avoid to protect the same.

Highly processed foods, sugary snacks, and refined carbohydrates can disrupt gut health and promote inflammation. So limit their intake as much as possible.

You should also avoid or at least moderate your intake of alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption can also disturb your gut microbiota and contribute to gut inflammation.

7. Reduce Antibiotic Use

Limiting the use of antibiotics helps maintain the diversity and functionality of your gut microbes.

Antibiotics are designed to kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. This includes both the harmful and beneficial bacteria in your body. Overuse or misuse of antibiotics can destroy the delicate balance of your gut microflora. So use them only when absolutely necessary. You should also take them as instructed by your doctor.

Overuse of antibiotics also contributes to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. When antibiotics are used inappropriately, harmful bacteria can adapt and become resistant to the effects of the drug. Thus it becomes increasingly difficult to treat infections with commonly available antibiotics. The increase in antibiotic-resistant pathogens (harmful bacteria) also disrupts the gut microbiome balance.

8. Exercise Regularly

The movement of muscles in your gastrointestinal tract to aid the digestion and absorption of food is called gut motility. Exercise stimulates the contraction of muscles throughout your body. This includes the muscles in your GI tract.

Regular exercise keeps the digestive system functioning smoothly. Increasing your physical activity boosts gut motility and helps in the movement of food through your digestive system. This also helps prevent common digestive issues such as constipation and bloating by eliminating the waste more efficiently from your system.

According to research, regular exercise contributes to a healthier gut microbiome. Those who engaged in regular physical activity were found to have more diverse gut microbiota compared to sedentary individuals (1).

For maximum benefits for gut health, you can incorporate a combination of aerobic exercise, strength training, and flexibility exercises into your weekly routine.

9. Manage Stress

If you research how to improve gut health in Ayurveda, you will notice a lot of emphasis on stress management for promoting optimal digestion.

Chronic stress can disrupt your gut health. Stress triggers the release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. These can directly influence your gut environment and negatively affect the microflora.

Stress can lead to inflammation, and this in turn can weaken the gut barrier. The resulting increase in gut permeability or a ‘leaky gut’ may allow harmful substances to enter your bloodstream. This may further trigger more inflammation and auto-immune disorders.

To reduce your stress, you can try stress-relieving techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises.

10. Get Adequate Sleep

Poor sleep quality or insufficient sleep can negatively impact gut health. Let’s dive a little deeper into this.

The circadian rhythm or your ‘body clock’ regulates your sleep-wake cycle and other physiological functions on a daily basis. Inadequate sleep duration or disrupted sleep routines can disturb this circadian rhythm. Any disturbance in your circadian rhythm can alter the composition and function of your gut microbes.

According to research, “the intestinal microbiome is regulated by circadian rhythms via intrinsic circadian clocks as well as via the host organism”.

The bacteria in your gut also follow a daily rhythm or schedule of their own – their intrinsic circadian clocks. They are influenced by the host’s circadian clock as well – And that’s you – your sleeping schedules, what you eat, when you eat it, and so on. When you change your sleep/diet or sleep/eat at different times, this also disrupts the gut microbiome rhythm. This in turn, negatively impacts your immune and metabolic functions.

To improve your gut health, you should adopt good sleep hygiene practices.

This starts with maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. Go to bed at night and wake up in the morning at the same time every day. Try to get 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep each night.
Create a relaxing bedtime routine by taking a bath, listening to music, or reading a book. You should limit your exposure to screens before bedtime.
Avoid caffeine and large meals close to bedtime. Have your last meal at least a couple of hours before bedtime.
Optimize your sleep environment by turning off the lights, adjusting the room temperature, and creating a dark, quiet, and comfortable bedroom.

All these can help promote restful sleep and support gut health.

Frequently Asked Questions

All You Need to Know, Here

What are the 3 superfoods for your gut?

Yogurt: Dahi, or yogurt is well known for its probiotic properties. It contains live cultures of beneficial bacteria, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Kefir: This is a fermented dairy product with a thinner consistency and tangier taste when compared to yoghurt. You can make this at home by fermenting milk with kefir grains. These grains contain a combination of bacteria and yeast. You can easily order kefir grain online.
Sauerkraut: This is a traditional European fermented cabbage preparation. There are many similar Indian fermented cabbage versions with similar benefits. You can make this by fermenting shredded cabbage along with other vegetables of your choice, such as carrots or turnips in a brine solution. Add spices of your choice to create more flavour. The fermentation process produces a tangy and flavorful pickle with probiotic benefits.

What foods fix gut health?

Fiber-Rich Foods: Include plenty of high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Dark, leafy greens like spinach and kale are packed with fibre, vitamins, and minerals that support your digestive health.
Probiotic Foods: Fermented foods such as yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and traditional pickles contain beneficial bacteria that can improve microbial diversity in your gut.
Prebiotic Foods: Foods rich in prebiotics such as garlic, onions, asparagus, bananas, oats, and apples contain non-digestible fibres that feed beneficial gut bacteria.
Antioxidant-rich foods: Berries like blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries are rich in antioxidants that help reduce free radical damage and inflammation.
Anti-inflammatory foods: Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines are high in omega-3 fatty acids with anti-inflammatory properties. Herbs and spices, such as ginger, turmeric, garlic, and cinnamon have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Bone broth is rich in collagen and amino acids such as glycine. All these foods can help reduce inflammation in the digestive tract and support gut lining integrity

What are the symptoms of an unhealthy gut?

Some common symptoms of an unhealthy gut include:

Digestive Issues: Imbalances in gut bacteria can lead to digestive Issues such as bloating, gas, diarrhoea, constipation, and abdominal pain. Food intolerance or difficulty in digesting certain foods can also cause similar symptoms after eating that particular food.
Unintentional weight changes: Gut issues affecting nutrient absorption or metabolism may cause sudden weight loss or weight gain.
Fatigue: Poor nutrient absorption, inflammation, or imbalances in gut bacteria may result in low energy levels and feelings of lethargy.
Mood changes: The gut-brain axis or the communication between your gut and brain can influence your mood and mental health. Poor gut health can lead to mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and even depression.
Skin Problems such as acne, eczema, or psoriasis can be triggered or worsened by imbalances in gut bacteria.
Autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease are associated with gut health disturbances.

What is the fastest way to improve gut health?

This can vary depending on your current health condition and personal circumstances. In general, adding probiotics and high-fibre foods to your diet, drinking plenty of water, and improving your sleep habits can make a significant difference to your gut health.

After antibiotic use or during times of digestive distress (such as diarrhoea), taking a high-quality probiotic supplement may help restore gut balance faster.

Conclusion

Maintaining good gut health is vital for boosting your immunity and overall well-being. By following the above-mentioned tips, you can support a thriving gut microbiota and improve your digestive health.

From having a fibre-rich diet with probiotic-rich foods to prioritizing hydration and managing stress, each strategy plays an important role in improving your gut health. Many of these tips are small and easy changes in your lifestyle. Over time, they snowball into significant benefits.

Now that you know how to improve gut health and digestion, it’s time to take action! Stay consistent and you will be able to achieve optimal gut health.