Gut health is essential to our overall well-being. The microbes in your gut are responsible for everything from digesting food, regulating hormones, and maintaining a healthy immune system. If you have an unhealthy gut, it will affect every other aspect of your life.
1. Get Enough Sleep
Your gut health relies heavily on your circadian rhythm, so if you’re not sleeping at night, it will affect how your body processes the food you eat and breaks down enzymes to absorb nutrients. Try going to bed earlier or try a different strategy if getting to sleep early doesn’t work for you. Some of the other strategies include: decreasing your caffeine intake, minimizing blue light before bed, and avoiding screen time in the evening.
Physical activity can also tire you out and make you ready for bed. Even if you don’t necessarily feel like exercising, try going on a walk or taking a gym class at night to exhaust your body and help it get the restorative sleep that it needs.
2. Take Probiotics
There are a wide variety of probiotic supplements available to help improve your gut health. The most important factor in taking any type of supplement is looking for one with high-quality ingredients that can provide the specific strains your body needs. You should also take your product as directed, so you reap the full benefits.
Eating fruits and vegetables high in soluble fiber (e.g., artichoke, asparagus, avocado) will encourage this growth of “good” bacteria. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and yogurt are also excellent sources of probiotics. Overall, probiotics help balance our gut microbiome and aids in digestion, which means you’ll have to spend less time in the bathroom.
3. Drink Bone Broth
You can incorporate a ton of healthy ingredients into your diet by making homemade bone broth. It’s pretty easy to make from scratch, and it will keep for several days, so you can drink it during the week when you need an extra energy boost. Make it in large batches, so you have plenty of broth to drink and freeze the rest for future use.
Bone broth is high in collagen, providing amino acids that support gut lining health, intestinal function, and overall immunity. It also contains vitamins like A, B6, and K2 that promote bone and heart health.
This is the simplest way to boost your gut health, but it’s also one of the most powerful. If you have any red meat leftovers from dinner or save your bone broth rusks, throw them into a pot with water, salt, and pepper, turn on low heat, cover and let simmer until done.
4. Limit Your Alcohol Intake
One of the most common causes of leaky gut is alcohol, so it’s essential to limit your intake to give your body the rest it needs for healthy function. Additionally, research shows that when an individual drinks excessively or binge drinks, it causes food intolerances and compromises the stomach lining, leading to major digestive issues.
If you must have an alcoholic beverage, opt for red wine as it contains resveratrol and helps protect against heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and certain cancers. It also reduces levels of bad LDL cholesterol while increasing the good HDL cholesterol in your system.